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.
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 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 
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.
Full text is not always accessible for immediate download. The 360 Link may lead to an intermediary page offering access through Interlibrary loan. If you have trouble, consult the library staff.
Databases
- Art Full Text (1984 to date) This link opens in a new window
Indexes 350 art magazines and journals covering pre-historic to contemporary art. Some full text from 1995-date. For earlier dates search its companion database the Art Index Retrospective. Searching both databases simultaneously for publications dated 1929 to the present. Both databases index the Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin.
- ARTbibliographies MODERN This link opens in a new window
Indexes 300+ journals published from 1969 to the present covering western European and North American art created in the late 19th century to the present. Also indexes exhibition catalogs, books and essays in books. Includes photography, the fine arts and new media but not architecture.
- CINAHL This link opens in a new window
Indexing and full text coverage for journals in nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health. Dates of Coverage: 1937-
- SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new windowProvides full text of some journal articles, and indexing and abstracts for journals, books and conference papers. Covers all sub-fields of sociology, including criminology, gender, marriage & family studies, social work, social psychology, addictions, violence, and more. Covers scholarly publications in sociology, social work, and related fields. Contains 2.3 million articles and other materials (64% in full text) with deep coverage from 1960 and some back to 1882.
- PsycArticles This link opens in a new window
PsycArticles provides full-text access to journals in behavioral science and related fields ranging from education to nursing, business, neuroscience, and more.
- PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
Indexes scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences; covers journals, books, reviews, and dissertations. Dates of coverage: 1880s–present.
- Criminal Justice Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Indexes journal articles in the areas of criminology, corrections, prisons, substance abuse and addictions, criminal law, policing, criminal investigation, probation, and parole.
- Gender Studies Database This link opens in a new window
Covers the full spectrum of sexual diversity issues and gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. Source documents include professional journals, conference papers, books, book chapters, government reports, discussion and working papers, theses and dissertations, and more. Dates of Coverage: 1972 to date
- LGBTQ+ Source This link opens in a new window
Includes the full text of more than one hundred current or historically significant Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) journals, magazines and regional newspapers, and books.
- Health Source: Consumer Edition This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text for consumer health periodicals, health-related pamphlets, health reference books, and drug monographs.
- Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition This link opens in a new window
Scholarly full text journals in nursing, allied health, drug monographs, plus access to Merriam-Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary.
- PubMed This link opens in a new windowPublic access to MEDLINE, the most comprehensive index for biomedical literature, plus 40+ specialized databases for biochemistry, proteins, genomics, nucleotides, the National Library of Medicine catalog, and more.
- Social Sciences Citation Index (via Web of Science) This link opens in a new window
Indexing and abstracts of millions of peer-reviewed articles in social science disciplines. Also includes book chapters, conference papers and other formats. Cited and citing reference searching.
