This document provides guidelines for finding scholarly articles online. It recommends starting with Google Scholar to search journals, theses, and articles. Additionally, it suggests searching the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), which allows free searches of quality controlled scientific journals. Government, university library, and United Nations websites are also identified as reliable sources for academic and professional works. The document stresses evaluating the credibility of information from any website.
2. WHERE TO BEGIN
There is a lot of misinformation and hogwash online. However,
here are some guidelines to finding good quality articles online.
Remember to use your critical thinking to analyze everything you read
and decide if it is credible.
3. GOOGLE SCHOLAR
A good place to start looking is Google Scholar. It can be found
at http://scholar.google.com
It searches a variety of journals, thesis and articles.
Try using advance searches instead of just simple key word
searches
4. VISIT THE DOAJ
This is the Directory of Open Access Journals and it is found at:
http://www.doaj.org/.
It is free of charge and here you can search for quality controlled
scientific and scholarly journals in a wide range of fields and
languages.
5. CHECK OUT
PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES
Check out articles that have been produced by professional firms
and professional societies
You can often find reputable articles offering great information
from top people in their professions
6. CHECK UNIVERSITIES
A number of colleges and universities are making articles available
Check the universities library websites for information
MIT, Yale, Harvard and Stanford are good places to look
7. GOVERNMENT SITES
Check out parliaments and legislative websites (not just your
government but look at other countries also) - look at commissions,
committees, ombudsman, auditor-general, and other websites to find
a huge amount of reliable information.
Don't forget to look for annual reports of State owned entities for
figures and information you can quote to back up your research.
8. UNITED NATIONS
There is a lot of academic and professional work available free-of-
charge or at minimal cost on United Nations websites.
Also check out the United Nations University
9. OTHER PROFESSIONAL
SITES
You may be able to find additional information from professional
sites and organizations
Check out links on websites that are related to your research
10. REVIEW
Remember to determine the credibility of the site
Check out Google Scholar
Research the DOAJ
Look at college and university libraries
Government and United Nation websites are a great resource