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SUST 300 & 310: Sust Perspectives & Sust Practices

Accessing Library Resources From Off Campus

Many of the article databases and electronic resources found in OneSearch require a campus login, and are limited to current CSUN students, faculty and staff only. After logging in you need to complete multifactor authentication through DUO as with other campus systems.

Details and online help 

What are Scholarly Sources?

Scholarly sources (also referred to as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed sources) are written by subject experts with systems in place to ensure the quality and accuracy of information. 

Scholarly sources include books from academic publishers, peer-reviewed journal articles, and reports from research institutes.

What is peer review? When a source has been peer-reviewed, it has undergone the review and scrutiny of a review board of colleagues in the author’s field. They evaluate this source as part of the body of research for a particular discipline and make recommendations regarding its publication in a journal, revisions prior to publication, or, in some cases, reject its publication.

 

How to Read a Scholarly Article

Scholarly sources often have a particular writing style and can be challenging to read compared to other types of sources. When reading scholarly literature, read strategically. Don't start by reading the article from start to finish but rather focus on the sections that will give you the information you need first. This will quickly let you know what the article is about and its relevancy for your research. It will also prepare you for when you’re ready to read the full article, giving you a mental map of its structure and purpose.

Here is a suggestion on how to read a scholarly article and which sections to focus on first. 

 

How to read a scholarly article infographic

How to Read a Scholarly Article

  1. Read the abstract An abstract is a summary of the article, and will give you an idea of what the article is about and how it will be written. If there are lots of complicated subject-specific words in the abstract, the article will be just as hard to read.
  2. Read the conclusion This is where the author will repeat all of their ideas and their findings. Some authors even use this section to compare their study to others. By reading this, you will notice a few things you missed, and will get another overview of the content.
  3. Read the first paragraph or the introduction This is usually where the author will lay out their plan for the article and describe the steps they will take to talk about their topic. By reading this, you will know what parts of the article will be most relevant to your topic!
  4. Read the first sentence of every paragraph These are called topic sentences, and will usually introduce the idea for the paragraph that follows. By reading this, you can make sure that the paragraph has information relevant to your topic before you read the entire thing.
  5. The rest of the article Now that you have gathered the idea of the article through the abstract, conclusion, introduction, and topic sentences, you can read the rest of the article!
  6. To review: Abstract, Conclusion,  Introduction, Topic Sentences, Entire Article

Databases

 

 

Select a Database

  • Use A-Z Databases to search for a specific database or use the dropdown menus to view databases listed by subject or type.
  • OneSearch allows you to search across most of our article databases at once, and then narrow results by topic, subject area, item type, and date range.

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