Materials by Type

Interactive Tools

• Reading Scholarly Articles
• Research Questions Peer Review Tool

 

Videos

• Office Hours Series
  • Dean Burr on Research as Inquiry
  • Kristin Samuelian on Multiple Perspectives
  • Andy Hoefer on Scholarly Conversations
• Choosing and Refining a Topic
• Handling Sources Series
  • Approaching a New Source
  • Reading Scholarly Sources
  • Taking Notes
  • Analyzing a Scholarly Source
  • Evaluating a Source
  • Writing with Multiple Sources
  • Sources in Communication
• HNRS 110 FAQ Series
  • What is HNRS 110?
  • What is the point of HNRS 110?
  • What are the benefits of taking HNRS 110?
  • What are the steps in the HNRS 110 research process?
  • What does “multiple perspectives” mean?
  • What is a “scholarly conversation”?
  • How is the research process in HNRS 110 different from the research I did in high school?
  • In high school, I started a project with a claim; how is the HNRS 110 research process different?
  • Do you have any tips for a current HNRS 110 student?
  • What kinds of topics are appropriate in this class?
  • How do you select a topic and research question?
  • How can I tell if my topic is too broad?
  • How can I tell if my topic is significant?
  • What tools were most helpful for your research?
  • How can the library help me with my research?
  • What are scholarly databases and how can they help me?
  • How can the librarians help me?
  • What is a research question?
  • Why shouldn’t I pick a research question for which I already know the answer?
  • What are the characteristics of a good research question?
  • Is it okay if my research question changes?
  • What is an annotation?
  • How do you evaluate the quality of the sources you find in the research process?
  • How can I tell if a source is reliable?
  • How do you identify the relationships between sources?

Step-by-Step Guides on the Side

• APA PsycNET/PsycINFO: Finding Sources Relevant to a Research Question
• Credo Literati
  • Exploring Disciplines and Seminal Figures
  • Using Reference Sources in the Research Process
• EBSCO Academic Search Complete: Finding Scholarly Publications
• Gale Virtual Reference Library: Using Reference Sources to Explore Disciplines and Seminal Figures
• Finding Articles, Books, or Book Chapters from a Citation
• GMU Libraries
  • Library Quick Search Using inPrimo
  • Special Collections and Archives
  • Classic Catalog
• Journal Citation Reports
  • Journal Rankings by Field
  • Median Impact Factor in a Field
  • Evaluating the Impact of a Specific Journal
• JSTOR: Finding Scholarly Publications
• LexisNexis Academic: Finding Popular Press Publications
• Library Loan Systems
  • Inter Campus Loan: Having Books Delivered from Other Mason Campuses
  • Washington Regional Library Consortium Loan: Requesting Books from Other DC-Area Libraries
  • Inter Library Loan: Requesting Books from Other University Libraries around the World
• Opposing Viewpoints in Context: Exploring Topics
• ProQuest Research Library
  • Using Popular Press and Trade Periodicals in the Research Process
  • Finding Scholarly Publications
• SCImago
  • Journal Rankings by Discipline
  • Determining the Impact of a Specific Journal
  • Using the Shape of Science Visualization Tool to Discover Journals in a Discipline
• UlrichsWeb
  • Is this a Peer Reviewed Journal?
  • Identifying Periodicals by Discipline, Field, or Subject Area
• Web of Science
  • Using the “Times Cited” Feature to Discover Responses to an Article
  • Using the “Cited References” Feature to Explore an Article’s Sources
  • Using the “Related Articles” Tool to Locate Sources with Similar References to Your Source
  • Using the “Citation Map” Feature to Visualize a Scholarly Conversation

Pamphlets

• Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary Sources
• A Typology of Sources
• Introduction to Boolean Operators
• What is Peer Review?
• Evaluating Sources I: Internal Characteristics & Research Design
• Evaluating Sources II: External Indices of Significance