News You Can Use from the Eccles Library

• Why Peer Review Matters
  • Ensures accuracy, rigor, and credibility in published research
  • Provides mentoring opportunities for emerging scholars
  • Strengthens a culture of scholarly collaboration and responsibility
  • Builds trust between academia and the public
• Conversation Starters
  • Reflect on your own experiences as an author, reviewer, or editor and share them with colleagues and students
  • Encourage early-career researchers to explore opportunities to act as peer reviewers
  • Integrate discussions of peer review into your courses to model the values of academic integrity
• Explore and Connect
  • This year’s PRW theme
  • PRW events and activities 
  • Peer Review toolkits, best practices, and guidelines
  • Further learning- check out:
    • UC Berkeley Library's Peer Review LibGuide
    • Peer Review the Nuts-and-Bolts: A Guide for Early Career Researchers (Standing up for Science 3, 2017)
    • "The Peer Review Process: Past, Present, and Future" (2024) https://doi.org/10.3389/bjbs.2024.12054

So, you have picked your research topic, but an initial resource hunt is not delivering and digging deeper on subscription platforms feels daunting. Let’s make starting your research easier. 

Reminder: Before using AI tools in your work, consult your professor to confirm whether it’s allowed and to learn the appropriate way to cite it.

Meet Scopus AI: Your Academic Resource Booster

Scopus AI is designed to simplify the discovery process by letting you type questions in plain language with no need to master Boolean logic or advanced search tricks. 

• Concise summaries with references: Get quick, trustworthy overviews of a topic with linked citations you can pursue. 
• Interactive concept maps: See how ideas, subtopics, and emerging themes connect, helping you branch out into areas you might not have considered. 
• Time-saving discovery: Instead of scrolling through endless results, one query can highlight fresh directions, influential papers, and the top experts in your field. 

This tool not only makes exploration easier but also helps you jump start your search and build your bibliography with confidence. 

Pro Tip: Expand Your Search

Use the new keywords and phrases Scopus AI identifies to fuel deeper searches across the NWC Library’s other subscription platforms leveraging the Library's A to Z Resources List. 

Want to Learn More? 

Here are some highlights from the Scopus AI vendor: 

(Image Source: Scopus AI FAQ) 

Visit the "Scopus" tab on NWC’s Gen AI for Academia’s AI in Library Research Resources tab.

Have more questions or want to let us know how Scopus AI works for you? 

Contact: libref@usnwc.edu 

In your new student orientation session, some resources were shared with you. One was the JPME Prospective Research Topics Database (PRTD) through the Joint Electronic Library Plus (JEL+). We just received an update we wanted to pass along to you: the J-7 JPME Office this July directed the removal of the outdated PRTD from the JEL+ site.

Where can you go to find topic ideas or look over example student papers?

The following are some suggestions to find topic ideas to jump start your research or to read example student papers:

• SECDEF Call for Research Memorandum (12 MAY 2025)​- topics
• Joint Electronic Library Plus ​(CAC Access Only)- concepts 
• Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) - student papers from NWC and other PME institutions​ (along with technical reports)
• NWC Library Online Catalog: collection found here or search within NWC Student Papers (by selecting the red circled facet in the image below):​

Have more questions?

Contact: libref@usnwc.edu

Don't stress about using the NWC Library, there are tools to help with that.  Check out the links below to get started.

This Panopto video is an introductory guide to the Learning Commons homepage. Logging in requires authentication with CAC or Blackboard. 

The Google-like search box on the Learning Commons webpage searches the library's online catalog.  Experimenting with the online catalog is easy, you can't break it.   Use the handouts on this LibGuide to lead the way.  

The Military Balance is a great resource to find current information on military capabilities across the globe.  Use this guide to navigate the Military Balance.  

The NWC Library has access to the online content of some newspapers.  This LibGuide is filled with information about access to newspapers. 

Book an appointment with a Research & Instruction Librarian: https://usnwc.libguides.com/appointments

Contact: libref@usnwc.edu  
             circdesk@usnwc.edu  

Problems with access? 
Contact: libraryfeedback@usnwc.edu

Are you looking for a book titled War Transformed? 
 
