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SOCI 101: Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies

Search Tips

Do a subject search paired with a keyword search, by changing the dropdown menu from "All fields" to "Subject Terms."

screenshot of the library's onesearch page with the terms transgender (with a dropdown menu of "subject terms") and healthcare (with a dropdown menu of "search all fields") in the search boxes. The "Subject terms" dropdown menu is highlighted.

You can also add connection words, separated by the word "or" in your search query:

screenshot of CINAHL database with keywords "transgender" and "medicine or surgery or procedure." "Medicine or surgery or procedure" is highlighted.

You'll find lots of links on the article record page; scroll down through the page and look for keywords and linked subject headings. You can use those sections to gather more relevant search terms, or click on the subject heading links to do a search of that subject heading.

screenshot of an article record, including keywords, abstract and subject headings about bisexual parenting. Keywords and subject headings are highlighted.

 

Note: in Science Direct, highlight a term to create a prompt to search the database for that term.

screenshot of keywords from a science direct article, keyword "pansexuality" is highlighted with a popup reading "search" or "copy."

A peer-reviewed article has been examined by other experts in the field to make sure the research is scientifically sound. Original research published in a peer-reviewed journal will be considered peer reviewed; you can find out if a journal is peer reviewed by looking at the journal's website. When you search most databases, there will be a way to filter your results to only include peer reviewed articles. (Note: there isn't a filter to sort for peer reviewed articles in the Science Direct database; this is because all articles in the Science Direct database are peer reviewed.)

screenshot of Academic Search Complete results page with the "peer reviewed" filter highlighted

 

 

Using Google Scholar

A particularly useful research tool is Google Scholar. Google Scholar is especially helpful if you know the name of an article you'd like to find or if you have one very relevant article and you'd like to find more; just copy and paste the article name into the Google Scholar search bar. 

screenshot of Google Scholar result of an article titled "(Un)Just transitions and Black dispossession: The disposabilityof Caribbean 'refugees' and the political economy of climate justice". To the right of the article title, the "full view" hyperlink is highlighted in yellow. Beneath the article information is "cited by 11" and "related articles," both highlighted in yellowFrom there you should see the original article (if available); you can also select Cited By to get a list of all other articles that have referenced this article or select Related Articles to find articles on similar topics. Articles can be accessed by clicking the links on the right.