Scholarly Journal article summary and citation

our library’s homepage. https://libguides.seattlecentral.edu/libraryLinks to an external site.

Go to the databases through our library (our school has a subscription to them). https://libguides.seattlecentral.edu/az.phpLinks to an external site.

Using either EBSCOhost (Academic Search Complete) or Proquest, find a scholarly journal article you can use for your research paper. I am aware you can find scholarly journal articles in other ways, but for this assignment, please follow the directions to get the points.

Read the abstract to see if it’s something you can use. After reading the abstract, read the article. If the full article is not there, then find a full text article. An abstract is not a source.

Scholarly journal articles are not easy to read. Let’s be clear. They’re not written for the general public (and they’re written by scholars, not by writers). Understanding them can be a challenge. You don’t have to read the articles from front to back. Read the introduction. Look at the major headings. Read sections that apply to your paper.

What are you turning in?

1. Cite the article in MLA style (8th edition). Use the links in the databases to generate the citation in MLA style. Click on CITE and choose MLA 8th edition. Cut and paste the entire citation.

2. Write a summary of the article. Again, be very careful about the abstract. Don’t copy it. It’s ok to read it, but don’t read it right before you write your summary. A summary is just a few sentences. It should be specific enough that I can see how this article differs from other articles about the topic, but shouldn’t cover an entire page.

3. Provide the writers’ credentials. Usually, you’ll find this at the beginning or end of the article. Because this is a scholarly journal, the credentials of the writer mean a LOT. You’ll include this information in your annotation, and if you end up using information from this source, you’ll include this information in your research paper as well. Credentials include the author’s name, job title, department (if there is one), and institution. For example, James Korf is a professor of communications at Yale University.

4. Four notes from the article–two direct quotes, and two paraphrases. Make sure you use quotation marks for the direct quotes, and make sure you change the words AND the sentence structure for the paraphrase.

* These notes are not for my benefit. Find ideas and quotations that might be useful in your research paper. If you do a great job taking notes while you go through your sources, you will have a much easier time when you put together your rough draft.

* At this point, you should be taking notes from what you read. I recommend organizing them by keyword (connect the keywords to how you’re starting to organize your thoughts around your paper). Taking good notes now will set you up for a smooth paper-writing process soon.