Databases
- EconLit This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive index of economic literature, including journal articles, working papers, dissertations, and books. Also includes full text for hundreds of journals. Dates of coverage: 1886 to date
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary - good for nearly all subjects. Scholarly and trade journals, popular magazines, newspapers, conference proceedings, book reviews, and more.
- Annual Reviews This link opens in a new windowCritically reviews the most significant research literature in over 40 focused disciplines within the fields of biomedical, life, physical, and social sciences. These reviews both summarize recent scholarly advances and prompt new research activity. Excellent database of in-depth, secondary sources.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Access to business journals, case studies, company profiles and market research reports, covering all aspects of business, management, finance, accounting, and economics.
- NBER Working Papers (National Bureau of Economic Research) This link opens in a new windowProvides full text of NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) Working Papers covering all areas of economic interest, including energy, environment, labor, health, education, and finance. Dates of coverage: 1994 to date
Selected Publications
- American Economic ReviewThe American Economic Review is a general-interest economics journal. Established in 1911, the AER is among the nation's oldest and most respected scholarly journals in the economics profession and is celebrating over 100 years of publishing. The journal publishes 11 issues containing articles on a broad range of topics.
- EconometricaEconometrica is a journal published by the Econometric Society. The journal began in 1933 with the goal of advancing economic theory in its relation to statistics and mathematics. It publishes original articles in all branches of economics.
- Journal of Political EconomyThe journal aims to publish highly selective, widely cited articles of current relevance that will have a long-term impact on economics research. JPE's analytical, interpretive, and empirical studies in a number of areas—including monetary theory, fiscal policy, labor economics, development, micro- and macroeconomic theory, international trade and finance, industrial organization, and social economics—are essential reading for all economists wishing to keep up with substantive new research in the discipline.
- Quarterly Journal of EconomicsThe Quarterly Journal of Economics is the oldest professional journal of economics in the English language. Edited at Harvard University's Department of Economics, it covers all aspects of the field.
- Review of Economic StudiesThe Review of Economic Studies aims to encourage research in theoretical and applied economics, especially by young economists. Today it is widely recognised as one of the core top-five economics journals. The Review is essential reading for economists and has a reputation for publishing path-breaking papers in theoretical and applied economics.
Finding Full Text
Many databases offered on the library's website include the full text of articles. Click on the pdf or html icon to download the article.
If full text is not available, click the Find It or 360 Link icons to see if there is access from another source. Look for:
or 
displayed for each item in the databases offered from the library's website. In Google Scholar, look for Find Full Text @ Oberlin. Access at publisher's websites is generally limited to subscribers.
Full-text is not always accessible for immediate download. The 360 Link may lead to an intermediary page that offers access through Interlibrary loan. If you have trouble, consult library staff.
What is a Scholarly Article?
Both scholarly and peer-reviewed articles are written by experts in academic or professional fields. Scholarly articles are published in journals for specific academic disciplines. Many scholarly journals are also peer-reviewed.
Peer-reviewed articles are submitted to reviewers who are experts in the field. Because the reviewers specialize in the same scholarly area as the author, they are considered the author’s peers (hence “peer review”).
Both scholarly and peer-reviewed articles are excellent places to find what has been studied or researched on a topic, as well as find references to additional relevant sources of information.
What is a Popular Source?
Popular sources are written for a general audience and are intended to inform readers on a broad range of topics, such as news events, topics of current interest, and the business and entertainment worlds. Examples include newspapers, magazines, best-sellers, and consumer-oriented websites. They can be useful for getting ideas for a topic or for background information. When used to document historical events, cultural practices, or public opinion, popular sources may be valuable to researchers as primary source material.
Typical characteristics of popular sources:
- informal in tone and scope, with language that is easily understood by the general public
- often include illustrations or advertisements
- content usually written by journalists, staff writers, or free-lance writers
- do not report on original research, are not peer-reviewed, and rarely include citations