Journal Articles   Tags: how_to_guide  

When searching for journal articles, first try the library's Research Databases.  If you're not sure which database to use, see the suggestions in this guide.

In addition to searching a subject-specific database, try one of our interdisciplinary databases.

A good place to start is the interdisciplinary database Academic OneFile:

For access to the full-text of an article (either in print or online), look for and click on the icon. This will open another window indicating where and how we may have access through Hekman Library.

Find the best research databases by subject:

Research databases use controlled vocabularies for subject searching.  Sometimes these terms are called "descriptors."

• Keyword searching is a good way to start searching a database. Look at the full record and note the subject terms or descriptors assigned to the article when you find something on your topic.
• Use these terms for a subject search to find other articles on your topic.
• Research databases are quite sophisticated and have a variety of fields that can be used for searching. Many allow you to limit your searches to peer-reviewed journals, for example.
• Watch for special features such as:
  • An option to mark articles and then email or print a list of marked records to yourself.
  • Citation help (many will now automatically generate the citation for you).

Want to make sure your articles are from academic journals?  Check out our guide for finding Scholarly and Peer-Reviewed Articles.