Research Help: FYE 1020: Adventures in Business (Simion): Get Started

Class Resources

Developing a Research Question Slide Deck
Slides from 3/27/24 session on developing a research question
Developing a Research Question Worksheet

Suggested Databases

Fitchburg State subscribes to over a hundred different databases on subjects for every part of the curriculum. If you're not sure what database to use, ask a librarian. We will start with the following two recommended databases for this class.

Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Developed to meet the increasing demands of scholarly research, Academic Search Ultimate offers students an unprecedented collection of peer-reviewed, full-text journals, including many journals indexed in leading citation indexes.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
With premium full-text content and peer-reviewed business journals, this database is an essential tool for business students. It covers all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance and more.

FalconSearch

Use FalconSearch to locate ebooks, articles, and streaming media in the Library's collections.

Types of Articles

When we think of "finding an article" we often think of newspapers or magazines. But there are several kinds of articles your assignments might require:

News - From newspapers reporting daily events (New York Times)

Magazine - Often called "popular" articles, these are general or for a specific interest (Time, Fortune)

Trade - By and for specific industries (Advertising Age)

Scholarly - Reporting research, written by and for scholars and researchers (Journal of Business Ethics)

See the chart below for more information on how to tell if an article is scholarly or popular.

Scholarly vs. Popular

	Scholarly Articles	Popular Articles
Authorship	Scholars/experts in a field. Authors are always named and their institutional affiliation is given.	Staff writers or journalists.
Publisher	University presses, professional associations, research organizations.	For profit corporations.
Review	Peer review process by other experts in the field of study.	Fact-checker and/or editor.
Audience	Researchers, scholars, other experts.	General public.
Content/Length	Usually longer, focusing on a research study, or a review of research literature in a field.	Often shorter, with a more general focus.
Language	Technical, discipline specific terminology.	Written for a general reader with easier vocabulary.
Sources	Cited in a bibliography adhering to a specific citation style (MLA, APA, etc.)	Usually not cited, and when they are, are not generally standardized.
Structure	Usually includes: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and bibliography.	Specific formats are not followed.
Advertising	Some.	Copious.

Scholarly Journal	Popular Magazine