Find Articles - LBS 4890 - Researching & Writing the Senior Project

Searching the Article Databases

You can use an Article Database to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles on your topic.

It is important to search in a selection of databases that are appropriate to the nature of your chosen topic.

Don't forget to first search in the "home" discipline of your primary source(s)...

If you're evaluating a movie, search a film or arts database
If you're critiquing a novel or poem, search a literature database
If you're examining a historical document, search a history database, etc.

Several Cal State LA databases are interdisciplinary, and include articles from cross-fields of study--social science, humanities, and natural science. These include...

Academic Search Complete (Ebsco)

JSTOR

Project Muse

Web of Science

Several databases specialize in sub-disciplines of the humanities. These include...

America History & Life (Ebsco)

Art Full Text (Ebsco)

Communication & Mass Media Complete (Ebsco)

Historical Abstracts (Ebsco)

Humanities Full Text (Ebsco)

International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text (Ebsco)

MLA International Bibliography (Ebsco)

Philosopher's Index

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (Ebsco)

Other databases specialize in sub-disciplines of the social sciences. These include...

Anthrosource

ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) (Ebsco)

Ethnic NewsWatch

GenderWatch

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)

PsycINFO (Ebsco)

Social Sciences Full Text (Ebsco)

Social Services Abstracts (Ebsco)

SocINDEX (Ebsco)

Sociological Abstracts

Women and Social Movements in the United States

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Other databases specialize in sub-disciplines of the sciences

Greenfile (Ebsco)

Science Direct

CINAHL (Ebsco)

Medline (Ebsco)

To open any of these databases, click on the link for the database, input your myCALSTATELA username and password (if you're working off-campus), and then begin an Advanced Search!

Searching Multiple Ebsco Databases at Once

Search multiple databases at once by clicking on choose databases within an Ebsco database:

The "Choose Databases" link is above the fields where you input your search terms.

Scroll over the bubble next to the database name to see a brief description of what types of resources are included:

Each database in the list has a mouseover attribute that explains what content you can find in them. Activate to check or uncheck the databases to include, or exclude them in your search.

Select as many databases as you like and click

Search Tips: Finding Scholarly or Peer-Reviewed Articles

Use a database that indexes peer-reviewed journals, such as A cademic Search Complete, JSTOR, the MLA International Bibliography, or Sociological Abstracts.
On the Search screen in any database, click the option (if offered) to limit results to "Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Journals."
Unsure if the article comes from a peer-reviewed journal? Identify the name of the journal in which the article was originally published, and find the publication's home site on the Internet. Look for information "About" the journal and its editorial standards. If the journal says that submissions are reviewed by an editorial panel of the author's peers, then it's a peer-reviewed journal!

Changing Scholar Preferences from Off Campus to Link to Library Holdings

Either search Google Scholar via the link on the Cal State LA Library's Homepage or change your Google Scholar preferences to link to library holdings.

To change your preferences:

1) Go to the Google Scholar homepage:

http://scholar.google.com/

2) Click on Settings (If using Firefox, first click on more) A screenshot displaying the "More" dropdown menu which reads: Metrics, Settings, and Advanced search.

Screenshot showing links above the Google Scholar homepage which reads from left to right: My library, My citations, Alerts, Metrics, and Settings.

3) Click on Library links

Screenshot of the Settings menu with Library links listed as an option.

4) Type in California State University Los Angeles

5) Select the following 3 boxes:

The three boxes read: California State University 0 Los Angeles - Full-text @ CSULA Library, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - LOS ANGELES MAIN ACCOUNT - ProQuest Fulltext, and Open WorldCat - Library Search.

6) Click on Save Save

Viewing Results in Google Scholar

Interdisciplinary

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A great starting place for any research topic. Includes a wealth of peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles on a wide range of topics and disciplinary areas.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select ebooks and other materials.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and eBooks in the humanities and social sciences.
Social Sciences Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles in sociology, psychology, anthropology, geography, economics, political science, and law.

