ADMS 3520:
Library Session on
Effective Tax Research
Meghan Ecclestone,
Business Librarian
Peter F. Bronfman
Business Library
Learning Objectives
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Identify and evaluate relevant sources of
information
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Identify and efficiently search relevant
electronic library search tools to aid tax
research
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Main focus on articles: scholarly vs. trade
(practitioner) vs. popular business vs. news
Articles databases e.g. ABI/INFORM Global,
Scholars Portal
Retrieve the full-text of articles
Manage and cite articles using library
guides/tools

Library Guides to APA style & RefWorks
Learning Objectives:
Beyond class assignments
o
The skills you hone by doing effective
research will help you beyond just your class
assignments
o
By practicing effective research, you are
developing improved “information literacy”
o
Information literate individuals have the
ability to define their information needs, to
find and retrieve information efficiently and
to critically evaluate what they have found in
order to integrate it into their work.
Learning Objectives: Beyond class
assignments
As the American Library Association
Presidential Committee on Information
Literacy (January 10, 1989, Washington, D.C.)
says:
“Ultimately, information literate people are
those who have learned how to learn. They
know how to learn because they know how
knowledge is organized, how to find
information, and how to use information in
such a way that others can learn from them.
They are people prepared for lifelong learning,
because they can always find the information
needed for any task or decision at hand.”
Agenda
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Introduction to the Libraries
Finding a specific journal article using
the library catalogue
Business articles: What are they? How
do distinguish different types of
articles?
Doing your research: effective search
strategies to find articles you need
Citation: Academic integrity and
bibliographic management
Libraries’ Web Site
http://www.library.yorku.ca
Click here for individual
Libraries’ web sites
including the
Bronfman Business
Library home page
Click here to
access the
Undergraduate
Library Guide
Peter F. Bronfman Business Library:
http://www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/BG/
Use our IM Chat
box to ask
reference/research
questions
Read the guide to
Finding Business
Articles
Under Course
Related Guides, look
for “Overview of
Canadian Income
Taxation ADMS 3520”
Bronfman Business Library
Location
Hours
S237, Schulich School of
Business
Mon-Thurs:
9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday:
9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday:
10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday:
12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Phone: (416) 736- 5139
Reference E-mail:
bgref@yorku.ca
IM – Use the IM chat service
available on the Bronfman
Business Library homepage to
get online research assistance.
Agenda





Introduction to the Libraries
Finding a specific journal article using the
library catalogue
Business articles: What are they? How do
distinguish different types of articles?
Doing your research: effective search
strategies to find articles you need
Citation: Academic integrity and bibliographic
management
Finding articles when you already
have a reference/citation
Sometimes you may find a reference to an
article you wish to read on the web, through
a professor recommendation, or in other
ways.
Here’s an example:
Harrison, Ellen K. (2007, September).
“Estate Planning Under the Bush Tax
Cuts”. National Tax Journal. 60.3: 371384
Finding articles when you already
have a reference/citation
Type the
publication title
here
Select the
eResources button
here
Type the title of the journal in to the Title Quick Search Box on the
libraries’ home page at www.library.yorku.ca to determine if article
is available online:
Harrison, Ellen K. (2007, September). “Estate Planning Under
the Bush Tax Cuts”. National Tax Journal. 60.3: 371-384
Finding articles when you already have
a reference/citation – let’s review:
Which is the publication title for the following citations?



“Correcting employment tax errors.” The Tax Adviser.
Kathleen Mort and Dan Boeskin. 40.7 (July 2009):
p429(3).
Jonathan Chevreau. (2009, October 14). Many Canadians
are missing TFSA boat; Market growth will already have
boosted accounts. Calgary Herald, D.10. Retrieved
October 19, 2009.
A Role for Tax Attorneys in Antitrust Law?: Variable-Cost
Tax Savings as a Merger Efficiency Defense. Catherine A
Clancy. The Tax Lawyer. Washington: Winter 2009. Vol.
62, Iss. 2; p. 475 (28 pages).
Agenda





Introduction to the Libraries
Finding a specific journal article using
the library catalogue
Business articles: What are they? How
do distinguish different types of articles?
Doing your research: effective search
strategies to find articles you need
Citation: Academic integrity and
bibliographic management
Scholarly/Academic Journal, Trade/Industry
Publication, Popular Business Magazine,
Newspaper… which is which?
Learning activity: Different types of articles
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Take a few minutes to pass around the
different types of articles
Look at each article closely (though there’s
no need to read them in their entirety!)
Using your “Different Types of Articles”
handout, make note of the characteristics
that define and differentiate these articles
Feel free to discuss with other students,
and be prepared to share with the class
Scholarly/Academic Article Trade/Industry Publication
(Pink)
(Yellow)
Popular Business Article
(Green)
Newspaper/Newswire
Article (Blue)
Academic/Scholarly articles
o Published in academic journals, which are also often
referred to as “scholarly journals” “peer-reviewed
journals” or “referred journals”
o Scholarly journals focus on a specific discipline of
business (such as Administrative Science Quarterly),
or on a sub-topic within a discipline (such as the
Journal of Occupational and Organizational
Psychology)
o Are written by academics and researchers who
specialize in a field of study
o Articles typically focus on original research and
contain extensive analysis of the topic
o Publication lag time due to the long peer-review
process
o Uses specialized academic language rather than
laypersons’ terms
o Extensive citations and bibliographies
o Plain covers, few or no pictures or advertisements.
Reading Scholarly Articles
Let’s look at some
examples:
Article Titles Only Displayed
Below
1.A
Tale of Two Tax Cuts, a
Wage Squeeze, and a Tax
Credit
2.Phased-In
Tax Cuts and
Economic Activity
3.Why
do we ignore the best
solution for improving
unequal income distribution?
Links to Guides to
Help You:
1. How
to Read an Academic
Article. Dr. Becky Rosenberg,
Director of the UWB Teaching
and Learning Center and Acting
Director of the UWB Writing
Center
2. A Guide to Reading and
Analysing Academic
Articles: Coming to Grips
with Scholarly Writing
Conversations.
Amanda Graham. Yukon
College.
3. How to Read Academic
Texts Critically.
Kathleen Flake. Assistant
Professor. Vanderbilt University
Industry/Trade articles
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Published in trade or professional journals or
magazines e.g. CA Magazine, Tax Notes International.
Some are geared specifically to tax professionals

Target members of a specific business, industry or
organization.
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Written by practitioners or journalists who cover the
field.
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Often published by an association or organization.

