Finding Articles in Academic Journals

Academic journals have the following characteristics: they are text-heavy, with few photographs or advertisements; they often have the word "Journal" or "Review" or "Research" in the title of the publication; the articles are based on research methodology; and the articles usually end with an extensive bibliography or list of references.

To evaluate your sources, use the Critical Evaluation of Information Sources guide.

Here are some databases that will be useful for finding articles in academic journals:

• Academic Search Premier is an interdisciplinary database, with indexing of about 8,000 periodicals and full-text for over 4,600 periodicals. Click Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals to limit your results to articles from academic journals.
• A good database for public policy topics is PAIS: Public Affairs Information Service. Limit your search to Peer Reviewed.
• Another excellent database for public policy topics is WorldWide Political Science Abstracts. Limit your search to Peer Reviewed.
• Web of Knowledge covers several thousand academic journals in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences. It has a unique citation indexing feature, which allows one to trace who has cited a particular article or book.
• Sociological Abstracts is a comprehensive index for societal and policy issues. Limit your search by checking the box Peer Reviewed.
• Business Source Complete indexes articles that will give the perspective of the business community. Click Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals to limit your results to articles from academic journals.
• Many other databases offer access to specialized periodicals. To learn about these, ask a reference librarian, or consult the Research Guides by Subject library web page.

Finding Information on Authors and Periodicals

Finding Information on Authors and Periodicals offers suggestions for locating biographical information on authors and background information on periodicals.