Understand scholarly publishing
and find quality research
Source:
http://www.napavalley.edu/Library/Pages/ScientificInformationLiteracy.aspx
Source:
University of Auckland: Referencite
“Publish or perish”
Is the pressure on researchers to publish constantly to succeed in or sustain their
careers. The success of academics and researchers is judged by how many times their
research is cited by others and the quality of the journals they publish in
Source: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Vr8Xl0cbUZA/SaEJ1atQ5VI/AAAAAAAAGNw/D- y6GKiAuA/s400/Image+%3D+Cartoon+Publish+Or+Perish+2.gif
Source:http://th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~jr/gif/cartoon/cart0395.jpg
Where to find academic literature for your research?
Primary literature (research papers)
The results of research is published in academic
journals and to be published has to pass a rigorous
review process by other researchers and experts in
the field. This is called peer review.
Secondary Literature
In addition to research articles, sources like
textbooks, and other reference-type materials can be
valuable in providing background information,
identifying key ideas and defining terminology. These
types of sources are considered the “secondary
literature” because rather than presenting new
research, they provide a compilation or evaluation of
previously published research.
Academic or Peer Reviewed and Popular Journal Articles
Many article databases include both peer reviewed journal articles and news articles from the
popular business press. In business research, often both academic articles (for research on a
topic ) and business magazines and newspapers ( for practitioner information) are useful and it
is important to be able to distinguish between the two types when you are looking for good
sources of information.
Popular/News Articles
•Are written by journalists or writers who may not have expertise in the topic
•Rarely have an abstract or a reference list
•Do not follow a formal structure
• Audience is the public or practitioners
While popular magazines provide an excellent source of current information and background on
business issues to include in reports, they are not considered suitable sources for research
required in academic writing.
There are also many other specialised databases for business data
and statistics to include in research
Passport GMID provides information and data on consumer lifestyles, consumer market sizes, companies and
brands, major market profiles, country data and market analysis.
Business data & statistics at your fingertips
What are the characteristics of academic journals?
(Also known as scholarly or peer reviewed journals)
•
Authors: academics or researchers, usually affiliated with an
academic or research institution
•
Reference List: a list of references is included at the end of each
article
•
Content: research based - often communicate research findings
in a given field
•
Format/Structure: often structured to include abstract, literature
review, methodology, results, conclusion
•
Peer Review: articles are reviewed before publication by an
Editorial Board who are peers or experts in their field.
•
Locate academic articles by using the specialized library
subscription databases
?
How do I tell if my article is a good one?
(Has it had an impact on the research in its field?
If a research article shows high citation metrics , it is likely that it has had an impact in
its field.
How do you find citation metrics?
Citation counts can be found in :
• Google Scholar - Lists citation counts and analysis of authors outputs.
• Some business databases give citation counts– e.g.: Business Source Premier,
ABI/Inform and Science Direct
• Science Direct & Emerald list top papers.
• Specialised research databases for citation analysis – Scopus & Web of Science
Academic Journal rankings
• Academic journal ranking lists can be found on the Web
& in Journal Citation Reports database
But- Citations counts don’t always work!
Why?
• New research won’t have a lot of citations as it hasn’t had time .
• Not all referencing styles require, (like APA), that only material
actually cited in the text can be in the reference list.
• Environment – a researcher could be working in a small field,
publishing in another language, publishing mainly in books.
• Academic journals are of various tier levels, some are more
prestigious than others.
• Caution - Google Scholar doesn’t explain what it considers
academic and what academic material is accessed
• Some databases “cited by” feature is only for what is in their
particular database
• But they are very useful for enabling citation chaining …
“I’ve only found one good article so far”
That’s not so bad! With one useful article, you can use “citation
chaining”. Citation chaining is where you use one good research
article as a starting point to find more useful resources of similar
quality
Source: University of Sydney, iResearch: Information Skills for Life
http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/elearning/learn/citationchaining/index.php
The databases have tools to help you citation chain
Business Source Premier and some databases link to “Times cited in this
database” and have hyperlinked reference lists, see “Cited References”
• Backwards chaining (cited references) is the process of looking at the reference list of a
good article and identifying further good sources to locate and read
• Forwards chaining (times cited) is linking to resources that have cited your starting
article
The reference list can also give clues as to the academic rigour
and quality of a research article.
When you click on “cited references” to see the references for an article.
•
•
•
Do references show that a comprehensive body of literature has been explored on
the topic ?
