Databases
Anthropology
- Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new window
Citations for journal articles, reports, commentaries, and edited works, in social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, and material culture. Includes records from Anthropological Literature (Harvard University) and the Anthropological Index (Royal Anthropological Institute). Dates of coverage: Late 19th c. to date.
- AnthroSource This link opens in a new window
Collection of American Anthropological Association publications, including journals, newsletters, bulletins, and conference proceedings.
Multidisciplinary
- 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.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowScholarly journal archive for the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences; current issues (usually the last 2-5 years) are not digitized by JSTOR and may be obtained elsewhere.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Scholarly literature in the sciences, health and medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities and proceedings of international conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions. Includes cited reference searching across many databases. Search all databases in Web of Science (includes Medline and BIOSIS, direct link for on-campus users). Dates of coverage: 1965 to present.
Finding Full Text
Many databases on the library's website include the full text of articles. Click on the PDF or HTML icon to download it.
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 
displayed for each item in the library's databases. In Google Scholar, look for Find Full Text @ Oberlin. Access via publisher websites is generally limited to subscribers.
How to Read a Scholarly Article
Read The Abstract
The abstract will give you a general understanding of the article. Also, pay attention to the authors and their titles.
Read The Conclusion
The conclusion will summarize the author's findings, including ways to improve the research.
Read The Introduction
The introduction will set up the layout of the article and the main argument of the article.
Tip #1: Highlight important ideas.
Read The First And Last Sentence Of Each Paragraph
The first and last sentences of each paragraph will give you a brief understanding of the discussion.
Tip #2: Take notes on the margins.
Read The Rest Of The Article
After getting a general idea of the article, read the entire article to get a full picture of the author's argument.
Tip #3: Repeat steps one and two.
Get Research Help
Types of Scholarly Articles
Original
An article that reports on original research such as an experiment, an analysis of data, a creative work, a phenomenon, or a historical event.
Review
An article summarizing the results of many original articles investigating similar topics. Analytic techniques such as meta-analysis may be used to statistically compare data from multiple studies.
Tip: Many journals publish "book reviews." This is different from a review article.
Theory
An article intended to contribute to the theoretical foundations of a field, providing explanations for phenomena and frameworks that can be used to guide the analysis of evidence.