General Article Databases
These databases provide access to articles in magazines, newspapers and journals for a many different subject areas.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window A multi-disciplinary database with full text in many topics including the social sciences, humanities, general science, education and most areas of academic study.
- GreenFILE This link opens in a new window Offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. T
- ProQuest This link opens in a new window Search a comprehensive file of periodicals for a broad range of subject areas including arts, business, children, education, general interest, health, humanities, international, law, military, multicultural, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women's interests.
- US Major Dailies This link opens in a new windowThe five most respected U.S. national and regional newspapers: The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. The titles offer researchers thorough and timely coverage of local, regional, and global events.
Scholarly Article Databases
These databases provide access to articles, commentary, and editorials from journals.
- Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowProvides coverage of more than 500 journals in the communication and mass media fields, including full-text for more than 230 journals.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window A digital archive includes more than 3,500 leading academic journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs. The most recently published issues (past 3-5 years) are generally not available.
- Project Muse This link opens in a new window Full text access to a selection of prestigious humanities and social sciences journals.
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowProvides access to international literature in psychology and related disciplines including psychiatry, education, business, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, law, linguistics, and social work.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window Full text access to select journals in science, technology and medicine.
- SocIndex with Full-Text This link opens in a new window Covers rural & urban sociology, social psychology, social work, sociological history, sociological research, sociological theory, social development, social structure, socio-cultural anthropology, criminology & criminal justice, demography, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, marriage & family, political sociology, religion, substance abuse & other addictions, & violence.
What Is an Article?
Articles are written documents (essays, journalistic reports, academic research, magazine stories, opinion pieces, editorials, etc.) published in newspapers, magazines, journals, and websites.
Articles may be available in multiple places. For example, an article might be available in the print edition of Time, free on the Time's website, for a fee on the Time's website and in one or more library databases.
Types of Article Sources
Article sources are generally categorized as a popular, trade, or scholarly publication. Your professor may require that you use scholarly articles for your assignments.
Popular publications, for example magazines and newspapers, are written by paid journalists for the general public. The articles often provide general information (who, what, when, and where) about a current news event or topic.
Trade publications include articles focused on a specific profession or industry. The articles are usually written by experts in the field to inform readers about current trends and practices.
Scholarly publications are sometimes identified as academic, peer-reviewed or refereed sources. The authors are experts in their field and are writing for other experts and students of that field. These journals utilize a peer-review process to determine the accuracy and validity of the work and its contribution to or advancement of knowledge in the field. The articles in these publications range from original research to review articles (systematic review, meta-analysis or literature review). These publications may also include editorials, opinion pieces, and "news items" which do not go through the same rigorous review process.
Many library databases provide options for filtering or limiting your search to specific types of publications. You always want to evaluate your results. This brief video describes differences among the different publication types.
Academic/Peer-Reviewed/Scholarly Publications Tutorial (3:15)
from NCSU Library