Demystifying Scholarly Journals: Unit 3
Navigation links: ETAP 623 Fall 2021 (Zhang) | Demystifying Scholarly Journals
What are References?
References are a formatted way to tell the reader where the information mentioned originated (Purdue University, 2021). Normally you will need to cite information when you make a declarative statement that is not widely known. For example, you would not need to cite:
“Ducks fly in a V formation.”
This is a well-known, directly observable fact. However, this sentence would require a citation:
“Each flying duck in a V formation is flying slightly higher than the one in front of it to create drag.”
This sentence provides specific information that is not directly observable or practical to prove by the common person and would require you to point the reader to the source of information.
Formatting Each source cited in a paper should appear at least twice – once in the actual text and once in the reference section (American Psychological Association, 2021). References are abbreviated in the body of the document and expanded upon at the end of the article or paper. This way, the reader may take the brief information found in text and follow up on the full citation at the end if they wish to follow the information. For this course, we will be focusing on the standards of the American Psychological Association (APA) as it is one of the most widely used formats in publishing.
APA (among other citation formats) are designed to give readers information in a predictable manner. An in-text citation will always provide a combination of the author(s) last name(s), and the year of the published document referenced. You may recognize this from participating in this course or when you read the article from Unit 2. Let’s revisit one of them to follow up on one of the resources.
Writing in 2010, Harnad (2010) stated his opposition to “plans by universities and research funders to pay the costs of Open Access Publishing (‘Gold OA’),” characterizing them as “premature.”
There are two ways to get to this resource. Some HTML based articles will link directly to the source where the citation is mentioned, such as this this. Others you will have to use the reference page for. Let’s scroll down the article and look at the reference:
We found the reference by looking for the author and date cited in-text. The reference starts with the author’s name and date of publication, followed by the title of the article. Then the identifying source of the publication is listed. The title of the journal followed by the volume and issue number. The issue number is within closed parenthesis.
Some journal articles have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI’s are a string of numbers, letters, and symbols that uniquely identify a document and provide it with a stable, permanent URL (University of Illinois Chicago, 2021). Clicking on the link will send you to the website where the article can be accessed.
What happens if there is no DOI?
Whether or not there is a DOI, you can always rely on your Library’s discovery system. Let’s work on a sample using the title of the original article from Unit 2 and search UAlbany’s library discovery system, OneSearch.
Visit the UAlbany Library online discovery system homepage (insert link). Enter the title of the article we used from Unit 2: “Researchers’ adoption of an institutional central fund for open-access article-processing charges: A case study using innovation diffusion theory”, into the search bar and view the results. Make sure the dropdown menu remains on ‘Everything’.
Our first result listed is the article we used! You can easily access the resource by following the ‘available online’ link.
What if the Article Isn’t Open Access?
If the article you are trying to access is not freely accessible, it may still be available to you if you are a current student. Check to see if you can gain access to the resource by clicking on one of the links available to you on the page which will prompt you to log into your UAlbany account:
If the Libraries do not provide access to the resource and the information is still needed, you will have the opportunity to fill out an interlibrary loan request to have the article sent to you. If you need assistance with this, you can always visit the library or call a reference librarian.
Activity
Building upon what we just learned about Library access, follow the instructions on the following assignment aimed at helping familiarize you with backtracking resources. Copy the page and share it as your own Google document.
Follow up
References for vetted, scholarly sources can be found using your libraries webpage. If a scholarly article isn’t discoverable via your library webpage, be sure to contact the library to follow up on access or to find out if the reference is suitable for your work. You can also search for individual journals using the same methods outlined to you in the introduction and activity. Simply enter the journal name into the search bar on the library homepage to see if your library provides access to the journal.
Closing Remarks
This course has taught you the basics of scholarly journal articles regarding their meaning, formatting, and how references are used to verify information. It is by no means an extensive instruction in reference formatting. For assistance with creating a citation or reference page, always consult a librarian. If a librarian is unavailable, you may always refer to this handy guide created and updated by Purdue University. Information for creating in-text citations and reference lists in several different formats can be found on their site.
If you are participating in this course and are not currently enrolled in a higher education institution, resources are still available to you. Some of the same journal access providers that higher institutions provide are available to the public through your local library. Visit your local library webpage to see what databases your town provides to you.
Course Links
Follow this link to go back to the course page:
Demystifying Scholarly Journals
References
APA Reference Page | APA Format. (2021). apaformat.org. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://apaformat.org/apa-reference-page/
Harnad, S. (2010). No-fault peer review charges: The price of selectivity need not be access denied or delayed. D-Lib Magazine. 16(7/8). doi:10.1045/july2010-harnad
Pinfield, S., & Middleton, C. (2016). Researchers’ adoption of an institutional central fund for open-access article-processing charges: A case study using innovation diffusion theory. SAGE Open, 6(1), 2158244015625447. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015625447
Purdue OWL // Purdue Writing Lab. (2021). owl.purdue.edu. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html
Reference & Citation in Writing // Purdue Writing Lab. (2021). owl.purdue.edu. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/english_as_a_second_language/esl_students/key_concepts_for_writing_in_north_american_colleges/reference_and_citation_in_writing.html
University at Albany Library Discovery Page. (2021). library.ualbany.edu. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://search.library.albany.edu/discovery/search?institution=suny-alb&vid=01SUNY_ALB:01SUNY_ALB&tab=Everything&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&mode=basic&displayMode=full&bulkSize=10&highlight=true&dum=true&query=any,contains,Researchers%E2%80%99%20adoption%20of%20an%20institutional%20central%20fund%20for%20open-access%20article-processing%20charges:%20A%20case%20study%20using%20innovation%20diffusion%20theory&displayField=all&pcAvailabiltyMode=true