This eBook is found in the ProQuest Ebook Central collection. The attached NWC Library instruction 
illustrates how to find the eBook and guides the user through the process of searching for eBooks 
in the ProQuest collection. 

• NWC Library Instruction: War Transformed

Contact: libref@usnwc.edu

Happy Public Domain Day 2025! This year, we welcome the version of Popeye as the sailor who first appeared 17 January 1929 as a minor character in E.C. Segar’s Thimble Theatre comic strip.

In the United States, each 1 January, the literature, movies, music scores, and other protectable works released 95 years earlier enter the public domain. All materials with authorized U.S. publication dates before 1930 (and all pre-1925 sound recordings) are now in the U.S. public domain as of 1 January 2025. 

For more details on what is new to the public domain this year, please visit:

• Duke Law School:  https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2025/
• Copyright Lately: https://copyrightlately.com/public-domain-2025/

For more details on the public domain, please visit:

• NWC's Public Domain Guide: https://usnwc.libguides.com/copyright/publicdomain 

Interested in informational copyright coaching? Please contact: copyright@usnwc.edu  

E. C. Segar, Popeye (in "'Gobs' of Work" from the Thimble Theatre comic strip, 17 January 1929)

Contact: libref@usnwc.edu 
NYCU: https://usnwc.libguides.com/blog/

Europa World Plus
Europa World Plus is a comprehensive global information source that includes political, economic, and statistical information about more than 250 countries and territories.  Europa is available via the Electronic Resources A-Z list from the Learning Commons and Library homepage. The navigation bar at the top of the page makes browsing easy.

​​​​​​Browsing Regions

• Select the regions tab from the toolbar 
• Click into a region from the nine regional surveys
• Select information, countries, and active organizations from the information on the left

Comparative Statistics

• Use the comparative statistics search on the top toolbar
• Select categories and countries for comparative statistics 

International Organizations   

• A primer on the United Nations 
• Information on major non-UN organizations
• Other International Organizations 

Check out Europa World!
Contact:  libref@usnwc.edu 
NYCU:  https://usnwc.libguides.com/blog/

The Online Catalog 

The Online Catalog, formally known as Primo VE, provides access to both subscription-based and freely-accessible materials. The collections include print books, electronic books, digital journal and news collections, reports, and papers. The catalog is accessed from the Library and Learning Commons homepage via the Google-like search box.  Use the online catalog as an introduction to your literature review and begin finding materials immediately. 

Use the handouts on this research guide to help you get started with the online catalog.   

• The NWC Library Online Catalog: Introduction 
• Finding Books in Print in the Online Catalog
• Searching for eBooks in the Online Catalog
• Finding Journal Literature from the Digital Collections

Managing Citations  

Managing citations for the literature you use is key to getting organized. There are options for collecting citations.
RefWorks is a tool that is supported by our digital literature collections.  Use the handout below to get started with RefWorks.

• Introduction to RefWorks  

Contact: libref@usnwc.edu

Great News From Nexis Uni  

Many NWC Nexis Uni users have been awaiting the resolution of some technical difficulties with
access.  Today's great news is that the issue has been worked out and access via the
Electronic Resources A-Z list on the Library's homepage is working.

Updates on the Nexis Uni Database
Nexis Uni has made some changes to navigating their database.  We've mapped out two ways to
find specific resources for news publications in the following handout. 

• Nexis Uni: Finding a Specific News Publication

Please look around on the updated Nexis Uni website and don't hesitate to contact us with questions.

Contact: libref@usnwc.edu

Africa Confidential

Working with a network of on-the-ground correspondents, Africa Confidential has been providing
analysis and in-depth news of the continent since 1960. Africa Confidential is now accessible via
the Electronic Resources A-Z listing on the library’s homepage.

The coverage includes political, economic and security development across Africa.  Their resources include:

• News by issue
• News by country/category
• Regions
• A Blog
• Maps 

Contact: libref@usnwc.edu  
https://usnwc.libguides.com/blog/