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Exercise Science Research Guide: Articles & Databases

This guide containt suggestions and tips for researching your papers and assignments for Kinesiology courses, including Exercise Science, Physical Education courses and Sports Management courses.

Recommended Databases (KINS)

Physical Education Databases

Sport Management Databases

What does peer-review mean?

Scholarly information is based in scholarship and research, and is produced by the scholars or experts in a particular field.  Much scholarly material that is published in books and academic journals goes through the peer-review process in which a manuscript is reviewed by independent researchers (referees or peer-reviewers) to evaluate the contribution for authority and accuracy.  

How do articles get peer reviewed? What role does peer review play in scholarly research and publication? This video will explain.

 

Finding Journals

Brooklyn College Library subscribes to many different journals and some journals are available in multiple databases.

Some key journals for Kinesiology courses include:

Clinical Kinesiology

Isokinetics & Exercise Science

Journal of Athletic Training

Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (JOPERD)

Journal of Sport Management

Journal of Sports Science & Medicine

Journal of Teaching in Physical Education

Physical Educator

To find more journals, use the Library's E-Journals finder by using the E-journals Search box beow. In the E-journals finder, type the name of the journal into the E-Journals search box to see if we have a subscription. Certain journals may be in more than one database.

Finding Peer Reviewed Articles

What is Peer Review?

The peer-review process is the system by which much scholarly work is judged for quality and strength.  Peer reviewed journals are publications that include only those articles that have been reviewed and/or qualified by a selected panel of acknowledged experts in the field of study covered by the journal.

How do I verify if something is peer reviewed?

Some databases, including CINAHL and SPORTDiscus, will indicate if a journal is peer reviewed by clicking on the title of the publication in the record for the article itself, or you can select ‘Peer Reviewed’ from the search limits on the search screen as you build your search. You can also limit to "Academic Journals" or "Scholarly Journals" in Source Types to find peer reviewed articles after you run a search.  PubMed/MEDLINE DOES NOT have a peer reviewed limiter (but much of what is in PubMed/Medline is peer-reviewed).  If you are using PubMed/Medline, you can crosscheck if a journal is peer reviewed, by using the Serials Directory database, linked from the Articles & Databases list on the BC Library website. Type the name of the journal into the search box to find the record for the journal. Click on the title to open the record and Peer Review status is listed.

Structure of Scholarly Articles

Familiarity with the standard parts of an article, what the intent and purpose are of each, will make reading articles easier. This can be especially helpful for scanning an article to see if it is one you want to read more carefully.

Abstract – a summary of the purpose, methods and conclusions that can help you decide if the article is relevant to your research. 

Introduction – provides a general overview and background of the study.

Literature Review – a review of research in the area up to the time of the study, giving additional background information and placing the study in its scholarly context.

Methodology – This part is an elaboration of the procedures undertaken from start to finish, focus of the study, and how data are collected and organized to complete the experiment. 

Results – a presentation of data gathered in the study, usually with some analysis.

Discussion – the author’s interpretation of the results of the study and the conclusions they draw from them.

References – listing of journal articles and other sources referred to by the author in preparing for the study.  The references can be an extremely useful way to find additional sources for your own research.

*The references are a bibliography of the sources the researchers used to inform their research and this is a great place to look for similar studies or studies that would be useful for your assignment or research paper.  You can try to find the studies in a database using the information in the references.

Boolean searching

Constructing your search in an EBSCO database:

      

Evaluating Health Information

One concern when you use a search engine such as Google to find medical information on the Internet is quality: who is publishing the information and why should you believe them?  You need to be the judge, but the more information you can glean from a site, the better you will be able to make a decision about the quality of the information.  Some things to look for are:

  • Whose opinions are being represented? 
  • What are their qualifications? 
  • How old is the information? 
  • Does this agree with what I’ve seen elsewhere (especially from off-line sources)?

Tutorials:

Checklists and Guidelines:

 Use one of the many databases the Library has to find scholarly articles, original studies, and other resources!