English 8601: Advanced Research Methods

English 8601: Advanced Research Methods

Discovering Articles:
Consider not only primary databases/indexes for your area, but also related subject areas. For public policy research, for instance, think of the GPO Monthly Catalog and LexisNexis Congressional, as well as PAIS and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. For Ethnic Studies, consider Ethnic Newswatch and Anthropology Plus.

Primary Databases:

ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature): Online access covers 1892-current. Print indexes begin 1920. Use integrated in Literature Online.

MLAIB (Modern Language Association International Bibliography): Online access covers 1963-current. For 1921-1962, use the print indexes in the Reference Department. Use integrated in Literature Online.

LLBA (Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts): This is the primary index is for linguistics, particularly relevant here are social language use and discourse analysis.

Secondary Databases:

Communication Abstracts: Coverage includes general, mass, interpersonal, small group and organizational communication, as well as theory, advertising and marketing, broadcasting, journalism, public relations, radio, public opinion, speech, and television.

Communication and Mass Media Complete: This database offers indexing and abstracting (with some full text) for many of the leading journals in communications.

Project Muse: Project Muse is a high quality scholarly production, originally of Johns Hopkins University press, offering fulltext access to academic journals.

ProQuest Research Library: This multidisciplinary database indexes many scholarly journals, providing fulltext to a large number of them.

Web of Science: Use to search these two databases: Arts & Humanities Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index. Two unique features of this database are its inclusion of cited references and a “find related records” option.

Research Methods:

Anthropology Plus: Ethnography is well-represented, as are other qualitative research methods for human populations.

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection: Nearly 500 fulltext titles covering topics such as emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry & psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational and experimental methods.

PsycINFO: Covers the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, social work, law, criminology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, and organizational behavior. The coverage is worldwide, and includes references and abstracts to over 1300 journals in more than 20 languages, and to dissertations, technical reports, book chapters and books in the English language. Produced by the American Psychological Association.

Discovering Access:

E-Journal Portal: Use the E-Journal Portal to determine whether ECU users may access journals online. If not online, the journals may be print subscriptions; click the link to search the Joyner Catalog.

Citation Linker: Use the Citation Linker to find out whether a particular article is available online. If not, the journal which published the article may be a print subscription; click the link to search the Joyner Catalog.

Electronic Journals by Publisher: If you know the publisher, you can follow this link to get to the journals online. Also, use to discover what journals are available online by particular publishers.

IngentaConnect: Ingenta offers access to article summaries from over 24,000 professional and academic publications. It links to the full text of articles from selected journals to which the library subscribes. For journals to which the library does not subscribe, individuals can usually purchase individual articles, choosing from electronic, fax or Ariel delivery. Complete the free registration process to set up a personal features page; set up an account; run saved searches; and set up a table-of-contents alerting service

Tables of Contents alert services: Have the tables of contents for selected journals emailed to you when each issue is published. Generally available through publishers' websites. If not, see IngentaConnect (above) or Ulrichsweb (below).

Discovering Additional Publications:

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations: Database of online theses and dissertations by contributing universities and college. Search or browse.

ProQuest Theses and Dissertations: Includes citations for dissertations, beginning with the first U.S. dissertation accepted in 1861, to those accepted as recently as last semester. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include author-written abstracts. Citations for master's theses from 1988 forward include abstracts. The database represents the work of authors from over 1,000 North American graduate schools and European universities. UMI offers over a million dissertations in full text, for an additional fee, which must be paid by the user. Users may also request Interlibrary Loan for dissertations.

RedLightGreen: This freely-available database is a project by the Research Libraries Group (RLG), and is related to their RLG Union Catalog. Researchers can locate authoritative sources of information on their topics and discover whether these books are available at their local libraries. Registered users can also create and send citations in a variety of styles.

Ulrichsweb: Web version of Ulrich's Periodical Directory. This bibliographic database provides detailed information on serials published throughout the world. It covers all subjects, and includes publications that are published regularly or irregularly and are circulated free of charge or by paid subscription. Search by title, subject, keyword or ISSN.

WorldCat: WorldCat is an online union catalog; that is, a bibliographic database of over 39 million records of books and other materials held in thousands of academic, public, special and national libraries around the world. WorldCat provides catalog records for books, dissertations, journal titles, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, musical scores, films, archives, and computer files.

Discovering Publishing Opportunities:

Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Education: Split into two sections: Educational Pschology and Administration, and Educational Curriculum and Methods. Call number: Ref Z286.E3 C323

MLA Directory of Periodicals: Search for details regarding number of submitted/accepted articles, citation styles, and other details.

Ulrichsweb: Web version of Ulrich's Periodical Directory. This bibliographic database provides detailed information on serials published throughout the world. It covers all subjects, and includes publications that are published regularly or irregularly and are circulated free of charge or by paid subscription. Search by title, subject, keyword or ISSN.

Getting Help:

Come to the Reference Desk or call us at (252) 328-6677

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Email the Reference Desk

Set up a Research Consultation (fill out the form in person, by phone, or online)

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