ANS 424: Horse Systems & Management

Find Articles on Animal Science Topics

These databases search the full scope of animal science and other scientific literature. For the most comprehensive results, try more than one database. While each database offers different features, these search hints apply to most:   

►Refine search results by adding other limits such as year, language, full text, etc.
►Sort by date, author, title, or relevance.
►Look for links to view full text of articles online.
►For articles that are not part of Memorial Library's collection, look for a link to request interlibrary loan. Often, these links will automatically fill in the request form for - just log in to your Library Account.

Finding Articles Once You Have a Citation

In many cases, the database will provide a link to full text. But when it doesn't, or if the link doesn't work, what do you do?

►Check the Journal Locator!

Enter the title of the journal (not the article information) in the search box. Look for Full Text Available listings that include the year you need & click on the journal title.

If there's no link to full text, look for Print copies at your library. Click on the journal title & look carefully at the holdings information to determine location.

How to Identify Peer Reviewed Journals

Peer review is defined as “a process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field” (1). Peer review is intended to serve two purposes:

1. It acts as a filter to ensure that only high quality research is published, especially in reputable journals, by determining the validity, significance and originality of the study.
2. Peer review is intended to improve the quality of manuscripts that are deemed suitable for publication. Peer reviewers provide suggestions to authors on how to improve the quality of their manuscripts, and also identify any errors that need correcting before publication.

How do you determine whether an article qualifies as being a peer-reviewed journal article?

• If you're searching for articles in certain databases, you can limit your search to peer-reviewed sources simply by selecting a tab or checking a box on the search screen.
• If you have an article, an indication that it has been through the peer review process will be the publication history, usually at the beginning or end of the article.
• If you're looking at the journal itself, go to the editorial statement or instructions to authors (usually in the first few pages of the journal or at the end) for references to the peer-review process.
• Lookup the journal by title or ISSN in the ProQuest Source Evaluation Aid. 
• Careful! Not all information in a peer-reviewed journal is actually reviewed. Editorials, letters to the editor, book reviews, and other types of information don't count as articles, and may not be accepted by your professor.

What about preprint sites and ResearchGate?

• A preprint is a piece of research that has not yet been peer reviewed and published in a journal. In most cases, they can be considered final drafts or working papers. Preprint sites are great sources of current research - and most preprint sites will provide a link to a later, peer-reviewed version of an article. 
• ResearchGate is a commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. Members can upload research output including papers, chapters, negative results, patents, research proposals, methods, presentations, etc. Researchers can access these materials, and also contact members to ask for access to material that has not been shared, usually because of copyright restrictions. There is a filter to limit results to articles, but it can be difficult to determine the publication history of ResearchGate items and whether they have been published in peer reviewed sources.

► Use the bibliography/reference list of articles & other sources you find. ► Check relevant articles in Google Scholar to see if they've been cited by other authors. ► Call or email me to make an appointment for a research consultation!