Skip to Main Content

Anthropology Research Guide

Scholarly Journal Articles

What's a Journal? - Journals vs. Magazines from KapCC Library on Vimeo.

 

How do we know a source we've found is a scholarly journal article? Look for these clues:

  • written by scholars (with affiliations to universities or research institutions)
  • written for other scholars and students (and therefore difficult to read)
  • published in an academic journal with a peer-review process
    • Here are some examples:
      • American Anthropologist
      • Human Ecology
      • Cultural Anthropology
  • extensive references at the end
Tips Examples
Use keywords, not long search phrases

 

 

Instead of searching for "How is Ayurvedic medicine a useful intervention for heart conditions?" break down your search into the main keywords:

Ayurveda, Ayurvedic medicine, health, heart, cardiovascular, hypertension, India, phytotherapy, hatha yoga,  massage

To get more focused results:

Use quotation marks (" ") to keep phrases together

Use AND to combine different keywords

 "massage therapy" AND Ayurveda 

To get broader results:

Use OR to combine similar/associated keywords

Truncate words that have a variety of endings with a *                                       

Ayurveda AND (culture or ethnography)

 

cultur* = culture, cultures, cultural
Look for ways to limit your search in the database You can often limit by type of article (scholarly and peer-reviewed) & year of publication

 

   
Subjects: Anthropology