How to Find Dance Research

I wrote a post on How to Find Research back in 2011, but I want to update it to How to Find Dance Research. The beginning is a repost of the previous blog post.

When I am looking for information for my research or anything scientific in nature I always go to PubMed first. I'm sure everyone is familiar with Google Scholar by now, but the problem with Google Scholar is that you need to give it VERY specific words to search for what you are looking for or you will get thousands of hits to irrelevant stuff. One last thing about Google Scholar, it is good if you are looking for something from a non-traditional source. 

PubMed looks at the good scientific journals that have the information you really need. I know some of my professors have snubbed PubMed for Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, Jurn, and SportsDiscus, etc, but anyone can access PubMed and sometimes you can get free articles. (Another reason I like PubMed is that they list the articles chronologically.) With other databases you have to have a login access, which means you have to be student, staff, or faculty. The only database I use with login access is Web of Science/Knowledge. I like it because you can look at a specific article's references and they link to other articles that have referenced that article you are looking at. Plus with PubMed and Web of Knowledge/Science you can click on any of the authors of an article and see what else they have written.

There are databases specifically for dance/performing arts; Dance Education Literature and Research descriptive index (DELRdi), International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text (IBTD), and International Index to Performing Arts (IIPA). I have mainly used IBTD, but it has the same information as PubMed, so I don't go to it often. 

There are journals specifically for dance/performing arts. Some are more scientific or medical (quantitative) in nature and some are educational or more qualitative.

American Journal of Dance Therapy

Dance Research Journal

Dance Research: the Journal of the Society for Dance Research

Journal of Dance Education

I have used the educational journals on occasion, but I mostly use medical journals and I have been published in MPPA.

Medical Problems of Performing Artists (MPPA)

Journal of Dance Medicine & Science (JDMS)

I rarely use these journals mostly because they rarely publish anything about dance and when they have it is usually out of date. 

ICHPER-SD Journal of Research in Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport & Dance

Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (JOPERD)

There are other non-dance journals, more medical or educational, that publish articles about dance/performing arts, but you can usually find them in PubMed or other databases. 

The International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) also has published the Bulletin for Dancers and Teachers and Resource Papers about different, but important topics. Here is a list of IADMS Resource Paper topics:

·         Bone Health and Female Dancers:  Physical and Nutritional Guidelines

·         Dance Fitness

·         The Challenge of the Adolescent Dancer

·         First Aid for Dancers

·         Mirrors in the Dance Class: Help or Hindrance?

·         Motor Learning and Teaching Dance

·         Nutrition Fact Sheet:  Fueling the Dancer

·         Proprioception

·         Screening in a Dance Wellness Program

·         Somatic Studies and Dance

·         Stretching for Dancers

·         Standard Measures Consensus Initiative (SMCI) Executive Summary

·         Recommendations and Implementation Strategies for the Assessment and Reporting of Dancer Capacities, Risk Factors, and Injuries: Steps toward Consensus

·         Turnout for Dancers: Hip Anatomy and Factors Affecting Turnout

·         Turnout for Dancers: Supplemental Training

·         When Can I Start Pointe Work?  Guidelines for Initiating Pointe Training

One last thing to remember about research if you want to publish; how to reference. Most medical and scientific journals use similar reference styles, but some are picky and have their own way. If you are trying to publish make sure you look up what that journal wants. Within the article there are two ways to reference either Marshall¹ or Marshall (2012). In the references section this is usually how to write the references: Title, Author(s), Journal Name, Volume, (Issue in parentheses), Page Number(s), and year. For example:

·         The effect of whole-body vibration on jump height and active range of movement in female dancers. Marshall, LC and Wyon, MA. J Strength Cond Res 26(3): 789–793, 2012

·         Marshall, LC and Wyon, MA. The effect of whole-body vibration on jump height and active range of movement in female dancers. J Strength Cond Res 26(3): 789–793, 2012

·         Marshall, LC and Wyon, MA. The effect of whole-body vibration on jump height and active range of movement in female dancers. J Strength Cond Res 2012:26(3): 789–793.

·         The effect of whole-body vibration on jump height and active range of movement in female dancers. Marshall, LC and Wyon, MA. J Strength Cond Res 2012:26(3): 789–793.

And to reference books or book chapters:

Book

Author Name, I. Title of book. Edition. Location: Publisher. Year.

Strunk W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan, 1979

Book Chapter

Author Name, I. Title of chapter In: Editors (Ed.), Title of book Publisher City, State: Publisher. Year: page numbers.

Gurman AS, Kniskern DP. Family therapy outcome research: knowns and unknowns. In: Gurman AS, Kniskern DP, editors. Handbook of family therapy. New York: Brunner/Maazel, 1981:742-75.