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Finding Sources
McMaster's academic search tool is Omni, which connects you to resources available at McMaster and other Omni partners. For more information about Omni please consult our Omni Research Guide.
When looking for scholarly or peer-reviewed sources, Omni provides you with 3 main avenues: searching through the catalogue, searching by database, or searching by journal.
Searching through the catalogue will provide you with a comprehensive, but not exhaustive, list of relevant sources.
Once you've conducted a search you have the option to modify your results using the filters on the left-hand side of the page.
The simplest way to ensure you are using a scholarly source is to check the "peer-reviewed" option.
You also have the option to include or exclude certain resource types, including books, journal articles, multimedia, government, and archival materials.
There are also a variety of other filters to choose from, including publication date and subject area.
Adjusting these filters can assist you in locating the most relevant and up to date materials.
If a catalogue search is not yielding the results you need, you can also search by journal or database.
Databases are listed alphabetically. You can search by name if you know the specific database, or narrow down your options by subject matter, database type (articles, images, patents, statistics, etc.), or user type (student, alumni, public).
Each database is briefly described.
Click on the info logo for a more detailed description or to connect to the database.
Journals can be searched by title or ISSN.
If you're unsure what journal is best suited to your needs, you can browse by category.
Click on the arrow to the left of each name to expand a list of sub-categories.
To help determine if a source is right for your project, read the description of the source provided on the library's discovery page . . .
. . . or the abstract which can be found at the beginning of many scholarly articles.
For a book, read the section and chapter titles in the Table of Contents, which can also often be found on the library's discovery page.
Beyond just content, use the CRAAP test to help determine if a source is suitable for your research:
Currency refers to the source's date of publication. Your instructor may ask for resources from within a certain time period, often the last 5 years. Publication date can also be important depending upon your field of study - have significant advances or discoveries been made since this source was created? How timely is the language and terminology used?
Relevance refers to how closely aligned the source is with your research goals. Who is the intended audience? Is the source appropriate for your level of study? How much does it contribute to establishing context or answering your research question?
Authority refers to the origins of the source. Who wrote, created, published, or funded this source? Are there any obvious conflicts? How are the author(s) qualified to speak on this subject? Using peer-reviewed resources is a simple way to establish the authority of your sources.
Accuracy reflects the source's reliability. Using peer-reviewed resources ensures the claims have been vetted by experts in the field. Ensure that your source contains a bibliography or works cited that links to other credible resources.
Purpose refers to the motivation behind the creation of the resource. Is the author trying to argue for a specific point of view or agenda? Are there examples of bias or information taken out of context?
