Now that Mable has found a variety of web sources, she's interested in finding peer-reviewed articles and scholarly books. She recalls her professor explaining peer review: a formal process in which works are evaluated by fellow experts in a field prior to publication. One way to find these sources is by using the library's Articles & Books search, so Mable turns to the library homepage to see what she can find. 

Mable reviews the first page of results. The title of the first result, "How value conflicts infected the science of riparian restoration for endangered salmon habitat in America's Pacific Northwest," indicates that the article is specifically about salmon and is likely not very relevant to Mable's topic. The second result, a book titled Plants, people, and places, seems more relevant. Even though it's about Canada, Mable thinks she can draw parallels between Indigenous activism in Canada and in the US. To learn more and get access to this book, Mable clicks on the title to open its record.

Below is an example of a catalog record for the book Plants, people, and places. The top of the record includes a snapshot of the item, in this case the book title, series title, author, and publication date and location. The next portion shows how to access the book. In this case, because it's an online book, there is a link to online access. If this was a physical book, there would be information about the library that has the book and how to get it.

The Cite or Share section includes helpful tools like a permanent link to the record and a QR code. Towards the bottom of the record, the Details section includes more detailed information about the item, including a summary and a table of contents. This is a great place to look for additional keywords and an opportunity to review the item and determine its relevance before accessing it. 

After exploring the results for her initial search, "treaty rights ecological restoration," Mable wants to try a few other search terms to see what other relevant information she can find. She returns to the mind map she made and thinks that "climate justice" would be a good term to try, along with a term Mable identified in her initial searching: ethnoecology. So, Mable returns to Articles & Books and tries another search for "climate justice ethnoecology."

Mable notices that by changing her keywords she's finding different, more relevant results. The fourth and sixth results specifically mention Indigenous activism which indicates she's finding relevant information; these results include terms that aren't part of her search but are similar to the words in her original mind map.

Use this dropdown list to find research guides by subject. These guides walk you through discipline specific resources and connect you to subject librarians who can help with your research.

Reflect:

1. What perspectives might not be included in scholarly research and where else can you look for those perspectives?
2. Why do you think your instructors might require you to use peer-reviewed sources for your research?
3. What are the challenges of using peer-reviewed sources?

Anatomy of a Scholarly Article

This tool highlights the different components of a typical research article and can help you recognize and navigate its contents.