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EDU 999: Research and Evaluation

A guide to information resources for EDU 999 students working on their theses.

Getting Education Research Articles For Your Literature Review...

Getting More Full Text

  • Many of our databases make articles immediately available as full-text PDFs or text on webpages
  • If not, then use the 'Full Text Finder' link
  • Even if the database you found an article citation in doesn’t have the full text right there, click on this link to check for full text in other library databases
  • This means: DON'T limit to full text when searching our databases

 

pointing handFor database searching help, contact a librarian, or try these searching tips.

 

Top Databases for Education Articles

Other Multi-Topic Academic Databases

Ram Search

Search for articles, books, journals, and more!

  • Pros:
    • Can be useful for interdisciplinary topics
    • Can see the list of databases searched, then choose a few specific ones to make a custom search
    • Can limit to peer-reviewed journals only
    • Defaults to finding only full-text results
  • Cons:
    • Not able to search every database we have
    • Tends to be less precise, more like a Google search
    • Searches books, news and other stuff, too; may have to filter those results out
    • Defaults to finding only full-text results - you may miss citations that you would really want for your Lit Review
  • If you try this, use the advanced search page to get more precise searches

 

2) Multiple Ebsco Databases at once

  • Pros
    • Search multiple databases that we get from the same company
  • Cons
    • Have to make sure to leave out the newspaper and other non-relevant databases

3) Multiple Gale Databases at once

  • Pros
    • Search multiple databases that we get from the same company
  • Cons
    • Have to make sure to leave out the newspaper and other non-relevant databases

4) Multiple ProQuest Databases at once

  • Pros
    • Search multiple databases that we get from the same company
  • Cons
    • Have to make sure to leave out the newspaper and other non-relevant databases

 

 

Finding Individual Journals at FSU

  • Browse journals by topic on our Journal Search Page
  • Search for a specific journal title on our Journal Search Page
  • Journals may be available from more than one source; journal coverage (years available) may vary
    • We may get older issues from one source and current issues from a different source
    • Some journals may have 'embargoes' (full-text delays) of up to one year
  • Yes, you can search within an individual journal
    • There will be a search box somewhere (usually upper right) on the journal's main page
    • Run a keyword or title phrase search there
  • Please request articles NOT currently available full-text at FSU by using our Interlibrary Loan Form

Google Scholar

When to use Google / Other online search engines:

1) Looking for the full text of articles

  • Search for a desired article that you know is not available full text at FSU by using the entire article title as a phrase search
    • Type a double quote (") The complete article title, then another double quote (")
    • Example: "Impact of Peer-Led Team Learning and the Science Writing and Workshop Template on the Critical Thinking Skills of First-Year Chemistry Students"
  • Article authors may make available a pre-print or final journal version of their article on their personal, departmental or institutional repository website (or sometimes on sites like ResearchGate)

2) Looking for the full text of others' dissertations or theses

  • Try a title phrase search via Google / your online search engine of choice

or

  • Find the website of the degree-granting institution
  • Do a title phrase search in website search box to quickly see if they offer free full text via an open-access digital repository

 

FSU's Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Service

To find other theses and dissertations in your topic area...

  • Go to the ProQuest Search Interface (searches all our ProQuest databases)
  • Click on the 'Dissertations & Theses' button above the search box
  • Search now for your topic
  • Openly-available (free) results will then appear