What's in this guide
1. Define peer review.
2. Learn where to find a peer reviewed source from an anthropological journal.
3. Cite using AAA.
Keywords are the main ideas of your issue. Use them to search.
AND - connect different ideas
e.g. "human rights" AND russia
OR - connect synonyms
e.g. global OR international
NOT - use sparingly!
e.g. economic NOT social
Is it a peer-reviewed journal?
1. Type in the name of the journal. Click the magnifying glass icon to search.
2. On the results page, look for a little black and white referee shirt icon next to the journal.
Refereed = peer reviewed
You'll probably see more than one listing for the title because there's separate entries for print, microform and electronic versions.
If you're not able to find anything in Anthropology Plus, you can try searching in specific journals.
You'll have to look through the titles for a journal that fits with your topic and search in each journal separately.
1. Read your assignment
Read your assignment carefully and highlight the key parts (requirements, due date, length, etc.)
1. (At least) one course reading
2. (At least) one peer-reviewed source from an anthropological journal
2. Search in Course readings
Start with your course readings. Look at the References Cited list at the end of the relevant readings.
Once you find a citation you want, type the author(s) and article title into the search box on the library homepage. You should be able to find it in the left column of results (Articles & Book Chapters).
3. Search in an Anthropology-specific database
Since you need a source from an anthropology journal, you have two options:
- Search in anthropology journals one at a time
- Search in a database, which allows you to search many journals at a time (but may not cover all issues of a journal)
Anthropology Plus is a database that focuses on anthropology specifically, so it's your best bet for this assignment.
4. Make sure it's from a peer-reviewed source
If you're using the library search, check off these two boxes on the upper left:
Using these filters (delimiters) isn't perfect, but it will eliminate most of the non-peer-reviewed sources.
In some databases, they may have a similar checkbox option. Anthropology Plus doesn't, so you'll need to take an extra step to check if it's peer reviewed. Follow the instructions in the box to the left for Ulrichsweb.com.
Not citing = plagiarism
Start with my page on Citing with AAA.
If in doubt, refer to the official American Anthropological Association citation style guide (PDF). Use the table of contents to find what you need and jump straight to it.
Popular vs Scholarly Journals
Created by the Peabody Library at Vanderbilt University.
Start your search broad (with fewer search terms) and then narrow it down.
Don't be discouraged! Your first search won't be perfect - you'll likely need several searches before you figure out a good combination of search terms.
Remember to look beyond the first page of results.
Citation chaining - Once you find one good, relevant article, you can easily find others by looking at the reference list at the end of the article. It can also help you to look at the development of a concept over time, figure out who the major researchers are, and find the "important" articles in an area of research.
- Last Updated: Nov 7, 2017 6:38 PM
- URL: https://library.ucalgary.ca/guides/anthropology
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