ECO 450 Senior Seminar in Economics

The sources you select for your literature review should help you set the stage for your research paper and may lead you to the data that you will need, so be sure to read the footnotes and citations to locate data sources.

Databases are collections of online information (articles, both scholarly and popular, books, conference proceedings, company information, etc.) organized for easy keyword, subject, author and other types of searching.   

Often the articles are available full-text online.  Sometimes they are in our print collection.  If not available at New Paltz, submit and InterLibrary Loan request.

VERY IMPORTANT

• Each database contains different journals.  So you may need to search several databases to be thorough
• Authors may use different words to describe concepts.  So be prepared to search different words or phrases.
• Break your question into multiple concepts.
• Use AND to connect different concepts; OR to connect similar concepts.

There are many ways to find out the "right term" to search with.  Try these:

• Use the "subject headings" found in our databases.  Search for a term that works well with that database. 
• Carefully read the articles and abstracts that you do find to learn alternative words and spellings of your terms
• Ask your classmates, professor and a librarian for suggestions.  Don't go it alone!
• Stay on track with a research log.  Just write down what you looked for, when, what you found and what you'll do next

You can also browse paper journals in our Current Journals location which is on the Main Floor of the library.  Here are a few important scholarly journals in the field of economics:

Scholarly articles are published in scholarly journals. What is a scholarly journal and how is it different from a magazine or newspaper? 

• Scholarly or peer-reviewed journals have collections of articles written by experts in academic or professional fields. Their intended audience is other scholars and professionals. Journals are excellent for finding out what has been studied or researched on a topic and to find bibliographies that point to other relevant sources of information. Examples are: American Economic Review, Journal of Urban Economics, Econometrica. The word "journal" is not necessarily in the title of a scholarly publication.
• Magazines are good sources of information or opinions about popular culture or up-to-date information on current events. Popular magazines typically have colorful covers and lots of advertisements. Examples are the Economist, Forbes and National Geographic. Articles are often written by journalists, not by scholars. 
• Newspapers are usually published daily and are a great source of local information, editorials, and opinions. Most newspapers now publish Web sites. Examples of newspapers are the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

 Is this a Scholarly Article?? Or Not???