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KIN 112: Introduction to Human Movement

Students working on laptops in mezzanine.Forming your Search String

The more complicated your question, the less likely a search engine can understand it. To get the best result, identify keywords and like terms to create a search string.

Example research question: How does ongoing yoga practice impact balance for people with Parkinson's disease?

Keywords: yoga, balance, Parkinson's disease

Like terms can include synonyms and also examples of your keywords. If you don't get results from searching your keywords, it doesn't mean that the research doesn't exist. It could mean that the researcher used different language to describe the same topic

  • Yoga: yoga practice, yin yoga
  • Balance: functional movement, stability, equilibrium
  • Parkinson's disease: Parkinson's

Search strings connect your keywords and like terms together for the best results.

Too many results? Use AND to narrow results

yoga AND balance AND Parkinson's disease

Too few results? Use OR to broaden results

yoga AND balance OR equilibrium OR stability AND Parkinson's disease OR Parkinson's

students reading in front of periodical display

Also known as peer-reviewed articles, scholarly articles are sources that are:

  • written by experts in the field
  • reviewed by other experts in the field (hence the peer-reviewed)
  • intended for an academic audience

While you can find scholarly articles through general search engines, databases contain a feature where you can narrow your results to only scholarly articles.

Find Subject-Specific Articles:

Find Articles in Multidisciplinary Databases:

Student thumbing through a book in front of library stacks

Books and eBooks often provide a broader overview and cover more information than a scholarly journal article.

You don't need to read an entire book to use it in your research. Use the index at the back of a book to find the information you need.

To find books and eBooks, you can either:

  • Search the NOBLE catalog
  • Browse the stacks for a book related to your topic

GV 557-1198.995 Sports

R855-855.5 Medical technology

R856-857 Biomedical engineering. Electronics. Instrumentation

R858-859.7 Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics

RC1200-1245 Sports medicine

RD792-811 Physical rehabilitation

RM695-893 Physical medicine.

RM930-931 Rehabilitation therapy

RM950 Rehabilitation technology

Differences between APA & MLA Citations
  APA MLA
In-text citations (Tisby, 2019) or (Tisby, 2019, pg. 57) (Tisby 57)
Reference page title References Works Cited
Subjects used for Sciences Languages & Literature
Author names in references Tisby, J. Tisby, Jemar
Capitalization of titles The color of compromise: The truth about the American Church’s complicity in racism (sentence case) The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism (title case)
Reference format Acu, A. (2016). Time to work for a living: The Marvel Cinematic Universe and the organized superhero. Journal of Popular Film & Television44(4), 195–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2016.1174666 Acu, Adrian. “Time to Work for a Living: The Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Organized Superhero.” Journal of Popular Film & Television, vol. 44, no. 4, Oct. 2016, pp. 195–205. EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2016.1174666

If you find an article or book that you can't access, don't pay for it! Instead, submit an Interlibrary Loan request, and you'll receive articles within a few days!

Are you looking for a specific article, like an article that you found referenced in a bibliography? Search for the journal in Journal Finder, linked below: