Research Guides: Evaluating Sources: ACT UP: Pushing against privilege

USING BOOKS

Finding books on your topic is one way to circumvent academic journal gatekeeping. Since book publishing does not rely on peer review, it gives marginalized folks a chance to share new, challenging, and critical ideas, data, and arguments. It is always worth a search in the library catalog to see what is out there on your topic. Remember, scholarly articles are not the only resource worth citing.

Library OneSearch
Find books, articles and more available through K's Library

USING OPEN-ACCESS JOURNALS

There are several avenues worth exploring to get at research that is not represented in our databases due to privilege in publishing. Open Access Journals can be a really great resource. Open Access (OA) Publishing is free and allows access to anyone. This means research is not hidden behind and expensive pay wall. Keep in mind that not every Open Access Journal is on the up and up. There are scams and shoddy research/reviews that get published in some OA journals. But there are ways for you to evaluate those OA journals

Find an OA Journal
a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.
Evaluating OA Journals
helpful tools and discuss criteria to consider when choosing a publishing venue as well as tips for identifying and avoiding so-called predatory publishers, an increasingly common feature on the scholarly publishing landscape.
Retraction Watch
Reports on retractions of scientific papers and on related topics.
Beall's List of Predatory Journals
Journals that publish work without proper peer review and that charge scholars large fees to submit should not be permitted to share space with legitimate journals and publishers, whether open access or not. These journals and publishers cheapen intellectual work by misleading legitimate scholars, particularly preying on early career researchers trying to gain an edge.

USING BLOGS

Another avenue is to find scholarly blogs. Oftentimes professors and researchers are talking about their work on blog sites. Just like with any other resource, you will need to evaluate the blog to see if it is credible or not. Here is a website to help you do that

Using Blogs
how to evaluate blogs.

USING OTHER SCHOLARLY SITES

Cite Black Authors
Curated list of research by black scholars. Search the database and incorporate these works into your research, teaching, and learning.
Women also know history
Our searchable website makes it easier to identify and connect with women historians working in a wide range of fields and professional settings.
Sourcelist
Sourcelist is a database of qualified experts in technology policy from diverse backgrounds. It is built on the principle that technology policy stands to benefit from the inclusion of the ideas, perspectives, and recommendations of a broader array of people.
Cite Black women
Cite Black Women engages with social media, aesthetic representation (our t-shirts) and public dialogue to push people to critically rethink the politics of race gender and knowledge production.
Women also know stuff
Searchable database promotes the work of women for political science. Search to identify and connect with women academics conducting research on issues related to the study of politics.
People of Color also know stuff
Searchable database helps identify and connect with scholars of color in political science.

USING ZINES

Lastly, you can incorporate zines into your research. While you might not be able to cite them in your work (ask your professor), you can certainly read zines for background information and for that invaluable first-hand account. Primary sources (folks writing about a topic that they are directly affected by) gives a voice to your research.