Finding Articles in Scholarly Journals Using Library Databases
Library databases list periodical articles, and frequently other sources, and be searched in various ways, including topic, author, and article title. Databases can list popular periodical articles in magazines, scholarly articles in journals, and news articles in newspapers.
For academic research, it is often important to use peer-reviewed (or refereed) journals rather than popular magazines. Peer review is the process by which a journal article is evaluated by experts in the field. An example of a peer-reviewed journal is Policy Studies. An example of a popular magazine is Time. To see a list of databases by subject, check All Subjects on the Databases page on the library website.
Note: Databases include many articles and other sources that are not available in full text. For such items, interlibrary loan is a service by which the library can request these items from other libraries. For directions, see a reference librarian.
The following databases are in alphabetical order by title in A-Z Databases under the link Databases on the library website.
Database Covering Political Science and Criminology
- Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new windowCovers criminal justice in many areas, including immigration.
- Political Science CompleteIndexes political science journals and other resources.
Selected Databases Covering Many Subjects, Including Political Science, History, and More
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides full text for selected scholarly journals and popular magazines across disciplines. - Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new windowCoverage includes full text of selected newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowProvides access to the full text of journals in many subject areas. There is no full-text coverage for the last 3-5 years. JSTOR also includes image and primary source collection.
- Project MUSE This link opens in a new windowProvides full text of many journal articles in the social sciences and humanities.
Databases Covering Legal Issues
Databases Covering History
- America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowCoverage of the U.S. and Canada from pre-historical times to the present in historical journals.
- Historical Abstracts with Full TextCovers the history of the world, excluding the U.S. and Canada, from 1450 to the present in historical journals.