Find Journal Articles

There are several ways to find journal articles here in Mossey Library. If you are starting your research, try our general databases or the subject specific databases listed below. If you have tried the basic databases below, go to the Databases page to search among our 112 offerings, 50 of which provide full-text.

Searching FAQ
Subject Specific Databases
Databases
Google Scholar FAQs
Full Text Finder and Electronic Journal List
Database Provider List
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Searching FAQ   Top

• What's the difference between a journal and a popular magazine?
  A journal is usually published by a scholarly institution and contains articles written and reviewed by experts in the field. The illustrations are minimal and usually consist of charts, graphs, maps, and some photographs. The language is generally jargon heavy and assumes prior subject knowledge on the part of the reader, and the articles are written to disseminate research. Examples would be the Journal of American History, the Journal of the American Medical Association, or the American Fern Journal.
  
  A popular magazine contains articles written for general informational purposes and are published more frequently than journals. Articles are shorter and written in easily understandable language, and the authors may not be identified. Illustrations are plentiful and usually in color, and the magazine is generally printed on slick, glossy paper. Examples would be Time, People, Sports Illustrated, and Reader's Digest.


• What's the difference between a database and an electronic journal?
  A database is an organized, searchable collection of information. In a library setting, databases most often contain citation records for journal articles, while some additionally contain records for books, dissertations, audio-visual materials, archival materials, and many other forms of scholarship. Often, but not always, a database will contain some full-text articles or may be entirely full-text. The Humanities Abstracts is an example.
  
  An electronic journal is usually full-text and can be compared to a subscription to a print magazine or journal. They are subscribed to separately or often several subscriptions are contained in a database. JSTOR is one such database.

  Subject Specific Databases    Top

• General, interdisciplinary: if your topic is more general in nature on such topics as current news and opinion, consumer affairs, education, fine arts, health or public policy, choose the Readers' Guide Abstracts, which indexes and abstracts over 300 general interest and popular magazines dating back to 1983. To find articles older than 1983, try the Readers' Guide Retrospective.
  
  
• Humanities: if your topic is literature and language, history, philosophy, archaeology, classical studies, folklore, gender studies, performing arts, history or religion and theology, choose the Humanities Abstracts, which indexes and abstracts articles from over 500 basic journals dating back to 1984. To find articles older than 1984, try the Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective.
  
  
• Social Sciences: if your topic is anthropology, area studies, community health and medical care, criminal justice and criminology, economics, family studies, geography, gerontology, international relations, law, minority studies, planning and public administration, policy sciences, political science, population studies, psychiatry, psychology, social work and public welfare, sociology, urban or women's studies, choose the Social Sciences Abstracts, which indexes and abstracts over 500 basic or core titles journals since 1984. To find articles older than 1984, try the Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective.
  
  
• Sciences: if your topic is biology, chemistry, astronomy, conservation, earth science, medicine, nutrition, oceanography or zoology, choose the General Science Abstracts, which indexes and abstracts over 200 basic or core titles in the sciences since 1984.

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If the over 100 databases to which the library subscribes are not sufficient for your advanced research topics, you may request that one of the librarians conduct a search using one of over 400 specialized databases of the DIALOG Information System.

DIALOG databases: by subject; alphabetical.