This document provides an overview of how to conduct research for an athletic training course, including an introduction to different types of literature and how to search databases to find scholarly journal articles. It distinguishes between popular and scholarly periodicals, describes primary, secondary and tertiary literature, and recommends specific databases for finding sports-related research. RefWorks is also introduced as a tool for organizing citations and full-text articles.

1. ATTR 1001:
Basic Athletic Training
Finding Information
Kathleen Baril, Collections and E-Resources Librarian
Heterick Memorial Library

2. What we will cover
• Introduction to research
• Differences between popular
magazines and scholarly journals
• Searching and finding journal articles in
library databases
• Refworks

3. Start Your Research
Do background research first : read
reference books, general books, etc.
Narrow your topic,
explore general
databases or Search
research tool.
Research
using
subject
specific databases.
SPORTDiscus
MedLINE
Academic Search
Complete

4. Research Tools
Catalogs – for locating
books, maps, musical
scores, govt. documents,
etc. Our catalog is called
POLAR.
Databases – usually for
locating periodical and
newspaper articles, but
may cover other
materials as well.

5. Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals
Magazines or Popular Periodicals
• Glossy pages and lots of pictures
• Edited by magazine editors
• Articles usually written by staff journalists
• Short articles
• Targeted to general audiences
Scholarly Journals/Periodicals
• Peer-reviewed
• Longer
• Citations/Bibliography
• Written by scholars, experts in the field of study
• Targeted to scholars, students in a particular
field of study

6. Peer Review Process
The researcher writes
up his or her research
and submits it to a
journal.
The journal editor
receives the article
and sends it on to
peer reviewers.
Peer reviewers read
the article and send
comments back to
editor.
After peer review, editor
may send the article
back to the researcher
for revisions.
After reviews and
revisions,
Publication!

7. Tertiary Literature
• Very broad topics.
• Useful place for finding background
information on a topic.
• Usually contains well-established facts
in science.
• Examples: encyclopedias, textbooks,
handbooks.
Adapted from Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural
Resources Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BIOS/bio1bscholcomm.html

8. Primary Research
• Write-ups of results of research.
• Current and specialized.
• Often analyzes data collected in the
field or laboratory.
• Examples: articles in peer-reviewed
journals, dissertations, technical
reports, etc
Adapted from Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural
Resources Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BIOS/bio1bscholcomm.html

9. Secondary Literature
• Summaries of primary
literature/research.
• Broader and less current.
• Helpful because of long bibliographies
on a subject.
• Examples include: books, literature
review articles.
Adapted from Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural
Resources Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BIOS/bio1bscholcomm.html

10. Secondary Literature:
Literature Reviews
What is a literature review?
• Literature reviews (also called review articles)
survey and synthesize primary research on a
particular topic.
• They are articles authored by researchers and
published in scholarly journals
• They summarize multiple primary research articles
• They are secondary literature
from Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural Resources Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BIOS/bio1bscholcomm.html

11. Secondary Literature:
Literature Reviews
Why are literature reviews a good starting
point for researching a topic?
• They provide an overview of a particular area of
study
• Their extensive reference lists may be used to
locate further relevant articles
• They may provide ideas for narrowing a too-
broad topic
from Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural Resources Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BIOS/bio1bscholcomm.html

12. Finding Articles
Search by
title or
subject for
the
appropriate
database.

13. Finding Articles
Recommended Databases:
• Health Source: Nursing/Academic
Edition
• MedLINE with Full Text
• SportDISCUS with Full Text

14. Finding Articles
If articles are available in full-text, an icon for
PDF or HTML will appear below the article
citation.

15. Finding Articles
For some articles, you will have to click on the
Find it @ONU to find the full text.

16. If the journal is not available electronically or in
print, please make an Interlibrary Loan request.
Finding Articles

17. Finding Articles
Start by searching via the Search research tool.

18. Finding Articles
Search

19. Finding Articles
Use facets at the side
to narrow your search.
Narrow by:
• Date
• Source type
• Subject
• Database

20. Finding Articles
Overwhelmed by
results? Choose
specific subject
databases related to
your topic from the
facets in Search.

21. RefWorks
Use this resource to keep
track of citations and provide
links to electronic full-text
articles.

22. For Further Assistance…
• Contact the Reference Desk at 419-772-
2185.
• Contact the Reference Desk via email at
reference@onu.edu.
• Contact me directly k-baril@onu.edu
or 419-772-2188 to set up an appointment.