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- do not report on original research, are not peer-reviewed, and rarely include citations
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.
Scholarly Article Databases
- Film & Television Literature Index This link opens in a new window
Index to journals, magazines, and selected books covering all aspects of film and television research, including film theory, preservation, restoration, screenwriting, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.
- Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window
Scholarly journal and trade magazine articles on all aspects of communication, rhetoric, journalism, film and television studies.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Index to books, essays, and journal articles on modern languages, literatures, fiction, folklore and linguistics. Topics include literary theory, criticism, folk literature and belief systems, linguistics, semantics, translation, dramatic arts, and history of printing and publishing. Covers literature worldwide and includes materials in all genres and in foreign languages. Dates of Coverage: 1926 to date
- Music Index Online This link opens in a new window
Music Index Online covers topics concerned with every aspect of the classical and popular world of music. Dates of coverage: 1979-present.
- 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.
Popular Article Databaes
- Access World News This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive resource that includes a variety of news publications worldwide. These sources include major national and international newspapers, as well as local and regional titles as well as newswires, blogs, web-only content, videos, journals, magazines, transcripts and more.
- New York Times (1851-2018) This link opens in a new windowSearch by keywords or browse images of full pages by date.
- Los Angeles Times (1881-1996) This link opens in a new windowSearch for keywords or browse images of complete pages by date.
- Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive: Music This link opens in a new windowA series of digital collections focused on 20th and 21st century music genres such as Rock, Folk, Hip-Hop, and Rap. This collection contains 1,461 issues comprising 100,696 pages and 91,441 articles. Note: Oberlin only has access to Music Magazine Archive through this platform, not the full Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive.
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new windowFull-text coverage of newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press in America. Dates of Coverage: 1959 to date
- LGBT Magazine Archive This link opens in a new windowA searchable archive of major periodicals devoted to LGBT+ interests. (Dates of coverage: 1950-)
New York Times Pass
Institutional access to the NYTimes.com is provided to all current Oberlin College students, faculty, and staff.
If you are new to campus or have not previously registered for Oberlin's institutional NYTimes access
- While on campus and connected to the Oberlin’s network, visit accessnyt.com.
- Create an account (claim a Pass) using your @oberlin.edu email address.
- You have successfully claimed a Pass when you see the Start Your Access screen.
Once registered you’ll be able to access NYTimes.com by logging into your account from any computer/tablet/device you use.
Students: when registering you will be asked for your date of graduation from Oberlin; your status will stay active through that date, with no need to reactivate/re-authenticate.
Faculty/staff: you will have to re-authenticate annually, 364 days from when you last registered/authenticated for your NYTimes.com Pass. You may not reactivate your Pass until your previous access has expired.
To reactivate your Pass:
- While on-site and connected to the Oberlin’s network, visit accessnyt.com.
- Make sure you are logged into the NYTimes.com account with which you activated your last Pass.
- You will be granted a new Pass and see the Start Your Access screen.
- The new Pass will be good for 364 days.
Please contact the research help desk with any questions - reference@oberlin.edu.
Wall Street Journal Online Membership
All current Oberlin students, faculty, and staff have access to the Wall Street Journal Website and Wall Street Journal apps, which include the last four years of content. You must register for an account with your Oberlin email using the link below.
Students
- WSJ Student HubCurated content focused on job preparation, finance tips, career insights and expert advice.
- WSJ Student HomepageOpportunities to have their work published on WSJ.com, relevant podcasts and newsletters, and updates about when WSJ will be at their campus.
Professor Tools
- WSJ ContextBridge the gap between theory and practice by seamlessly integrating WSJ content into lesson plans through shared reading lists. (Note: Blackboard integration is not yet available.)
- Assessment ToolTest your students’ comprehension and awareness of current events through online quizzes on WSJ articles.
- WSJ Seminar SeriesLearn how to use WSJ’s content to connect academic theory with real-world applications through these webinars.
- Weekly ReviewDiscover relevant articles, along with thought-provoking questions and classroom applications, through these weekly, discipline-specific emails created by specialized faculty.
- Critical Thinking ResourceEasily integrate WSJ articles into your classes, and energize discussions with tangible examples of course concepts your students can apply in the real world.