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How to Find Articles in Journals

Online Library Home > Databases and Articles > Accessing Databases

How do I find articles on my topic?
Begin by using the Online Library's collection of Research Databases. These are online indexes of journals and the articles within them. They can be searched by the title or author of a particular article, or by keywords.

At minimum, you get a "citation" for the article, which contains all the information you'd need to make a bibliography entry (author's name, article title, journal or magazine name, volume, issue, publication date and pages) plus a description of its content. Sometimes you get the full-text article.

How do I select the right databases?
For most subject areas there are a few major databases. You can quickly narrow down the list of online indexes in your subject area by using our Resources By Topic (aka Subject Guides.) (Once you're in the Guide of your choice, go to the Journal Articles tab!)

How do I learn how to search databases?
Each database will have a link for "help" or "search tips". Here are some more options for getting help:


Do I still need to consult print indexes? If I use electronic indexes, do I still need to consult print indexes?
You may need to consult a print index when it is the only authoritative source in a subject area. To this day, sometimes very specialized indexes are only available as print publications. Print indexes are sometimes necessary if you need to find articles that were written more than 20 years ago. In these cases you will need to locate an academic library that has the print index in its collection. If know the name of an periodical indexing service, you can search WorldCat to identify a library that owns a subscription. If you are in a traditional library, ask the librarian at the reference desk for help in selecting and using print periodical indexes.
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