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Scholarly Paper

Getting ready to write your scholarly paper? This guide provides you with the resources you need to get it done.

Conduct a Thorough Literature Search

These bibliographic databases are a good starting point for a literature search.

To complement traditional databases, there are a few search engines worth exploring.

Books

The Library has a large collection of print and electronic books.

Conference Papers

Several bibliographic databases include links to conference papers. 

Preprints

Preprints are complete and public drafts of scientific documents, not yet certified by peer review. They are a useful wayfor authors to share their research quickly and get feedback before submitting a manuscript to a journal for peer review. Some factors to consider before posting a manuscript to a preprint site include:

  • Will the preprint site provide a DOI (digital object identifier)?
  • Where will the preprints be indexed?
  • Does the journal you plan to submit your manuscript to allow preprints?

Since preprints have not been peer reviewed, critical appraisal skils are essential. Many preprint servers do a cursory review of submitted manuscripts before they are posted, but it is up to the reader to use their judgement and expertise.

A list of resources and information about preprints is below:

Theses & Dissertations

Several databases include theses in addition to journal articles.

Data Sets

Resources that contain data you can use in your papers.