Extra Credit: Geography Journal Article Review
Geography 101
Spring Semester 2007
David
Snyder
With this project, you will
1) learn more about a particular topic; 2) become more familiar with how
geographers look at the world around us; and 3) become more skilled or adept at
using the Consortium Library’s collection of journals for your own future
research. While a lot of research-based material is now available on the
Internet, permanent hard-bound journals are still an important means for
sharing new research and new ideas. Indeed, because of their systematic
distribution and their permanence, journals were once means by which many
subjects like geography became established academic fields (and separate “Departments”
in North American and European colleges) about one hundred years ago.
This assignment requires
that you browse a peer-review journal in the library. Follow the guidelines to
choose a particular article. You will then need to photocopy and summarize the
article for this project.
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First, the article has to be drawn from one of the five journals listed in
italics below.
Canadian Geographer / Le
Geographe canadien (1996-present: note, this journal is on a high shelf)
Geographical Journal (2001-present)
Geographical Review (2000-present)
Geography: An International
Journal (1996-present)
Yearbook of the
Association of
The first four journals are
found in the Periodicals section of the Consortium Library, downstairs from our
classroom. The journals are in the southeast corner of the first floor of the
library. There, they are grouped in alphabetical order by name (Geographical Review, for example, is in the
“G” aisle) and shelved chronologically. All are available in hard-copy for the
dates you’re restricted to (this means you won’t have to look at any
microfilm!) The last journal, Yearbook, is
in the “Alaska Room” on the second floor of the library, shelved according to
its call number: F851.A79
What distinguishes these
journals from magazines like National Geographic (which you may not use
for this project) is that these five are all peer-review journals.
“Peer-review” means that scholars submit unsolicited papers to the editor, and
the editor then asks three independent specialists or academic “peers” to read
the draft and tell her/him whether or not the paper
should be published. The reviewers usually do not know who the author is when
they review a paper, nor does the editor tell the author who the reviewers
were. This peer-review process sets the material in these journals apart, not
only from most magazines, but also from most free-access material you will find
on the Internet.
•
Second, the essay you choose to summarize should be a major or
“feature” article. Your article should not be an editorial, news-brief,
book-review, or research notes. Feature articles tend to be a little longer,
and for this assignment, your chosen article should be at least six
(6) pages long.
•
Third and ideally, the article should be about
a topic of interest to you!
Your Assignment: Once you find a good
article in one of these journals, your task is to tell me about the journal and
the article. Note that the copies of these journals may not be checked out of
the library. Your task comes in three steps.
First, you need to make a
photocopy of the article you have chosen (in the copy-room by the checkout
counter, at fifteen cents per page -- and cheaper if you use a card). You must submit the photocopy with your
summary, attached by staple or paperclip. You’ll get your photocopy back after
I have graded the material. You might want to photocopy the contents page and
the page with the journal’s publication information too, just for your own
information when you sit down to write your summary.
Second, when you begin to
write your essay, you should first list the author(s), article title, journal
name, date, issue, and page numbers at the top of your written summary, with
your own name and our class information in the opposite corner.
Third, you need to compose a
summary of the article. In the first paragraph, tell me a little bit about the
journal: who publishes it, where the group is based, and what other stuff was
in the issue you used. Then tell me about the article. You should summarize the
topic, the questions addressed, the methods used to address the topic, and any
conclusions that the author provided. Lastly, tell me why you were interested
in this article originally. Your summary should be typed, well-written and
edited, and 2-3 pages in length.
Don’t forget to attach the article when you print out your assignment.