TOPIC – Define the research question/statement

SOURCES – Identify the information need. Do you need background info? A research article? A literature review article? etc. What databases would include this type of information on your topic?

KEYWORDS – Select the words you will be using to find information effectively and efficiently (Use a variety of words to describe your topic/concepts. Find subject headings that relate to your topic/concept).

EVALUATION – Evaluate information critically. Is the info relevant, reliable, current, appropriate?

USE--Organize, synthesize and communicate information to make your point/argument.

CITE--Ethically and legally access and use info by avoiding plagiarism and citing all your sources.

Use one or more of the following databases or indexes to find journal articles, dissertations, etc.

Social Work Abstracts (EBSCO) - Produced by NASW (National Association of Social Workers), covers key English language journals in social work and related fields. Social Work Abstracts offers extensive coverage of more than 500 social work and human services journals dating back to 1965. Researchers, students and practitioners seeking scholarly and professional perspectives on subjects such as therapy, education, human services, addictions, child and family welfare, mental health, civil and legal rights and more will find Social Work Abstracts to be an indispensable resource.

Social Services Abstracts - Provides coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development.

APA PsycINFO (EBSCO) - Includes access to over 1,800 professional journals, chapters, books, reports, theses and dissertations, published internationally.

AgeLine (EBSCO) - AgeLine indexes over 600 journals, books, book chapters, reports, dissertations, consumer guides, and educational videos. Designed for researchers, professionals, students, and general consumers, this database addresses aging issues from individual, national, and global perspectives. It focuses exclusively on the population aged 50+ and issues of aging.

ERIC (EBSCO) - Indexes with abstracts of journal articles, unpublished reports, and other documents in education and related topics.

MEDLINE (EBSCO) - Indexes articles in medicine, microbiology, nursing, psychiatry, public health, sports medicine, and more - over 4,800 journals (Note: Full-text linking available on and off campus). Medline is also available via OCLC, and at PubMed.

Other related databases:

Criminal Justice Database - Criminal justice, forensic science, law enforcement, corrections, and more - over 175 journals.

Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text (EBSCO) - This resource includes bibliographic records and full text covering essential areas related to criminal justice and criminology.

CINAHL Plus with Full Text (EBSCO)- Provides indexing for 3,024 journals from the fields of nursing and allied health and provides full text for hundreds of journals, plus legal cases, clinical innovations, critical paths, drug records, research instruments and clinical trials.

GenderWatch - Women's studies and gender issues - 125 international publications.

Gale's Opposing Viewpoints in Context - The Opposing Viewpoints In Context database contains contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, the database features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.

To limit your results to retrieve only empirical studies in ERIC.

Limit your results to:

To limit your results to empirical studies in PsycINFO, select EMPIRICAL STUDY from the Methodology box.