Communication Disorders Research Guide
Whether you are creating a brand new study or doing a review of past literature, research in communication disorders begins in the scholarly and medical journal literature. Find basic background information in medical textbooks, anatomy books, and reference sources on speech and language.
Scholarly and Medical Journals
Websites
Reference Books
Scholarly and Medical Journals
Research articles in communication disorders are published in scholarly and medical journals. Search the databases listed below to find citations to articles. Many of these databases will also provide the full text of the articles cited. Database searching requires more precision than searching the web, and many databases have their own particular rules for efficient searching. If you aren't finding useful citations, ask a librarian, or read the Database Searching guide for tips.
ComDisDome
This database brings together citations to articles, books, dissertations, grants, web resources, researchers, and institutions for communication disorders topics.
Communication & Mass Media Complete (EBSCOhost)
CMMC includes the full text of many core CD journals as well as most of the more general communication-related titles, and indexes a vast number of mass media and communication journals.
ERIC (EBSCOhost)
ERIC focuses on education and includes articles from educational journals (including many basic CD titles), chapters from books, conferences reports, and more. In addition to the ERIC database available through EBSCOhost, try the Department of Education's own ERIC website.
Medline with Full Text (EBSCOhost)
15 million citations to articles from thousands of medical journals, including many articles on the treatment of communication disorders published in key journals. A free version called PubMed is also available on the web, but it lacks the full-text links. PubMed Central provides free full text of thousands of articles, but tends not to include the major CD journals.
PsycINFO (EBSCOhost)
PsycINFO covers the scholarly literature of psychology and behavior including journals such as Communication Disorders Quarterly, Journal of Neurolinguistics and Topics in Language Disorders. A search in PsycINFO can be combined with a search in the PsycArticles database to provide full text of articles from journals published by the American Psychological Association.
The four databases listed immediately above plus Academic Search Premier (see next section) are all available through EBSCOhost. You can group EBSCOhost databases together and search more than one of them at a time if you want to get a broad overview of a topic. However, you will retrieve better, more comprehensive results if you search each database separately.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts
LLBA covers all aspects of the study of language. Although it has a strong focus on linguistics and phonetics, it also includes topics such as hearing and speech physiology, learning disabilities, nonverbal communication, and special education.
Other Relevant Databases
The following databases are also useful for communication disorders topics. Although they do not focus primarily on medical or communication literature, they do index scholarly journals and often provide the full text of articles.
Expanded Academic ASAP
A more general index covering about 1500 scholarly and popular journals, magazines, and newspapers, in a wide range of subject areas. Full text is provided for about one third of the articles in these publications. Expanded Academic ASAP includes a selection of scholarly journals that are useful for CD research.
Academic Search Premier
Indexes over 7000 journals in all academic disciplines with full text for over 4000 titles, including many journals related to communication disorders. The EBSCOhost interface allow you to search multiple databases including CMMC, ERIC, and Academic Search Premier simultaneously. Since ASP includes many full-text articles, it is often useful to include the database in searches.
MLA International Bibliography
Indexes critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Although the main focus is literature, it also includes many citations to journals in the communication sciences, such as Brain & Language, The European Journal of Disorders of Communication, and American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
Health Reference Center-Academic
This database combines journal articles and trade publications with entries from reference sources (medical dictionaries and handbooks) to provide a range of information about health-related topics.
Websites
ASHA
The website of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has links to career information, conferences, news, etc..
Dysphagia Resource Center
Case studies, articles, and links.
Google Directory for Communication Disorders
Links to websites.
National Center for Stuttering
Research, treatment, and training programs.
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Research, news, and health information from one of the National Institutes of Health.
Net Connections for Communication Disorders and Sciences
Discussion groups, newsgroups, journals, websites, etc.
Neurosciences on the Internet
Index of neuroscience resources.
Society for Neuroscience
News, publications, and professional development.
Voice and Swallowing Center (Columbia University)
Information about voice and laryngeal disorders for students, patients, and clinicians.
Reference Books
Researchers in communication disorders use many reference books, especially for overviews of topics and for background information.
Communication Disorders Sourcebook [X] RC423 .C644 1996
Desk Reference of Assessment Instruments in Speech and Language [X] RC423 .H338 1996
Dictionary of Communication Disorders [X] RC423 .M5972 1993 2005
Encyclopedia of Deafness and Hearing Disorders [X] RF290 .T93 2000
Handbook of Clinical Speech Physiology [X] QP306 .B28 1999
Handbook of Neurological Speech and Language Disorders [X] RC423 .H3263 1995
Illustrated Dictionary of Speech-Language Pathology [X] RC423 .S533 2000
MIT Encyclopedia of Communication Disorders [X] RC423 .M56 2004
Neurotology [X] RF260 T49 2005
Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery: Clinical Reference Guide [X] RF46 .P37 2000
PocketGuide to Assessment in Speech-Language Pathology [X] RC423 .H38286 1996. Third edition (2007) is on order Summer 2007.
Quick Reference to Speech-Language Pathology [X] RC423 .P665 1999
Speech-Language Pathology Desk Reference [X] RC423 .R586 1998
Terminology of Communication Disorders: Speech-Language-Hearing [X] RC423 .N52 1996. Fifth edition (2003) is on order Summer 2007.
