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OCN / ENS 3911 - Assignment for Marine / Environmental Field Projects

This guide walks you through the steps for finding peer-reviewed journals and articles in your field using the Florida Tech Evans Library’s resources.

Welcome to the Research Guide for the OCN/ENS 3911 Marine/Environmental Field Projects Assignment

In OCN/ENS 3911 - Marine/Environmental Field Projects, students will prepare for the summer field projects in the areas of Environmental or Marine Science. Students are guided through the process of selecting, designing and proposing research projects to be carried out during the summer.

Details relating to how to complete the assignment for this class are provide on this page, below.

Class Presentation

Locating peer-reviewed articles from journals in your field:

What are peer-reviewed articles?

Scholarly/peer-reviewed/refereed articles are based on original research and have been reviewed by experts in very specific fields to ensure that new works add to the body of knowledge. Peer-reviewed publications are considered to be of the highest quality for academic research.

For a quick summary on the characteristics of a peer-reviewed article, refer to this website (click on the colored blocks for additional information).

 

How do I find a peer-reviewed paper?

The "Journals" link on the library website will allow you to search for an article within a specific journal title. However, by using a "Research Database", you can simultaneously search many journal titles. 

The library website also provides a link to "Research Guides", which help you find those databases and other library resources that are most relevant to your research.

At the top of the page, make sure that the "BY SUBJECT" tab is selected.  Then, based upon your area of study, select a research guide from the options listed on the page.  For the purposes of this assignment, I suggest the "Ocean Engineering & Marine Sciences" research guide.

On the left side of the Home page of the research guide, click on the "Find Articles & Research" tab.  After doing your search, check the box for "Peer Reviewed Journals" on the left side of the results page.  The "Find Articles with Key Databases..." box will describe and provide links to those Databases that are best suited to your needs.

 

What if the journal title is abbreviated?

Abbreviated titles cannot be found in A to Z Journals, so you will need to know the journal’s full title. Often, Googling the abbreviation will give you the full journal title, but if not, try using the CAS Source Index (CASSI) Search Tool.

 

How do I know whether the journal is peer-reviewed?

Ulrichsweb is useful for determining whether a specific journal is peer-reviewed (or refereed).  Look up the name of the journal in which you article was published; if the listing for the journal includes an image of a referee jersey, the journal user peer-review.  Remember that you will still need to evaluate the articles themselves!

Find the Ulrichsweb database by typing Ulrichsweb in the Databases tab on the library website.

Determine whether the cited sources are peer-reviewed:

How do I know whether the articles are peer-reviewed?

Each reference contains a journal title. Use Ulrichsweb to determine whether or not the journals are peer-reviewed, and then evaluate the articles themselves.

 

How do I recognize a peer-reviewed article?

Peer-reviewed articles present original research and typically contain a very specific title, authors’ academic credentials, an abstract, data and graphs of research results, a discussion or conclusion, and references. Learn more from NCSU:

Locate print or digital copies of four secondary articles:

How do I find the articles?

Search for the journal title using the  "Journals" link on the library website.  After doing your search, check the box for "Peer Reviewed Journals" on the left side of the results page, and then search for the article title within the database or in the library’s print collection.

If the library does not subscribe to a particular journal, you might use the OneSearch search box, located on the library's website, to find the article in another library.

 

What if the library does not have my article?

Interlibrary Loan is a service that lets you request full text articles that the Evans Library does not own through your Interlibrary Loan account. You will need to create a login for this account the first time you use it. Read the FAQ on the Library website for more information.

Useful Resources

You may want to use the following resources while completing your assignment:

Related or Helpful Guides