Use this box to search Yale Library's (almost) complete holdings, including books, articles, videos, sound recordings, and more. This is the broadest way to search. I like to start here, and then move to the databases when I'm ready for a more focused search.

Citing your sources properly is extremely important. It gives credit where credit is due, guides other researchers back to the sources you used, and supports the claims you make in your paper. There are many citation styles. Choose ONE, and stick with it. 

The Yale Library catalog and most databases generate citations automatically. Just look for the quotation mark icon. (Sometimes there is a link called "generate citation.") Click the image to enlarge the example I've provided. (You may need to enable pop-ups.)

Watch out for predatory journals. These are journals that look a LOT like regular peer reviewed journals (and may even claim to be peer reviewed journals) but are not always up to standard, and can employ some shady practices. You can usually trust the journals you find through Yale Library, but if you're searching for articles on the Internet (even through Google Scholar), here are some tips to help you identify the shady ones:

• Are the editors named, and are their names easy to find on the journal's website? A good journal will be up-front about who's in charge of its content. (You can use Google and Wikipedia to find this information too.)
• Is the journal affiliated with a university or professional society? (Always good to doublecheck, since predatory journals will sometimes lie.)
• Are there spelling mistakes and other errors on the webpage?
• If contact information is available, is the email address a professional one (e.g. not Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc..)
• Publishing a peer reviewed article can take a long time. Does it seem as if the journal is publishing a LOT of articles every year?

Note that this advice applies to academic journals, not magazines or newspapers. However, you still want to make sure that the authors of the articles you use know what they're talking about! If you're reading a newspaper review of a concert or album, try to find out if the author is a real music critic (again, Google and Wikipedia are good for verifying this!)