Following the Scholarly Conversation
Scholars-- both philosophers and anthropologists-- communicate ideas with out scholars via articles published in academic journals. These journals (sometimes called scholarly journals or peer reviewed journals) are collected in databases. A few useful ones are listed below.
Use your keywords to search for articles that discuss the same ideas you have about your Culture Group. How do they further or counter these ideas?
Developing keywords
- Keyword ExerciseThis handout includes a handy matrix to make a keyword list as well as a flowchart describing how to narrow or broaden your keywords.
Helpful databases
- Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new windowPhilosopher's Index, produced by the Philosopher's Information Center, is a current and comprehensive bibliographic database covering scholarly research in all major fields of philosophy. The Philosopher’s Index, considered the most thorough index of journal literature on the subject, features author-written abstracts covering scholarly research published in journals and books, including contributions to anthologies and book reviews. The Philosopher's Index contains research published since 1940 including nearly 570 journals from 43 countries with content representing a variety of languages.
- JSTOR (including ARTSTOR) This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text access to a broad range of resources about the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, including primary sources, images, articles, and books. Does not contain the most recent journal articles.
- Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate offers access to an unprecedented collection of resources including journals, magazines, reports, books, and videos. Many are peer-reviewed and full-text. Subjects range from astronomy to zoology.
PRO TIP: Subject Searching
A good way to refine your search is to use the subjects provided by the database. Here is an example of the subject list that appears in Academic Search Ultimate for a search using the keywords <conflict analysis>.
You will only see the top six, so make sure to click on the show more link to see all of the subjects provided. This can benefit your search strategy by helping you think of other ways to phrase the information you are looking for, and also open your eyes to relevant subjects you may not have thought of otherwise.