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SOC3910: Sociology of Population and Development in Asia: Finding Articles

Using Databases to Find Research Articles

When conducting academic research, you should try to find as much information about previous research on your topic, as possible. 

One of the best places to look for articles is on the Library’s Databases tab.  Databases range from general to subject-specific, can be used from off campus, and many offer full-text access to articles.

If your topic covers more than one subject (Social Sciences and Education, etc.) you'll want to search more than one database to get the full picture.

Visit our main Databases page, for a full list of resources available to you!

Sociology Databases

Search All isn't always the best place to go when doing research.  In fact, some our our databases actually offer more control over you searching!  

The following databases are good starting points for your Sociology research.  The contents of each are different (with some overlap) so it's always a good idea to check in multiple databases to ensure that you find all relevant information.

If you topic touches on another subject, such as education, health, or gender studies, be sure to look in those databases as well (see below).

  • Academic Search Premier
    Large, interdisciplinary full-text database contains over 4,800 full-text publications, including academic journals, magazines, books, and trade publications. Offers broad subject coverage for a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, area studies, biology, chemistry, ethnic and multicultural studies, food science and technology, general science, geography, law, mathematics, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion and theology, women's studies, and many other fields. Funded by the the New Jersey State Library.
  • American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside (on the JSTOR Platform) New
    American Prison Newspapers is a full-text digital collection that currently includes over 5,700 issues from over 100 different newspapers published in U.S. prisons. These publications provide unique insights into the lives and experiences of incarcerated individuals over a lengthy period of history and can be useful for research on a wide variety of topics.
  • Child Welfare Information Gateway - Library Search
    The Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, maintains an extensive library of materials relating to child welfare, including child abuse prevention, out-of-home care, and adoption. Approximately 200 new items are added each month to its current collection of close to 50,000 items, including peer-reviewed articles, books, evaluation reports, grantee final reports, and program reports. This is a bibliographic database, but many of the items can be found in the Cheng Library's collection or online. [1908 - present]
  • Civil Rights and Social Justice New
    This database contains hearings and committee prints, legislative histories on landmark legislation, Congressional Research Service and Government Accountability Office reports, briefs from major Supreme Court cases, and publications from the Commission on Civil Rights which illuminate the struggle for equality in the United States. The database also includes a varied collection of books on related civil rights topics and a list of prominent civil rights organizations.
  • Credo Reference's Academic Core
    The Credo Reference database is a portal to over 1,300 full-text reference titles from over 120 major publishers. Easy to search and browse, the Credo platform provides access to text, images, maps, statistics, and graphic concept maps to illustrate connections among and between topics. The titles, which range across subjects in art, biography, business, geography, history language, law, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, psychology, religion, science, the social sciences, and technology, are fully integrated through the Credo search platform, and the Credo database also provides numerous points for accessing other Cheng Library resources. Credo is a most useful starting point for general research on almost any topic.
  • Criminal Justice Database
    Criminal Justice Database is a comprehensive database supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. As well as U.S. and international scholarly journals, it includes correctional and law enforcement trade publications, dissertations, crime reports, crime blogs and other material relevant for researchers or those preparing for careers in criminal justice, law enforcement and related fields. [ 1981 - Present ]
  • Exploring Race in Society New
    This database covers important issues related to race in society today. Essays, articles, reports and other reliable sources provide an in-depth look at the history of race and provide critical context for learning more about topics associated with race, ethnicity, diversity and inclusiveness. Content includes full-text articles from academic journals; government agency reports curated and provided by HeinOnline; full-text articles, primary source documents and speeches from BlackPast, a leading source on African American history and experience; and journal content covering issues related to race, including those of Indigenous communities.
  • Gale Ebooks (Gale Virtual Reference Library)
    Over 30 major reference titles covering subject areas including business, education, career skills, history, law, literature, medicine, science, and social science. The collection can be searched or browsed.e-book
  • GenderWatch
    GenderWatch is a full-text database useful for gender and women's studies, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) research. The database offers over 300 titles, with more than 250 in full-text, from an array of academic, radical, community and independent presses, with coverage back to 1970. Researchers and teachers may access more than 219,000 full articles on wide-ranging topics like sexuality, religion, societal roles, feminism, masculinity, eating disorders, healthcare, and the workplace. [1970 - Present]
  • Google Scholar (Full Text @ Cheng Library)
    Access full-text articles from the Library's subscription e-journals using the familiar Google search engine.

