What is Scholarly Information?

Instructors often ask students to find “scholarly”, “academic”, or “peer reviewed” sources of information for their research.  These terms all refer to the same type of information – sources based on in-depth research, and are considered higher in quality and more reliable for your research. These sources can range from chapters within books, entire books, or journal articles, but all have common characteristics that can help you recognize that type of information.

Other Types of Sources:

• Books

Books can be a good source of background information, especially if starting research in a new area, as they provide a comprehensive view of developments in a field.  A good place to find books is through PittCat, the library catalog.

• Conference Proceedings

Conference proceedings report the significant events of an academic or trade conference.  Researchers often present new ideas at conferences as panel discussions, talks, and more, thus proceedings can be a good place to look for emerging ideas in a field of research.  Many of the engineering databases have a filter for conference proceedings.

• Patents

Patents are legal documents granting property rights for an invention.  Many new discoveries are only reported in patents, and not elsewhere in journals or other scholarly literature.  For more information on patents see the Patent Searching @ Pitt guide.

• Standards

Standards are agreed-upon specifications and guidelines for the performance, operation or composition of a product or process. Consulting standards is important in the design process, and standards are frequently used by engineering professionals. For more information on standards see the Getting Technical Standards @ Pitt guide.

• Government Reports

Many government agencies publish reports based on research or analysis conducted by their organizations.  These are often considered reliable sources.  The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Database has reports from various U.S. and international government agencies.

Engineering Databases:

Use the databases below to search for journal articles, conference proceedings, technical papers, etc.  For help using any of these databases, contact the Bevier Engineering Library.

Best Bets:

These databases are more general and should be useful for all engineering disciplines.  The full list of engineering databases can be found on the Engineering Databases LibGuide.

Additional Databases:

These databases are more specialized for specific engineering disciplines.  See the descriptions for when these databases might be useful, and refer to the Departmental LibGuides for more databases in your area.

NOTE: SciFinder requires each user to register for a personal SciFinder account before searching.  Be sure to carefully read the license agreement before accepting, as this outlines acceptable uses of the database. You must use a computer connected to the Pitt network and enter your Pitt email address when registering.

Business Databases:

If you need information on industries, market trends, or specific companies, try the two guides below to find appropriate business databases to search.

What is a Database?

When we refer to a database in libraries, we are referring to online resources that index journals, journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, and other content. These databases make it easy for users to search across multiple content types and content providers without having to search each provider individually.

• Some databases offer access to a broad variety of content and are often good starting points for research.
• Other databases are subject specific and are useful for finding resources related to a specific field of research.

All of our databases offer multiple options for searching and refining search results, and many of our databases offer access to full-text articles.

Formulating Your Search Terms:

With your research topic in hand you must formulate a search strategy. The first step in this process is to:

•     Develop a set of search terms you will initially use to search for resources
•     Draw an initial set of search terms from your thesis topic (e.g. magnetization AND plasma)

But it may also be helpful to:

•     Try some Specific search terms (e.g. magnetic hysteresis, neutron irradiation)
•     Try some broader search terms (e.g. "fusion technology")

Refining Your Search:

Remember that the search process is iterative! It is unlikely that your first search will result in a perfect result set. Refining your search can return more relevant results, providing you with higher quality resources for your research. Use the tips below to refine your searches:

• Alter Your Search Terms

Based on your search results, consider altering your search terms. Use more specific language (e.g. 'Alzheimer's' instead of 'dementia') or synonyms for your search terms (e.g. 'girder' instead of 'beam')

• Combine Search Terms

Combining two or more search terms can help refine your results. In many databases you can search words as a phrase by enclosing them in quotation marks.  You can also combine search terms using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).

• Find New Keywords and Search Terms

Pay attention to titles, abstracts, and headings used in the results you find helpful.  Some databases also provide a list of subject terms, subject headings, or keywords for individual sources.

• Filter Results

If your results set is too large, try using the filtering features of the database.  Most databases allow you to quickly narrow down a topic by selecting a date range, language, and publication type (journal article, conference paper, etc.).

So, you've started your research and found lots of great scholarly sources. Good for you! Since you've been searching in Compendex and IEEExplore, you've probably found that the articles are very dense, complex, and full of jargon. Not to fear! Check out the PowerPoint above to learn how to easily read (and understand) a scientific paper. This PP was created by Steve Van Tuyl, Data Services Librarian, Oregon State University.

Citation Styles:

Need help using a specific citation style? See our Citation Styles guide for an overview of APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian.

Need more help? Schedule an appointment with the Writing Center.   

Citation Management Tools:

Online citation managers are an easy way to keep track of all of your references. The University Library System resources work with tools such as Mendeley and EndNote. These are tools for importing citations from sources like PittCat and article databases that can automatically integrate them into your research paper and bibliography.