Health Statistics
Where Do I Find the Right
Resources?
Jane Long, MA, MLIS
Periodicals and Government
Documents Librarian
Al Harris Library
Assignment Specifications:
 Your assignment involves locating five
potential sources that will be used for your
research project. Your sources must be
from peer-reviewed journals and/or
credible sources for statistical information.
 During this class session, you will search
for appropriate articles and submit your
source information the Canvas Dropbox.
 These articles will be used to prepare an
introduction and APA-style citations for
your research project.
 Remember: Abstracts, popular press
publications, and Wikipedia are NOT
appropriate sources.
What Is an Abstract?
The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary
provides the following definition for the noun
form of the word:
“a summary of points (as of a writing) usually
presented in skeletal form; also : something
that summarizes or concentrates the essentials
of a larger thing or several things.”
An abstract is not an essay. Its purpose is to
let the reader know what sort of information will
be included in the complete article.
What Is a Summary Paper?
 A summary paper is an analysis written by
someone after reading a piece of literature.
The summary paper provides an overview
of the literature in the words of the person
writing the summary.
 This is basically a review of a scholarly
article.
 A summary article can be used to lead you
to scholarly references.
What Is a Scholarly Journal? What
Is Peer Review?
Why Scholarly Rather Than Popular?
Scholarly Article
Popular Article
Researchers & Experts
AUTHOR
Journalists, Non-experts
Academic journals
SOURCE
Newspapers, popular
magazines
To share research
findings
PURPOSE
General information
Other researchers &
scholars
AUDIENCE
General public
Specialized vocabulary
VOCABULARY
Everyday language
Provided for all sources
CITATIONS
Few or no citations
provided
Evaluating Information
Scholarly sources are concerned with academic
study, especially research for individuals such as
students, teachers, professors, or any other
professionals who need current information to
stay informed of changes in their profession or
area of expertise. Many scholarly journals are
peer reviewed or refereed, that is, these articles
have been subjected to a rigorous approval and
editing process by other scholars in that
discipline.
It is easy to search for scholarly resources by using
library databases to find articles.
Keyword vs. Subject
 Natural language—
words and phrases you
use in everyday
conversations
 Flexible terminology:
Synonyms—words
with the same or
similar meanings can
be substituted
 Less accurate when
searching in article
databases
 Use with Boolean
operators (AND, OR,
NOT)
 Predetermined
terminology (created
by the Library of
Congress or NLM
MeSH)
 Terms such as those
found in a thesaurus
 More precise when
searching (most article
databases have their
own predetermined
terminology)
Why are sources important?
 To provide statistics (i.e., NIH estimate of %
population who donate blood). Statistics establish a
level of credibility regarding your subject.
 To provide specific information (i.e., coin
composition, hand washing techniques, background
on Staphylococcus). Looking at what others have
done will aid you in understanding your subject better.
 To provide background and information about the
problem from related studies (i.e., the article’s authors
found ___% of their sample of college students are
insured). Again, this detail aids you and your readers’
understanding of the subject.
 To help you to design your project (i.e., there is a
questionnaire/protocol in the article). Good ideas will
be found in the sources you examine.
APA Citation: Purpose for
Documentation
 Need help with using APA?
 Use this link for assistance:
http://campusguides.swosu.edu/apa
Why Use APA Style?
 To give credit to sources used
 Avoid plagiarism
 Assist others in finding these sources
 Minimize confusion in locating the sources
by standardizing the format of the citations
 Provide consistency in the way a
document’s Reference List and in-text
citations are prepared
APA Citation Examples
Huang, C., Ma, W., & Stack, S. (2012). The
hygienic efficacy of different hand-drying
methods: A review of the evidence.
Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 87(8), 791798. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2012.02.019
APA Citation Examples
Yang, Z.J. (2012). Too scared or too capable?
Why do college students stay away from
the H1N1 vaccine? Risk Analysis, 32(10),
1703-1716. doi: 10.1111/j.15396924.2012.01799.x
What Is a DOI?
 The abbreviation stands for Digital Object
Identifier OR Digital Identifier of an Object.
 What makes the DOI significant is the fact that it
identifies an article permanently and persistently.
 A DOI will continue to point to the object it
identifies even if the object is moved, updated or
modified. This means there is platform
independence that allows data from different
sources to be easily shared using multiple output
formats.
Check for a DOI
 If no DOI has been assigned to the
content or the database record, enter the
citation information using the DOI Lookup.
By entering information about the article in
the lookup search, you will be able to
determine whether a DOI has been
assigned to the article.
APA Citation Examples
Pham, M. T., Jones, A. Q., Dewey, C. E., Sargeant, J. M., &
Marshall, B. J. (2012). Food safety issues and
information needs: An online survey of public health
inspectors. Journal of Environmental Health, 84(10), 2229. Retrieved from http://www.neha.org/JEH/
• If there is no DOI assigned and the reference was
retrieved online, use the URL for the journal’s home
page.
Abstract
Scholarly
Articles
Summary
Paper
Other =
(Statistics
& credible
websites)
 It will be necessary for you to record information about
the sources you find. (EBSCO databases make this
information easily accessible.)
 Identify sources using the types listed above. Include
the following appropriate information for each of your
sources:
 Author(s)
 Year published
 Article Title
 Journal Title
 Volume (and issue—if available) for the journal
 Inclusive page number(s)
 DOI (Digital Object Identifier) OR
 URL for journal’s website when no DOI number has
been assigned
Searching for Articles
 Health & Medical
 CINAHL Complete
 Health Source: Nursing/Academic
Edition (EBSCOhost)
 MEDLINE with Full Text (EBSCOhost)
 SPORTDiscus with Full Text
(EBSCOhost)
First Step: Setting up an
EBSCO folder
Next Step: Create a New
Account
Questions

Contact me:

Jane Long
774-3731
jane.long@swosu.edu
http://faculty.swosu.edu/jane.long/
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