Construction Management
Scanning the Broader Information Landscape
There are two good ways to scan the broader information landscape to get an idea of what has been written on your topic.
1. Google Scholar works like regular Google, only limited to academic articles and books. Students who are logged into the MyCalPoly Portal will see additional links to content subscribed to by Kennedy Library (see link).
2. Try the "OneSearch" box on the Kennedy Library homepage
TIPS:
- Look for links such as
, "Get It @ Cal Poly" or "Check for Availability" to lead you to the full text of an article. They don't always get you there if we don't have a subscription to the journal that published the article, but they do usually help.
, "Get It @ Cal Poly" or "Check for Availability" to lead you to the full text of an article. They don't always get you there if we don't have a subscription to the journal that published the article, but they do usually help.- The symbol and/or language "
" is generally a good indicator of a high-quality article, though you'll want to confirm this on an article-by-article basis. Peer-reviewed articles have to be reviewed by peers of the author before they can be published in a particular journal. Peer-reviewed articles are written by experts, are lengthy (5+ pages) and in-depth and feature extensive bibliographies (the individual citations of which you can use to search for more articles using our "OneSearch" feature).
- Use quotes to search specific phrases, for example, "construction productivity" will search the two words together as a phrase, giving you much more specific, precise results than just construction productivity.
- Any time you come across this phrase, "Full text isn't available here, but we'll get it for you,"this just means we'll have to order the article digitally from on of our partner library groups. Click on the link and fill out the form with as much detail as you can. Most of these requests can be filled within 24 hours, but some can take longer.
Again, Google Scholar and the multi-database Construction Management search engine are good for scanning what's out there, but not necessarily great for in-depth searching. If you use the multi-database search and see that one of the four databases has the majority of the good results, I recommend you click on the title of the database (ABI/INFORM Engineering Village 2, Scirius, etc.) to get more specific with your searching.
Accessing ASC's International Journal of Construction Education and Research
Kennedy Library subscribes to digital issues of the Associated Schools of Construction's International Journal of Construction Education and Research.
What is Peer Review?
The goal of Peer Review is to assess the quality of articles submitted for publication in a scholarly journal.
Peer Review in 3 Minutes by NCSU Libraries.
BE AWARE: Not everything published in a scholarly journal is a Peer Reviewed Article! When limiting to "peer-reviewed" the databases are going by the type of journal, and not distinguishing the variety of content in the journal, which typically also contains editorials and book reviews, which are not peer-reviewed.
The peer-review and publication process often takes well over one year, so it might be hard to find a peer-reviewed article for a currently emerging topic.
If you are still unsure if it is a peer-reviewed journal, Google the journal's homepage.
Evaluate Information Sources for Credibility and Relevance
Evaluating Sources for Credibility by NCSU Libraries.
Key Questions
You decide! Judge if information is credible and make an informed decision about the appropriate use of a source for your research. See the tab "Infographic version" for more criteria.
Credible:
- What makes the author qualified to write about the topic? (Look at her or his credentials, experience, or organizational affiliations)
- What is the type of publication in which the source appears? (scholarly journal, magazine, newspaper, trade, blog, etc.)
- Is the source peer-reviewed by subject experts?
- What evidence is provided for claims? Are sources cited, and if so, how?
- Is the information current for your topic?
- Is this a source that is persuasive for your audience or would they question its credibility?
Relevant:
- How does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
- How does the source meet the requirements of your assignment?
- Is the information at an appropriate level? (not too elementary or advanced for your needs)
Overall Evaluation
Overall Evaluation- Drawing on the questions above, to what extent is this a credible source? Why or why not?
- Is this source appropriate for your purpose? Why or why not?
Download the PDF worksheet:
Popular vs. Scholarly Articles
Popular vs. Scholarly Articles
When exploring a topic and formulating a research question it is important to consult different types of sources as well as points of view. Use this page to be able to identify types of information sources and distinguish between scholarly and popular sources. Your professor may also require a minimum number of sources and types (e.g. peer-reviewed journal articles) that you need to use in your research assignment.
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Popular Periodicals
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Substantive News Periodicals (magazines and newspapers)
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Trade Publications
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Scholarly Journals (also called academic, peer reviewed, or refereed journals)
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Purpose: |
Entertainment | Information about current events and issues | Information about current trends and news in professional, business, and industry areas | Original research and findings (research articles), reviews of research (review articles), and reviews of scholarly books (book reviews) |
| Authors: | Staff writers, journalists, or freelancers | Staff writers, journalists, or freelancers | Staff writers, journalists, or freelancers. Sometimes a journalist with subject area expertise. | Experts in their field: researchers, practitioners, professors and scholars |
| Audience: | General public | General public | Practitioners in a field | Scholars (professors, researchers, students) knowledgeable about a specific discipline |
| Level of Review: | Editors working for the publication review the articles; these editors are most likely not experts on the topic of the article they are editing. | Editors working for the publication review the articles; these editors are most likely not experts on the topic of the article they are editing. | Editors working for the trade publication review the articles; these editors are more likely to know about the topic than a magazine or newspaper editor would, but they still are not experts on it. | An editorial board made up of other scholars and researchers review the articles. Many, but not all, scholarly articles are peer reviewed. Peer reviewed articles are considered the gold standard of tested information. |
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Conference Proceedings
Conference Proceedings
Purpose: Inform the scientific/engineering world about a new technology faster than a peer-reviewed or journal article could.
Authorship: Written by the experts in the field that did the research.
Accuracy: Organized by an editorial team. The amount of scrutiny applied to these proceedings varies with the conference; some are read and either accepted or rejected right then, while others go through more vigorous scrutiny via peer-review or some other system before they are released. Editors are allowed to make changes in papers without the permission of the author, although it is not common for them to do so.
Look for:
- Conference Proceedings are collections of research papers presented at research conferences.
- Are not official journal or peer-reviewed articles at this stage of their life, but may soon become that.
- Uses very field-specific terminology.
- Often includes graphs and charts to help explain its findings.