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Medical Sociology

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Brenda Smith
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Journals and Books

Key Medical Sociology Journals

Click on "Full Text Access" for a list of links of places to get these journals. You can then search within journals for your keywords, or browse through issues.


These journals, and other journals and articles about Medical Sociology, can be found in the following databases.

Medical Sociology Books and Articles

Statistics and Websites

COVID-19 Research

COVID-19 research is rapidly evolving as the pandemic continues. It is important to get information from reputable sources. This is a starting list of publishers and databases gathering research on COVID-19. This is not an exhaustive list; there is more information out there. Remember to evaluate any research that you read, especially considering where the information is from, especially if you are finding the information from social media.

 

Research tip: in Discover's advanced search, search for "COVID-19" and check off the discipline that you are researching in to narrow your results. For example, if you want to find COVID-19 sociological articles, check off "sociology."

This box last updated: September 16, 2020.

Data and Statistics

Websites

Follow Medical Sociology

Follow Medical Sociology

Listservs and Newsletters

Listservs have news, announcements, and discussions on a topic. Both listservs and newsletters are valuable sources of new information.


Social Media Feeds

Don't discredit information found online! Associations, journals, and researchers may share research, opinion pieces, and updates related to their field. Social media can help you keep up with current news and events in an academic area of study.

Here are some accounts to get you started:


Journal Alerts

There are three main ways to get updated when a journal publishes new articles.

1. Alerts directly from the journal: many journals have an option to get email alerts directly from their homepage. Look for a link called "Table of Content Alerts," "Get Content Alerts," "Set up Alerts," etc.

Example:

 

2. Through Discover:

  1. In advanced search, search for the journal title in quotation marks with "SO Journal Title/Source" selected from the dropdown menu.
  2. Click "Share" on the top right of the search results.
  3. Sign in (you will need to create a free EBSCOhost account--this doesn't have to be with your TRU email address, and it will not be linked to your TRU network account)
  4. Choose your settings and click save
  5. Tip: you can do this with any search in Discover to keep up to date on a topic.

3. Through Sociological Abstracts: Some sociology journals aren't available through Discover. This method is almost exactly the same as setting up alerts through Discover.

  1. In advanced search, search for the journal title in quotation marks with "Publication title - PUB" selected from the dropdown.
  2. Click "save search/alert" from the top right of search results.
  3. Create your alert.

Research Strategies and Tips

Evaluating Articles


You may be asked to find articles that are from sociology journals. Searching in a sociology database, like Sociological Abstracts, is a good place to get started, but not every journal in that database is sociological. (There are many journals that focus on social work or psychology, for example).

Here are some tips for evaluating journals:

  • Check the journal title. Sometimes it will be obvious if it is sociological or not:
    • Sociology of Health and Illness - a sociology journal
    • American Journal of Community Psychology - a psychology journal
  • Search for the journal title in Google to go to the journal's homepage. Most journals will have an "about" section that indicates what disciplines are covered by the journal.
    • Journals about sociology may use different key phrases, such as "social interactions," "social structure," or "society."

There is not a simple checkbox you can select to limit yourself to sociology journals, so make sure to give yourself time to think critically about your sources.

Reading Articles

Tips to get started

  • Read sections like the introduction, results, and discussion to help you decide if the article will actually help you with your paper. If it is not relevant, don't waste your time!
  • Markup the article, either by printing it out or using editing tools in PDF viewers. Highlight important concepts and make your own notes for later.
  • Write down the key ideas from the article and their supporting evidence.
  • Check the reference list of useful articles for additional readings that may be useful.

Further Resources on Reading Academic Articles

Advanced Searching

When Using Discover

"Discover" is the main library search system. It searches through most of what TRU Library has. While it can be helpful to view results from other disciplines, such as Education or Psychology, use Advanced Search then choose the discipline Sociology to help you find mostly sociology sources.

 

Other Databases

Tip: Start with Sociological Abstracts: these articles are not in Discover!

Research Resources

Interlibrary Loans

If you come across a book or article that you would like to use for your assignment, but the library doesn't have it, never fear! Fill out an interlibrary loan form and we will find the resource from another library and send it to you. Find the form under Interlibrary Loans on the page "Online Forms" below.

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