Research Guides: Library Guide to Research: 4. Find Articles

Article Sources

ARTICLE
SOURCE

	Scholarly Journals	Newspapers	Trade or Professional Journals	Popular Magazines

PURPOSE	Use for in-depth, original research findings, and peer-reviewed research articles.	Use for current events topics or editorials and opinions dealing with current events.	Offers specialized industry or professional articles that tend to be more practical and applied in nature.	For the general interest reader—these articles are used to inform or entertain.

Try Some of These Databases	EBSCO JSTOR Wilson Web	Lexis/Nexis Newspaper Source New York Times	EBSCO Business Source Premier	EBSCO ProQuest Wilson Web

Evaluate Article Resources

Scholarly v Popular Articles
Check out this document to get an in-depth list of criteria to evaluate your article resources to determine if the literature is scholarly or popular in nature.

Using Keywords

In most library databases, including our online catalogs, you must use keywords to retrieve relevant results. (As opposed to typing in an entire sentence.) The video tutorial below, created by the library at the University of Missouri-St.Louis, explains how to use keywords to effectively search library databases.

Keyword Searching in Library Databases (Video Tutorial)

General Databases

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides articles from 1,300 scholarly journal titles in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Coverage dates are from the very first issue of each journal (the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries for many) and continues to 2 – 5 years prior to the current year (moving wall).
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Includes searchable PDF content going back as far as 1887.
ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Multi-disciplinary research or any vocational/technical topic, including technology, healthcare, building trades, sales and retail, accounting, graphic design, photography and nursing.

Choosing the Right Database

Your paper topic will determine which library databases to search. Use the link below to find all library databases with a brief summary of what each covers. Depending on your topic, you may need a more specific database resource.

All Library Databases
This is an extensive list of all library databases. Check here for additional resources, if you are not finding what you need in the above databases.