English Research Guide

This resource guide will help you:

• Locate library databases that contain scholarly/peer-reviewed articles and more.
• Utilize strategies to search for articles in a library database.
• Locate resources to assist with MLA style.

Here are the slides shown during the in-person library research session:

Looking for topic ideas?

Review the Browse Issues page from the Opposing Viewpoints database. The section lists broad topics such as:

• Abortion
• Gun Control
• Health Care Disparities
• Homelessness
• Immigration
• Mental Health
• Opioid Crisis

...and many more!

These library databases contain "peer reviewed" / scholarly articles on a variety of subjects:

Brainstorm and enter your search terms into the keyword search box to start a search. For example:

• Roe v Wade
• school violence
• housing discrimination

Use quotation marks to search on specific phrases:

• "Fair Housing Act"

Use AND to focus your search on a smaller result set. For example:

• Black women AND health care
• homelessness AND mental health
• immigration AND mental health

Use filters to further refine your results. For example:

• use the "peer reviewed" filter to display only the academic/scholarly article content
• use the date filter to enter a date range

Create and check your citations using one of these MLA style guides:

• MLA Style "Quick Guide" from PCC

Includes guidelines and examples of MLA citations.

• MLA Formatting and Style Guide from OWL Purdue

Examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and Works Cited pages.

• MLA Handbook, 9th Edition

The MLA Handbook guides writers through the principles behind evaluating sources for their research. It then shows them how to cite sources in their writing and create useful entries for the works-cited list.

PCC Library has several copies located at the Reference Desk and Circulation Desk.

Call Number: LB2369 .G53 2021

• Setting up "hanging indents"

Walks through setting up "hanging indents" in Microsoft Word and Google Docs