Valued for currency.
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Typically focus on industry trends, new products or
techniques, and organizational news
.
Editorial review quite common, may contain short
bibliographies
Often printed on glossy paper with pictures, charts,
and illustrations and some focused advertising
Articles in Popular Magazines
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Published in popular magazines e.g
Canadian Business, Forbes, Business
Week. May cover tax topics.
Target audience is general public
and/or business professionals.
Tend to focus on general business
information, current trends and
news.

Typically unsigned articles with no
bibliographies
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Use of laymen terms, not specialized
language.
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Features glossy paper, pictures &
illustrations, and heavy advertising
News Articles
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Published in newspapers
or newswires e.g. Wall
Street Journal, Financial
Times or Canada
Newswire
Short articles quite
typical
Focus on current news in
business
Written by business
columnists/journalists
Agenda





Introduction to the Libraries
Finding a specific journal article using the
library catalogue
Business articles: What are they? How do
distinguish different types of articles?
Doing your research: effective search
strategies to find articles you need
Citation: Academic integrity and
bibliographic management
Developing Effective Search Strategies

Avoid natural language – typing full sentences
into an articles database won’t work!

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Boil your topic down to keywords and concepts
Combine you different keywords with “and”:

“and” is used for combining distinctive concepts and
has the effect of narrowing the search
 taxation
and fiscal policy; taxation and
income trusts

Introduce synonyms to a keyword and divide
the synonyms with “or”

“or” is used to combine synonyms or like terms and
broadens the search
 web
or internet; salaries or compensation
Developing Effective Search Strategies

Use truncation symbols where
appropriate to find relevant
variants on a word


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tax*searches for “tax”, “taxation,”
“taxes” etc.)
canad*searches for Canada,
Canadian, Canadians
As a rule, it’s best to put phrases
in quotes

“harmonized sales tax”; “capital
gains tax”
Developing Effective Search Strategies


Make sure you know what the database is
searching by default.
 You’ll get very different results if default is
to search full-text of all articles instead of
only searching citations and abstracts
(summaries)
 Change the default if you need to.
Consider the source – many databases will
allow you to view articles by type.
 Is the article scholarly, trade or popular?
Developing Effective Search Strategies

Got too many results?


Databases might offer “suggested topics”
or subjects, and will assign keywords or
subject terms to each article
Use these search terms to refine and
improve your searching!
Search Examples
Search Topic (simple search): Find articles which
discuss the legal issues surround carbon taxes in
Canada.
Demo Database System: Lexis-Nexis Academic (legal
database)
Search Topic (multi concept search): Find articles
which talk about tax havens and their use by multinational corporations
Demo Database System: Proquest (ABI/INFORM
Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, CBCA Business,
Canadian Newsstand)
Developing Effective Search Strategies:
Proquest
Developing Effective Search Strategies:
Scholar’s Portal
Developing Effective Search
Strategies: Scholar’s Portal
If the issue in which your
article appears has a
“theme”, it might be helpful
to see other articles from
that same issue.
Developing Effective Search
Strategies: Business Source Premier
You can narrow
your results by
publication
type
Business
Source Premier
Subjects that
have been
assigned to the
search results
Developing Effective Search Strategies:
Business Source Premier
Subject terms can help you
to refine search and find
additional articles of
relevance
Agenda





Introduction to the Libraries
Finding a specific journal article using
the library catalogue
Business articles: What are they? How
do distinguish different types of
articles?
Doing your research: effective search
strategies to find articles you need
Citation: Academic integrity and
bibliographic management
Citing Articles




McGill University’s guide to Citing
Business Sources in APA
Guidelines for citing information in
different styles available on York Library
web site also.
York Libraries’ Academic Integrity
Tutorial, and how to avoid plagiarism
Learn about RefWorks to help you build a
database of relevant articles and for easy
formatting of your bibliography!
Citing Articles: Library Links
Click on the
Bronfman
(business) link to
find business
citation guides for
APA
Check the “Research”
menu for links to
information about
footnotes and
bibliographies,
RefWorks, and
academic integrity.
Upcoming RefWorks
workshops will be
posted under the
Workshops schedule
Need More Help?

ADMS 3520 Course Guide:


Library Homepage (www.library.yorku.ca)  Bronfman
Business  Course Related Guides (Under the “Starting
Your Research” menu)  Overview of Canadian Income
Taxation ADMS 3520
Library Contact Information:

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Library Homepage (www.library.yorku.ca)  Bronfman
Business  Help with Research (Under the “Starting Your
Research” menu)
E-mail bgref@yorku.ca
Call 416-736-5139 during library reference hours
Message us via the BizResearch IM box at
http://www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/BG/
Come in person, during library reference hours:


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Monday to Thursday 9 am to 7:30 pm
Friday 9 am to 6 pm
Saturday 10 am to 6 pm
Sunday 12 pm to 8 pm
Need More Help? See the “Research”
menu on the Library Home Page:
How to find journal
articles
Academic integrity
and plagiarism
Research FAQ
Footnotes and
bibliographies