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Brown School DPAC

Brown School DPAC (Dean's Professional Advisory Committee) Information Resource

Welcome - Community Accessible Resources

Welcome to the Brown School Library Community Accessible Resources research guide.  The guide provides resources for our community partners, field instructors, and alumni.  Here are links to the boxes on this webpage.
Librarian Assistance
Free-to-Read Full Text Articles
Tips for Searching Google Scholar 
Getting Articles that Aren't Free 

Librarian Assistance - Community Accessible Resources

Assistance: Community partners, field instructors, and alumni should contact Lori for assistance. If you would like to self-schedule a Zoom meeting with Lori, please click the link: https://wustl.libcal.com/appointments/siegel

Free-to-Read Full Text Articles - Community Accessible Resources

Social Sciences:

  1. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) has broad coverage of the social sciences.  All of the articles are free-to-read.  You may want to add some evidence-based words or phrases to your search if you want evidence-based results.  https://doaj.org/ 
  2. Campbell Collaboration provides systematic reviews in the social sciences.  There is an Advanced Search option.  Use the Review check-box to view articles that are free-to-read. https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/library.html
  3. Center for Social Development provides free-to-read full text research publications. You can browse by topic (middle section) or you can keyword search (left search box). There is an Advanced Search option. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/csd/
  4. ACRL Social Work Liaison Toolkit Open Access Tab has links to free-to-read books and journal articles.  https://acrl.libguides.com/social_work_toolkit/openaccess 

Education:

  1. ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) has broad coverage of education-related topics (including school social work).  There is a Full Text Available check-box to view items that are free-to-read. Campbell Collaboration citations appear in ERIC--so no need to search Campbell Collaboration.  You may want to add some evidence-based words or phrases to your search if you want evidence-based results.   https://eric.ed.gov/

Public Health:

  1. PubMed covers health, mental health, and public health.  After running your search, use the Free Full Text check-box to view articles that are free-to-read.  You may want to use Article Type filters or you may want to add some evidence-based words or phrases to your search if you want evidence-based results. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
  2. CDC Stacks covers public health literature produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  All of the publications are free-to-read. There is an Advanced Search option.  https://stacks.cdc.gov/welcome 

Search Tips

  • DOAJ: Choose Articles and then type in the keywords.  Two or more words will be AND together.  You can use the asterisk at the end of a word to pull up the different word endings (truncation).  You can use quotation marks to search for a phrase.  DON'T use an asterisk inside quotation marks.
  • Campbell Collaboration: Two or more words will be AND together.  DON'T use an asterisk.  Campbell automatically truncates words.  You can use quotation marks to search for a phrase.  You can use a hyphen before a word to exclude all results that contain that word in the keyword field (similar to the function of the Boolean operator NOT).  You can use OR in the keyword field. 
  • Center for Social Development: Two or more words will be AND together.  You can use the asterisk at the end of a word to pull up the different word endings (truncation).  You can use quotation marks to search for a phrase.  DON'T use an asterisk inside quotation marks.
  • ERIC: Two or more words will be AND together.  DON'T use an asterisk.  Type out the different word endings.  You can use quotation marks to search for a phrase.  You can use a hyphen before a word to exclude all results that contain that word (similar to the function of the Boolean operator NOT).  You can use the Boolean operators AND  OR  . You can use parentheses.
  • PubMed: You can use the asterisk at the end of a word to pull up the different word endings (truncation).  Using the asterisk turns off automatic mapping and the MeSH process.  You can use quotation marks to search for a phrase.  You can use an asterisk on the final word inside the quotation marks, but no other words inside the quotation marks.  You can use the Boolean operators AND  OR  NOT  .  You can use parentheses.
  • CDC Stacks: Two or more words will be AND together.  DON'T use an asterisk. There is no truncation; therefore, use the Advanced Search option in order to OR the words with the different word endings.  You can use quotation marks to search for a phrase.

Evidence-Based Words/Phrases
The following words/phrases may help you to narrow your results to evidence-based items.  Choose from the below suggestions or add some of your own evidence-based words/phrases to your search.
clinical trial     comparative study     controlled trial     evaluation study     intervention     longitudinal study     metaanalysis    meta-analysis     metanalysis     meta-synthesis     metasynthesis     multi-center study     multicenter study     observational study     pilot study     qualitative study     quantitative study      systematic review

Tips for Searching Google Scholar - Community Accessible Resources

Searching Google Scholar for Articles
Many people search Google Scholar because it is comprehensive and free.  Some articles are free-to-read.  But, many Google Scholar results are not free-to-read.  Below are some tips if you prefer to search Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/
Quick Tips for Using Google Scholar
1. Use the Settings (click on the menu icon that looks like 3 horizontal lines) to choose:

  • Results per page (how many citations do you want to see on a page)
  • Where results open (if you click on an item, do you want it to open in a new tab/window)
  • Bibliography manager (do you use a citation manager? Set the import icon on your screen.  Note: Zotero accepts BibTeX)
  • Languages (you may mark more than one language)

2. To get to the Advanced Search mode, click on the menu icon (top, left).  Then choose Advanced Search.
Menu icon is at top left of screen.

3. With your free account, you can Save the Settings as the default for your account.  Then, you won't have to adjust the settings every time that you search Google Scholar.
4. With your free account, you can set up alerts.  Then, Google will bring results to you when it finds items that match your search criteria.
5. Google Scholar does not use a truncation symbol. DON'T use the asterisk at the end of words. For example, do NOT: abuse* (DON'T do this!)
6. Google Scholar doesn't use parentheses.
7. Google Scholar only has the Boolean operator OR
8. Using quotation marks around a phrase turns off the automatic synonym search and looks for the phrase exactly how you typed it.
9. Use the hyphen to exclude items from your results (similar to the Boolean operator NOT). For example, -children
10. Example of a search in the basic search box: intitle:"domestic violence"
11. Example of a search in the basic search box: author:"j. green" OR author:"john green" OR author:"john e. green" OR author:"j. e. green"
12. Example of a search in the basic search box: "domestic violence" OR "family violence" -"elder abuse"

Getting Articles that Aren't Free - Community Accessible Resources

How to Get Articles that are Not Free-to-Read
If you search Google Scholar or are given some citations, you may find some articles that aren't free-to-read.  Here are some options for acquiring the full text:

  • Your local public library may have the article. 
  • Visit a nearby college or university (that is open to visitors) to use the journal collection.  You may need to make an appointment with a librarian.  The Brown School Library welcomes its community partners, field instructors, and alumni, and other qualified researchers, to use the Brown School Library's journal collection during the hours that we are open to visitors.
  • Request the article from your local public library.  Many public libraries have some free interlibrary loan services for their affiliated patrons.