Do the references cited in your article have a high cite factor?
Does the reference list combine both seminal (classic) and contemporary articles ?
Times Cited in this
Database: (1680)
Citation databases
To forwards chain, (see who has cited your article) specialised citation databases such
as Web of Science, Science Direct and Scopus will do the chaining process for you
Science Direct/Scopus database
ScienceDirect links to “Cited by in Scopus”.
Scopus is a comprehensive citation database
that can be searched on its own or linked
to from Science Direct (same company)
Web of Science database
You can use Web of Science database to find
who has cited a particular article or book.
Comprehensive coverage for tracking journal
article citations, but not all business journals
covered.
Forwards chaining is a way of looking forwards
in time, to research that has used your
research article to develop and inform new
research
Times Cited: 130 (from Web of Science)
Cited by in Scopus (29)
Forward chaining can be a way to trace the on going
development of an idea and find the very latest research on a
topic
Web of Science database has a citation map feature which gives
you a visual map of citations
At the article level, link to
Citation Map
In Web of Science you can see a visual map of both backwards
and forwards citations by using the “Citation Map” link and see
the impact a research article has had in its field
What if I can’t find other articles that have cited my chosen
article in the citation databases ?
Not all articles will be included in databases with chaining functions and very recent
research, despite being excellent quality will not have a cite history .
Google Scholar also enables forwards chaining. Although the cite feature is not as
accurate as in the citation databases, it can be helpful to check the article in Google
Scholar to see if there is any forward citation chain
Ranking the academic journals.
As an example Management journals in the Journal Citation Reports database
can be ranked by impact factor.
Impact factor – The number of times articles from a journal are cited within 2 years divided by the total number of
articles published in the same journal during the 2 year period
Tips for Finding high
quality academic articles
•
•
•
•
•
Search specialist business databases
and limit database searches to “peer
reviewed” or “scholarly” journals
Use features of the databases to view &
evaluate cited references & cited by
listings
Use citation chaining to track
backwards and forwards research
Use Google Scholar “cited by” features
and author search.
Use Scopus & Web of Knowledge
citation databases & Journal Citation
Reports database to see an articles
impact & journal ranking.
Critically evaluate the article:
•Who is the target audience? When was the article published?
•Does the title accurately reflect the contents?
•Is the abstract to the article accurate, coherent, nonevaluative, succinct?
•Is there a good introduction which orientates the reader to the
content?
•What are the authors credentials and affiliations? Are
he/she/they an authority in the area?
•Does the research design clearly explain the methodology and
research approach?
•Can you use the keywords to extend a search of the topic
further?
•Is the literature review broad, focussed and balanced?
•Does the conclusion successfully present main points of the
research, has it demonstrated that the research has presented
fresh insights or perspectives?
•Does the reference list demonstrate a comprehensive body of
literature was explored?
(Adapted from : Stockhausen L & Conrick,M. (2002) Making sense of research: A guide for
critiquing a paper. Contemporary Nurse, 14, 38-48)
Assessing the impact factor of research – Try it !
Use the article listed below, (or one you have) to investigate the impact the article has had on
the literature of its topic
Khoo, H.S. & Burch, G.S.J. (2008) The “dark side” of leadership personality and transformational leadership:
An exploratory study. Personality and Individual Differences, 44 (1), 86-97
•Enter the name and a few words of the title in Google Scholar to see if you can locate the article. Use the
“cited by” feature to forward chain to get an indication of the article’s research impact.
•Enter the journal title in the e-journals link on the Library homepage to see which database has the files.
Link to the chronological listing of volumes and navigate to the issue you need (volume 44, issue 1). Look for
citation tools and link to the reference list to see the sources the authors have used to get an idea of the
citation metrics and the quality of the research that has informed the article. Some databases give citation
metrics for reference list articles as well as the original article. If you can, forward chain to see who has used
the research , (for forward chaining see link to “Cited in Scopus”)
•Link to the authors name in Scopus to see their academic affiliations and research standing
•Use the Web of Science database to track the citation impact of the article. Combine an author name and
title to locate the article. Click on the article to locate the citation map feature to visually map the research
impact both forwards and backwards.
•Use the Journal Citation Reports database to check the ranking of the journal the article was published in.
Select JR Social Sciences Edition. To locate the journal, either use “search for a specific journal” and enter
name or use view a group of journals by subject category and select the category “ Psychology, social”. You
can use the drop down box to select to sort by “total cites” or “impact factor”