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Philosophy: The Search for Resources

Search Strategy

Find something interesting to write about

  • Not sure where to start? Use the library's reference databases to find background information in order to get started. Credo Reference can also help with keywords and links directly to articles.

Thesis

  • or research question, aka the chewy nugget center of your paper. Your thesis is a super condensed version of your paper, it needs to communicate to the reader exactly what the paper is all about. As a plus, it will also keep you on track in your research. Everything stems from your Thesis, including your Keywords. 

Keywords

  • or search terms, are the most important part of searching. Think of your thesis as the recipe for a really delicious pie and your keywords are the list of ingredients. The keywords themselves won't make the pie but they will point you in the direction of the ingredients (articles). The database isn't smart. It can only find what you tell it to find. Pay attention to spelling and punctuation. If you search for "Alice's Adventures on Wonderland" you will get zero results.

Advanced Search Strategies

  • Boolean Operators: AND, OR, NOT can help you find more/or less results 
  • "Quotation Marks" take a few words and place them together so the database will search them as 1 term - see "Alice's Adventures on Wonderland" above. Spelling counts and the database will only search for the words in the order that they are in the quotation marks.
  • Truncation - often represented by an asterisk * - helps search all possible variations of a word by using the "trunk" of the word followed by the symbol *. For example: educat* which search educate, educated, educator, educators, education, educational. What will you do with all your new free time? 

Subjects & Topics

  • While the database isn't as smart as you, it will offer suggestions based on your searches. These will vary by database but Topic usually refers to what the article is about - food, poems, nursing - think of it as a confirmed keyword, the article doesn't just have the word Aristotle in it but is actually about Aristotle. Subject is the area of study - think Literature, Medicine, and Philosophy. These can be used individually or together to narrow your number of search results.

Call Numbers

B             Philosophy (General)
1-52         Periodicals. Societies. Dictionaries.
53-68       Methodology. (related to other topics)
69-99       General Works. Translations. 
105          Special Topics
108-708    Ancient (600 BC - 430 AD)
720-765    Medieval (430 - 1450 AD)
770-785    Renaissance
790-5739   Modern (1450 AD - )

BH          Aesthetics
BJ           Ethics
1-28           Periodicals. Societies. Collected Works.
37-69          Methodology. Relation to other topics.
71-977        History
991-1185     General Works. Treatises. Advanced textbooks.
1188-1295    Religious ethics
1298-1392    Evolutionary, Genetic, Monistic ethics.
1400-1500    Special topics
1518-1697    Individual ethics. Virtues and Vices.
1801-2195    Social ethics. Etiquette
 BC Logic 
 BD Speculative Philosophy
 10-41 General Introductions to Philosophy
 95-131      Metaphysics
 143-236     Epistemology
 240-255     Methodology
 300-450     Ontology
 493-701     Cosmology

Finding Scholarly Articles

What is a Peer-Reviewed or Scholarly Article?

a historical looking man writing on a modern computer

Often, a Professor will specify that articles need to be peer-reviewed, scholarly or refereed (they all mean the same thing). A peer-review process means that other experts in the field reviewed the article's content prior to publication and determined it was scholarly.

Common components of a peer-reviewed article are:

  • Abstract: a brief paragraph that describes the content of the article. TIP: If you cannot understand the abstract, you definitely won't be able to understand the article!
  • Bibliography: Sources will be clear, usually at the end with a reference list but sometimes with footnotes or both.
  • Authority: the author's credentials/affiliation will be clearly stated.
  • Technical: and contain specific terminology relative to the topic and/or graphs, charts or complex mathematical equations or formulas.
  • It will likely be substantially longer than a magazine article. This tells you NOT to search in popular magazines, newspapers, trade journals and Google.

Yes, there is Google Scholar, but often times once an article is finally located there is a fee to obtain it. Always check JET Library databases first, where access to everything is FREE.

Peer Review Process


How do I find Peer-Reviewed Articles?screen shot of jetfind peer-reviewed journal filter

 

These types of articles are ONLY found in Scholarly Journals. The best way to access scholarly journals is through JETfind or our databases. To limit to peer-review only, look for a box where you can check 'peer-reviewed' or "scholary journals".  

 

The screenshot from the left is from JETfind but each database could have the Peer Review option in a different place.

 

 

The Search Results list in JETfind will also include a peer review icon that is visible even if you don't select Peer-Reviewed Journals from the filters.

 

 

screenshot of jetfind search result list with peer reviewed icon

Full Text Options

Direct Access to Full Text in Current Database

PDF icon and text label indicates the full text can be retrieved in the exact format as when it appeared in a print journal. In other words, page numbers, illustrations, graphs will all be intact and it will print very nicely as well. This is the most desirable full text option. 


html icon and text label indicates the full text can be retrieved, but it will render as a web page. This means it might be a little more to difficult read than a pdf. and images, charts and graphs may not be present. It also might be difficult to print, as text may run off the page. Ideally if you have a choice between .pdf or html full text, always choose .pdf.


Linked Direct Access to Full Text in Another Database

linked full text icon indicates that this database has found full text located in another database. Clicking on this link will take you out of where you are and into the database that contains the article. From there, you should be able to access the article either by .pdf or html.

NOTE: Each database has different connections, metadata and access points, sometimes this does not work, and although it says it found full text, it may not be available.


Potential Access to Full Text in Another Database

get it at jetfind button  This symbol indicates that full text may or may not have been found in one or more databases. Clicking on "Get It @ JETfind"  or the words" Check for Full Text" will either:

  1. Connect you directly to the full-text of the article, if it is found in one (and only one) of our databases or collections.
  2. Connect you to the article's record page in JETfind which will show:
    1. The multiple database options for access and you can select one of the links.
    2. A link to Interlibrary Loan, if the full-text of the article is NOT available in our databases.

Full-text in a Database is not available:

screenshot of JETfind page with the interlibrary loan link

For your convenience, Interlibrary Loan is fully automated, but keep in mind the article could take up to two weeks to come it. Before pursuing this option, Ask a Librarian to determine if there is any other way to attain full-text access and/or check for similar articles available in full text. More on InterLibrary Loan...

Note: you do not need to login to your JETfind account in order to Request from Interlibrary Loan. You will need to login to your Interlibrary Loan account - this account is not automatic and you must create it.

How Do I Search for Articles?

How do I search for articles?

The first step to finding articles is to pick your keywords. The video below explains the process of going form a research question, to keywords, and then searching.