ECON 58H: Researching the Tools for Success in College: Home

Purpose of Research Guide

This guide has resources to help you research successfully in ECON58H.

Search for peer-reviewed articles in the databases listed here.

Learn how to do data visualizations.

Want guidance? Email Nancy or schedule a research meeting.

For help specifically with writing, meet with a writing coach from the UNC Writing Center.

Databases for Finding Peer-Reviewed Articles

Find articles

Start your search for scholarly articles in the databases listed here. Read the descriptions to learn more about the databases. Questions? Email Nancy!

How to tell if an article in a journal is peer-reviewed

Academic journals publish different types of articles, like book reviews, case studies, research articles, editorial columns, opinion pieces,r and more.

What label is the article given? (e.g. book review, case study, research article)
How does the journal define that label? Find out on the journal's aims and scope page (google the journal title & "aims and scope"). Typically, book reviews are not peer-reviewed whereas research articles are.

Education Full Text
Search here for articles about education.
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: Indexing from 1983; Full Text from 1996
Academic Search Premier
Academic Search Premier is a catch-all database that has articles from all different subjects. This is a good starting place for background research, and if you are looking for economics-adjacent articles (such as in education, sociology, policy).
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: Indexing, 1975-present; Full-text, 1975-present
ProQuest Education Database
Research on primary, secondary, and higher education, as well as special education, home schooling, adult education, and hundreds of related topics. Indexes 900 educational publications, including more than 600 of the titles in full text.
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Google Scholar
Enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
ERIC
Search in ERIC for articles about education and education policy.
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: 1966-present
JSTOR
You can limit your article search by discipline on the Advanced Search Page. JSTOR does not provide access to the most recent 2-5 years of currently available journals, so this database would probably be more helpful for finding older articles.
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: Varies. Excludes most recent 2-5 years of currently available journals.
EconLit
Main source for economics articles from the American Economic Association. This is an index, which means that a lot of search results will be citations and abstracts rather than full-text articles. There are full-text articles too! If you see just a citation for an article you want, use Interlibrary Loan to get a full copy of the article.
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: 1969 to present

Citing Your Sources

Citing Information & Data

Why do we cite? Citations serve three major roles in scholarly work:

They allow you to show how your argument is built upon the ideas of others.
They allow you to indicate which ideas are taken from others, and from whom those ideas were taken; in other words, to give credit where it's due.
They allow the interested reader to follow your argument and confirm its logic by investigating the ideas on which the argument is built, or to further explore those ideas on their own.

Learn about APA citation format: Citing Information Tutorial, APA

Learn How to Cite Data

Use Zotero to manage your citations

Video tutorials for learning to use Zotero

Step-by-step guide to using Zotero

Learn about Zotero & link to download

Research & Writing Help

Info about Literature Reviews & Annotated Bibliographies

Check out the Tips & Tools webpage from UNC Writing Center! Short online handouts explain different types of writing, assignments, grammar, and more. Specifically, take a look at:

You can also get one-on-one help from a Writing Center coach. Visit the website and select "Make an Appointment."

The Research Process: Picking a Topic and Brainstorming a Research Question

Developing keywords to find articles

Databases are only as smart as you tell them to be. Learn about keywords and why they're important.

Evaluating Sources for Credibility

Data Help

Use In SAGE Research Methods to learn about quantitative analysis, survey data, regressions, and more. You can practice data analysis, read about quantitative methods in the Little Green Books, and use the Project Planner to stay organized.

Watch the Excel Basics videos to learn about using Excel for data visualizations and more. Want help with data viz? Email Lorin!

SAGE Research Methods
Research methods toolkits to help you develop research projects, understand or identify particular methods, conduct research and write up findings. Watch videos, read articles and case studies, and use analytical tools.
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.