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Accessing Academic Research: For East Tennessee Nonprofits

This guide helps nonprofit organizations access and use peer-reviewed scholarly research at the UT Libraries.

Welcome!

If you are a nonprofit organization in East Tennessee, this guide is intended to help you access and find peer-reviewed articles and other scholarly research.

In the guides below, databases are divided into the following categories:

  • Open Search: You do not need to be on campus to access this database for searching purposes.
  • On-Campus Search: Access is available to non-UT affiliates on campus only.

For more information on how to use our library databases, please visit our Tutorials & Videos page: https://libguides.utk.edu/tutorials.

 

Databases

Start Here

  • Open Search: Tennessee Electronic Library >> Academic OneFile
  • On-Campus Search: Academic Search Complete
  • Data: Use a Google domain search and limit to site:.gov (Example: Search Google for high school dropout site:.gov)
  • Google Scholar Cited By: If you have 1 or more relevant articles, type the title in to Google Scholar, then look under the description for a link to "Cited By," which links to articles that cite the relevant article.
  • IssueLab is an open access repository with resources produced by nonprofits, foundations, and academic research centers, affiliated with the Foundation Center.

Research in Childhood & Education

Open Search:

On-Campus Search:

Research in Health

Open Search:

On-Campus Search:

Research in Homelessness & Poverty

Open Search:

Uniform Crime Reporting (FBI): Four annual publications, Crime in the United States, National Incident-Based Reporting System, Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, and Hate Crime Statistics are produced from data received from over 18,000 city, university/college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily participating in the program.

On-Campus Search:

Research in Nonprofit Administration

Open Search:

On-Campus Search:

Other Libraries and Tips for Developing a Database Search

Other Libraries & Resources

The UT Libraries is not the only place to get help with accessing scholarly research. Try these groups, too, and request a consult with a librarian:

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Tips for Developing a Database Search: 

1/ Databases have more rules to follow than Internet search engines.   

2/ An understanding of how to use logical operators AND, OR, NOT to connect search words is fundamental.  Here is a tutorial "Boolean: Combining Keywords" (Source: University of Aukland).

3/ A worksheet ensures keywords are connected correctly.  Here is an example worksheet from Adelphi University:

4/  More search tips:  @DIYHarvardLibry ‏including this one on Diagnosing Search Problems

 

In our workshops and consultations, we talk about how to find peer reviewed journal articles in databases.  Here is an overview of peer review or refereed journal articles:

Interview Questions--for participants who would like to tell researchers what access to research means to their organization

•Tell us about your organization.
•Does access to academic research articles matter to you or your organization? Does academic research apply to your work? If so, please tell us how so, or give us a few examples.
•Have you ever had difficulty accessing an academic research article that you wanted to read for purposes related to your job? If so, please tell us about it.
•Is there anything you would like to tell faculty and other research authors who may or may not be sharing their work openly for free public access?