Sport

SportsDiscus is the best place to begin any sports related search!

These databases cover a wide range of subjects, of which sport-related material comprises just a small fraction.

However, these databases are also absolutely huge, so that 'small fraction' can still be a vast number of relevant articles! Several of these databases also include advanced search features, which give you new ways of finding articles.

In academic and professional writing, it is essential to support your discussions and arguments with reliable, published sources. Personal opinions such as 'I believe...' are not sufficient on their own: you must back up your claims with credible, relevant evidence from appropriate sources..

Such evidence often takes the form of a journal article. These sources are typically found using research databases and, in some cases, through platforms like Google Scholar or Library Search. Using these resources ensures you access high-quality, relevant information. The Library provides these databases in collaboration with your lecturers and academic staff, helping you find the most appropriate materials for your subject area.

So it is important that you understand why you need to use these sources, develop your skills and knowledge of how research is published, and which resources are most applicable to your subject areas.

Journal articles are one of the key places where new research is published. Articles are written by experts and practitioners in that field of research.

Articles are published in academic journals; like magazines,  journals will publish several new issues a year, each issue contain several articles. They have several functions:

• To share original research; 
• To review previously published research;
• To discuss theoretical concepts within a particular field of research.

Journal articles have some defining features:

• Typically focus on one very specific topic;
• Have a structured format, usually consisting of abstract, introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion and conclusions. This similarity to the formats for dissertations and projects can be helpful inspiration for structuring your own research work;,
• Some articles will be peer-reviewed by other experts in that field prior to publication: this helps screen out errors and flaws, and so peer-reviewed articles are among the more reliable sources available.

Many academic databases that search for journal articles also include conference papers, which are sometimes also referred to as conference proceedings. These papers are based on presentations given by researchers at academic or industry conferences. While some conference papers present complete research studies, many report on preliminary findings or work in progress. They can be published in the form of journals, books, or webpages.

Conference papers are less likely than journal articles to go through peer review. However, they can still be useful sources, particularly in fast-developing areas of research.

Many databases which search for journal articles will also search for conference papers. Conference papers- sometimes also called conference proceedings- are articles based on presentations delivered at academic or industry conferences.  They sometimes feature complete pieces of research: but they often are based on preliminary results or work-in-progress from ongoing research. Conference papers may be published in the form of journals, books or websites.

Most conference papers don't go through the quality control process of  peer review in the same way as academic journal articles. However, this is not always the case, and some conference papers may have gone through peer review: check the details of the conference to find out if this is the case.

Because they are not always as extensive or rigorous as formal journal articles, conference papers are often considered to be not such high quality sources to use in your work. However, some conference papers go through exactly the same quality-control process as journal articles: and the latest conference papers can be very valuable because they will include new information and ideas that has not yet reached the journals. This is particularly true in the case of fast-developing areas of research.

While we have a few collections of conference papers, we don't have subscription access to most conferences. However, conference papers can be obtained via the document supply service in the same way as journal articles and can be supplied for free within a matter of days. The SHULinks option that appears in many databases will give you the links to request a conference paper via DSS.

You may also sometimes encounter conference abstracts. Rather than a full article, these are just short summaries of conference presentations. If you do find a conference paper and want to learn more about the research, it is often worth using a database to search for work by the same authors: in most cases, the authors will have gone on to write up and publish their research in the form of a journal article at a later date. This will give you a much fuller account of the completed research than the abstract or conference presentation.

Split your assignment into keywords: 

To find more relevant and fewer results, think about your keywords. Make sure they accurately describe what you are looking for, and add more keywords to make your search more specific. For example for the assignment title "What role can sport play in the regeneration of a city?" keywords would be sport - regeneration - city

Think of alternative keywords: 

For example, 'young' could also be referred to as 'youth' or 'adolescent'. Or, think of the bigger picture. For example, instead of searching for 'boys' or 'girls', try searching for 'gender'. For the example above an alternative for regeneration might be 'development or renewal.'

Search for phrases in "double quotation marks": 

For example, "barriers to participation". This will search for the phrase as a whole, instead of the individual words.

It is important to scan key journals in your subject area to keep up to date. The Articles in Press feature displays the most current articles before they have been officially given a volume and issue number. When you have selected a journal, Articles in Press appears on the left, just below the journal cover image.

In the course of searching these specialist resources, you may find articles that we do not have access to in our Library collection. If this happens, we can get the articles for you through our Document Supply Service.

This link is the information about how to use the Document Supply Service at Sheffield Hallam.

• Document Supply Service