Where to Find Scholarly Articles
Use Search.Libraries to find books, journal articles, scores, audio, video, and more—all from a single integrated starting point.
To find scholarly articles in Search.Libraries, you can:
- Apply the Articles pre-filter before searching
- Filter results by Resource Type > Articles
- Filter results by Availability > Scholarly & Peer-Reviewed Journals
The following databases may be particularly useful for research on topics in social sciences and GSFS.
For a complete list of Databases at Oberlin, check out our Databases A-Z. Try filtering the list of databases by Subject for Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies, or by Types for Scholarly & Peer Review.
To find scholarly articles when searching in a database, look for filters that allow you to limit results to scholarly & peer-reviewed articles.
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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
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Social Sciences Citation Index (via Web of Science) This link opens in a new windowIn the Web of Science Core Collection search function, limit your search to Editions > Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). 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.
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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.
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Women's Studies International This link opens in a new window
Nearly 800 essential sources including journals, newspapers, newsletters, bulletins, books, book chapters, proceedings, reports, theses, dissertations, NGO studies, Web sites & Web documents, and grey literature. Dates of Coverage: 1972-
The following databases may be particularly useful for research in medicine and health.
For a complete list of Databases at Oberlin, check out our Databases A-Z. Try filtering the list of databases by Subject for Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies, or by Types for Scholarly & Peer Review.
To find scholarly articles when searching in a database, look for filters that allow you to limit results to scholarly & peer-reviewed articles.
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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.
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MEDLINE (EBSCO version) This link opens in a new window
Most comprehensive source of full text for medical journals. Includes full text of nearly 1500 titles.
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History of Science, Technology, and Medicine This link opens in a new window
An international bibliography indexing journal articles, conference proceedings, books, dissertations, serials, maps and other materials Dates of coverage: 1975 to present
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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.
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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.
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Consumer Health Complete This link opens in a new windowComprehensive resource for consumer-oriented health content. It is designed to support patients' information needs and foster an overall understanding of health-related topics. Consumer Health Complete provides content covering all areas of health and wellness from mainstream medicine to the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated medicine. In addition, Consumer Health Complete includes the Clinical Reference System and the Lexi-PAL Drug Guide, which provides access to up-to-date, concise and clinically relevant drug monographs.
The following databases may be particularly useful for research in the arts.
For a complete list of Databases at Oberlin, check out our Databases A-Z. Try filtering the list of databases by Subject for Art & Architecture, or by Types for Scholarly & Peer Review.
To find scholarly articles when searching in a database, look for filters that allow you to limit results to scholarly & peer-reviewed articles.
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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.
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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.
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Art Index Retrospective (1929-1984) This link opens in a new window
Indexes 350 art magazines and journals covering pre-history to contemporary art. Indexes the Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin.
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Design & Applied Arts Index This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles, news items, and reviews. Broad range of materials are covered, from textiles and ceramics to glass, wood, and metal. Topics include jewelry, furniture, fashion, typography, landscape architecture, web and computer-aided design, computer graphics, and animation, plus business-oriented subjects such as advertising, packaging, and industrial design. Dates of coverage: 1973 to date
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International Bibliography of Art (2008 to date) This link opens in a new window
Indexes 500 journals covering European art since antiquity, American art sincle the colonial period, and Global art since 1945. Preceded by OpenBibArt.
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OpenBibArt This link opens in a new window
Indexes the literature on arts from Late Antiquity to 2007, providing access to close to 1.2 million of bibliographic records of periodicals, books, exhibition and auction catalogues, published between 1910 and 2007. Combines records from RAA, RILA and BHA.
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Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowIndexes over 200 scholarly and popular performing arts periodicals. Also indexes a variety of documents such as biographical profiles, conference papers, obituaries, interviews, discographies, reviews and events. Dates of Coverage: 1864 to date
All About Scholarly Articles
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 been 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.
Articles
Articles are works of writing published in serial or periodical publications; this includes scholarly and peer-reviewed journals, but also trade publications, newsletters, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and more!
Scholarly Articles
Scholarly articles are written by experts in academic or professional fields, and are published in journals for specific academic disciplines.
Peer-reviewed Articles
Peer-reviewed articles are scholarly articles that have been reviewed and vetted by experts in the field. Because these reviewers specialize in the same scholarly area as the author, they are considered the author’s peers (hence “peer review”).
1. Read The Abstract
The abstract will give you a general understanding of the article. Also, pay attention to the authors and their titles.
2. Read The Conclusion
The conclusion will summarize the author's findings including ways of improving the research.
3. 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.
4. Read The First And Last Sentence Of Each Paragraph
The first and last sentence of each paragraph will give you a brief understanding of the discussion.
Tip #2: Take notes on the margins.
5. 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.
Original
An article that reports on original research such as an experiment, or analysis of data, a creative work, phenomena, or historical event.
Review
An article summarizing the results of many original articles investigating similar topics. May use analytic techniques such as meta-analysis to statistically compare data from multiple studies.
Tip #1 - Many scholarly journals, especially in the Humanities, also publish book reviews of scholarly books. These are not the same as review articles!
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.