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Articles
Articles provide very targeted information, usually focusing on one small segment of a topic. Articles also tend to be more recent. Newspaper and magazine articles can be updated within days or weeks of an event, while academic journal articles may take a few months or longer.
Library databases are the best place to locate articles. These databases contain thousands of sources for you to search for free full-text. Databases have different types of sources, mostly journal or magazine articles, but some databases provide multimedia such as videos or images.
Recommended Databases
Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)
Access Academic Search Complete | Video Tutorial | How to Cite
A full text database covering many different disciplines and subject areas. A great place to start research on any topic.
Health and Wellness (Gale)
Access Health and Wellness | Video Tutorial | How to Cite
Best library database for health and medical research for students who are not in the medical field.
Opposing Viewpoints (Gale)
Access Opposing Viewpoints | Video Tutorial | How to Cite
Provides searchable topics giving pro and con articles, topic overviews, statistics, court cases, links to government agencies and special interest groups, newspaper, magazine, and journal articles and more about social issues.
What Are Scholarly Articles?
A peer-reviewed journal article is a scholarly piece presenting original research findings or academic discourse in a specific field. What sets it apart is the rigorous evaluation process before publication. Experts in the same field carefully assess the article for methodology, validity, clarity, and contribution. This ensures high-quality, reliable information based on sound scientific principles. In contrast, non-peer-reviewed sources may lack this scrutiny, leading to potential inaccuracies or bias. Peer-reviewed articles are considered a gold standard in academic research, valued for their credibility.
In order to limit to scholarly sources in a database, you will need to check a box on the search screen. Here are some examples of these check boxes in a variety of databases. Look for the words academic, scholarly, or peer reviewed.
