📚 Research Papers & Citations · Lesson 2 of 7

Finding scholarly sources

Library databases, Google Scholar and smart search terms.

Where to search

Library databases	JSTOR, EBSCO (Academic Search), ProQuest, PubMed, PsycINFO — free through your college
Google Scholar	Broad, links to library copies with “Find it @ your library”
Library catalog	Books and e-books
Government & org sites	.gov data (CDC, Census), reports from major organizations

Search like a pro

Keywords, not sentences	phone use AND sleep AND adolescents
AND	Both terms must appear — narrows
OR	Either term — broadens: teens OR adolescents
"Quotes"	Exact phrase: "sleep duration"
Filters	Peer-reviewed, date range, full text

Mine the references

Found one great article? Look at its reference list for older sources, and click “Cited by” in Google Scholar for newer ones that cite it. One good source can lead to ten.

Ask a librarian

Reference librarians are search experts and it is literally their job to help you — in person, by chat or by appointment. One 15-minute consultation can save hours.

Tip

💡 Keep a running list: for each source, save the citation and a one-line note on why it matters. Use the citation generator’s saved list.

✏️ Practice: your turn

List 5 keywords and 5 synonyms for your topic
Run one AND/OR search in a library database with the peer-reviewed filter
Find one article and follow its references and “Cited by”
Save 5 sources with one-line notes

✏️ APA & MLA citation generator with a saved works-cited list

🧠 Quick quiz

Answer all 4 questions correctly to mark this lesson as done.

1. What does AND do in a database search?

2. Where are scholarly databases free for students?

3. What does “Cited by” in Google Scholar show?

4. Quotation marks in a search…

0 of 4 correct

🔎 Finding scholarly sources