College Libraries: Starting your research: Articles

Articles

Why use articles?

"Article" is a generic term to indicate a shorter length item in a larger body of work. There are different types of articles and they deliver different types of information. The three main types of articles are:

Newspaper articles - for current events and opinion pieces
Magazine (popular periodical) articles - for a general audience on a topic of general interest; not too long or complicated, assumes the reader knows nothing
Scholarly (academic) articles - written by and for professionals about current research findings. Assumes background knowledge and understanding of specialized vocabulary. Often peer-reviewed.

Concrete suggestions

Good databases to start searching for articles include:

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Includes indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc.
Use the limiters on the left of the results page to focus in on one kind of article.
Opposing Viewpoints from Gale in Context This link opens in a new window
Covers current social issues. Includes viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.

Starting your research

Articles

Concrete suggestions

Contact

Accessibility

Social Media

College Libraries