FAMS 2800: Teaching Human Sexuality

You'll need to find at least 15 peer-reviewed articles or scholarly books for the literature review portion of your proposal. This page includes links to recommended databases and journals.

Think of the main ideas you plan to focus on in your program or that you may have identified in a needs assessment, including the target audience. You likely won't find peer-reviewed articles describing an educational program exactly like what you're proposing. Instead of searching just for articles talking about existing sexuality education programs, try looking for articles about the topics you plan to include in your program. For example, if you're proposing a program to help engaged couples develop sexual intimacy, you could look for articles talking about the importance of communication in relation to sexual satisfaction and strategies for improving sexual communication, since that would likely be an important topic to include in a program like this.

Once you've identified your main ideas and target audience, combine your identified keywords using AND to create a database search string. See the Search Strategies page of our general Family Science guide for more tips for effective database searching.

Keyword Examples for Database Searching

• "sexual communication" AND parents AND adolescents
• ("sexual education" OR "sex education" OR "sexual instruction") AND parents
• intimacy AND marriage
• "sexual self-concept"
• communication AND "sexual satisfaction"
• (spirituality OR religious) AND sexuality

Pro Tip: Many articles refer to sex education or sex ed as "sexual instruction." To search for all of these terms at once, try including the following in your search string: ("sexual education" OR "sex education" OR "sexual instruction") AND your other keywords

The following databases are recommended for finding peer-reviewed articles on human sexuality and sex education topics. While these databases primarily include scholarly articles, they may also include other types of sources such as book reviews, news articles, and magazine articles. Be sure to check for and use available filters to limit results to peer-reviewed articles. See the Identifying & Using Peer-Reviewed Articles page for tips to make sure you're using the correct type of article in your assignment.

The following are recommended peer-reviewed, scholarly journals that publish articles on human sexuality and sex education topics. Click on the titles to browse articles published in these journals.

To check for other journals, use our Journals by Title tool:

If you can't access the full text of an article using any of the resources on this page, use Interlibrary Loan to request the article. We'll locate another library that has the article and get you a PDF copy for free; this typically takes 2-3 business days. UVU students and employees should never pay for articles—the library has you covered!

Citation chaining (sometimes called citation mining) is a research technique that uses reference lists and citations to expand your search. Chaining is especially helpful when you're having a hard time finding enough articles on your topic. 

To get started:

1. When you find an article that is relevant to your research, find the references list at the end of the article. These sources were gathered by the author(s) as part of their research process and often include great articles that you wouldn't find using databases alone. 
2. Review the titles on the reference list for relevant sources. 
3. If you find a potentially useful source, copy the title and then paste it into OneSearch (on the library's homepage) to see if we have a copy. If it doesn't come up, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan.
4. Keep in mind sources on the reference list are older than the article you started with, so check to ensure they fit your assignment requirements.

Advanced Chaining with Google Scholar

Citation chaining using an article's reference list involves moving backwards along a path of references, but we can use Google Scholar to look forward and see who has built on someone's work since it was published. Look up a relevant article on Google Scholar, and underneath the entry in Google Scholar, you will see a link that says Cited by [#] if an article, book, or book chapter has been cited since it was published. This another great way to find additional sources on your topic!

To get started:

1. Go to Google Scholar.
2. Search for the title of a relevant article you've found.
3. Click on the Cited by link, underneath the article's entry.
4. Review the list of results.
5. If you find an article you'd like to read but there isn't a PDF available, check for it in OneSearch or use Interlibrary Loan.

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