Doctoral Research Strategies: Utilizing Digital Libraries and Databases to Find Peer-Reviewed Scholarship

The journey to a completed, accepted, peer-reviewed, published dissertation is akin to the journeys of Odysseus or Aeneas in Homer’s Odyssey or Virgil’s Aeneid, respectively. It is an epic quest filled with years of struggle, strivation, and setbacks. Grit, determination, and limitless motivation to achieve a goal resting far beyond the present horizon are all requisite necessities; however, many resources exist to aid the work and guide the navigation of the doctoral researcher in their path to a published dissertation. The distinction between a dissertation and a peer-reviewed, published journal article is important to highlight: According to Tribe & Tunariu (2017), a dissertation is a written work consisting of entirely autochthonous, specific, innovative, unique, and pioneering research which significantly contributes new research and knowledge to an existing body of scholarly research and literature. Publishing a dissertation is an evolutionary step beyond the scope of the doctoral program; therefore, this discussion will focus solely on the rigors and resources necessary to deliver a doctoral dissertation worthy of a PhD (Tribe & Tunariu, 2017)