Humanities

America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles, non-scholarly articles, and book reviews on the history of the U.S. and Canada from 1493.
Art Full Text This link opens in a new window
Scholarly and non-scholarly articles focusing on art, art history, and criticism from Western and non-Western traditions. Including new artists, contemporary art, exhibition reviews, and feminist criticism.
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles on world history (1450 to present), excluding the U.S. and Canada. Special search functions include searching by historical time period.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles on art, film, music, world literature, philosophy, religion, and more.
International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and scholarly eBooks. Areas covered include ballet, comedy, dance, drama, mime, opera, puppetry, and theatre.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles in literature, language, folklore, dramatic arts (film, radio, television, theater), linguistics, the history of publishing, and teaching in all these areas.
Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and books on philosophy and related interdisciplinary fields.
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new window
Citations to peer-reviewed articles about music from around the world on traditional music, popular music, jazz, classical music, and related subjects.

Social Sciences

Anthrosource This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles from the American Anthropological Association's journals.
ERIC This link opens in a new window
The Educational Resource Information Center includes peer-reviewed articles, reports, conference papers, curriculum and teaching guides, and non-scholarly articles focused on education, including early childhood to higher education, and throughout the lifespan. Includes research on cognitive psychology.
ERIC is also available via Proquest, OCLC FirstSearch, and at ERIC website with access to full text documents from 1993-present. ERIC consists of two files:
- CIJE - Current Index to Journals in Education which indexes over 750 professional journals - all are assigned ERIC numbers beginning with an EJ (Eric journal).
- RIE - Resources in Education which indexes a variety of documents; all are assigned ERIC numbers beginning with an ED (Eric document). OCLC provides access to online full-text ED records via subscription links to EDRS Not all ED documents are available online. Inclusion depends on the authors original copyright agreement with EDRS. Typically 80% of ED documents permit online full-text usage. HINT: on OCLC look for the EDRS link at the bottom of the detailed record.
A variety of help options are available:
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Current and historical news from the 1980s to current. News sources cover the culture and history of ethnic and minority issues, including minority and native press publications, in a variety of languages.
GenderWatch This link opens in a new window
An interdisciplinary collection that supports women's studies, gender studies, LGBTQ studies, and family studies. Includes peer-reviewed articles; non-scholarly popular articles such as newspapers and magazines; dissertations and theses; reports, trade publications, and conference proceedings.
PAIS International This link opens in a new window
Public Affairs Information Service includes peer-reviewed articles, books, government documents, reports, conference papers, web content, and more with a focus on public administration, including social conditions and public policy.
PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
The core psychology database, with peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles on all aspects of human psychology.
Social Services Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development.
SocIndex with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of sociology, including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, religion, racial studies and social work. Includes citations to books, conference papers, and other types of sources.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and working papers on all aspects of sociology, including related fields such as demographics, criminology, policy studies and family studies. Includes citations and abstracts for dissertations, papers, books and book chapters.
Women and Social Movements in the United States This link opens in a new window
Scholarly articles and digitized primary documents such as images, pamphlets, training guides, ephemera, and more covering women's reform activism in the U.S.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles in political science, international relations, law, and public administration/policy.

Sciences

GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed, government and general-interest non-scholarly articles with content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.
ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and ebooks in a wide range of the sciences and social sciences.
CINAHL Plus with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and non-scholarly trade articles focused on health, nursing, and allied-health professions like physical therapy. Useful for identifying research on evidence-based practice.
MEDLINE This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles in medicine, microbiology, nursing, psychiatry, public health, sports medicine, and more
Index with abstracts to more than 4,500 journals published worldwide in 30 languages, covering all areas of medicine (including nursing, public health, pharmacy, sports medicine, psychiatry, dentistry, veterinary medicine, etc.).
Look up all the abbreviated journal names used in MEDLINE in List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus/MEDLINE.
1966 to date. Updated monthly.

Guides

Subject Guide

Sarah Baker

Email Me

Contact:

Please e-mail me with questions or to make an appointment.
E-mail: sbaker6@calstatela.edu

Subjects: Anthropology, Liberal Studies, Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

Quick Links

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