    For access to our subscription journals through Google Scholar, select the link above and then follow these steps:

    1. Click on the top-left corner menu on the screen

    2. Select "Settings" from the menu

    3. On the next page, select "Library links" from the menu on the left side of the screen

    4. Type "cheng" in the search field and run the search

    5. Select "David and Lorraine Cheng Library - Full Text@Cheng Library" and then click on the "Save" button



    This will enable you to see the "Full Text@Cheng Library" links displayed with your search results.
  • Gun Regulation and Legislation in America New
    Featuring periodicals, key compiled federal legislative histories, congressional hearings, Congressional Research Service reports, Supreme Court briefs, links to several hundred scholarly articles, and a balanced selection of external resources,
    this database is a useful resource for researching gun regulation and legislation in the United States.
  • HIV, AIDS and the Arts Collection (on the JSTOR Platform)
    This open access digital collection features primary sources in all art forms focusing on the intellectual and social history of HIV and AIDS. From the earliest years of the AIDS crisis, arts in all media were a critical tool for fighting fear, apathy and inaction. More than four decades have now passed since AIDS was first recognized in the American press. Landmark projects, such as Visual AIDS, have brought the artistic output of AIDS activists into the public eye. This collection strives to build upon this work to preserve and make accessible this output by adding coverage of those who may have remained in the margins of these histories. The collection currently offers over 1,200 items but is planned to include over 75,000 pages as it is further developed.
  • Independent Voices Periodical Collection (on the JSTOR Platform) New
    Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of over 20,000 issues of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
  • JSTOR Arts and Sciences Collections (I through IX, and XIV) and Life Sciences Collection
    Archive of over 1,650 major journals in the humanities, social sciences, business, education, area studies, mathematics and statistics, life sciences, and much more. Funding for the acquisition of the JSTOR Arts and Sciences V, VI, VIII, and IX Collections was provided by a generous gift from the Student Government Association. [18th Century - Present]
  • LGBTQ+ Rights New
    This full-text database features a collection of materials relating to the gay rights movement in America, including an interactive timeline, as well as subject-coded court cases, scholarly articles, books, pamphlets, reports, and more. The major focus areas of the collection marriage and family, employment discrimination, military service, AIDS and health care, and public spaces and accommodations. A separate subcollection, historical attitudes and analysis, presents books, pamphlets, reports, and more that some researchers may find offensive: viewpoints expressed in these items range from the cause of homosexuality and its alleged cures to the “problems” LGBTQ persons create in society. These items are not presented to endorse their viewpoints. They are included because to understand our present - how far we have come, the obstacles that were overcome, and those that still exist today - one must fully acknowledge the reality of our past, no matter how ugly, dangerous, or offensive it may be.
  • MIT Press Direct Ebooks
    Large collection of ebooks in several subject areas, including psychology, science (chemistry, environmental science, life sciences, physics), social science, technology and engineering, and transportation.e-book
  • Open Society Justice Initiative New
    The Open Society Justice Initiative, part of the Open Society Foundations, was established in 2003 to provide expert legal support for Open Society’s broader mission and values through strategic human rights litigation and other legal work. This database contains reports, handbooks, briefing papers, legal and policy submissions, and fact sheets exploring and advocating on issues of human rights and justice around the world.
  • Points of View Reference Source
    Full-text database designed to provide multiple sides of a variety of current issues. The database currently offers materials on 200 topics, and each topic section features an overview along with point and counterpoint essays drawn from a variety of sources, plus supplementary information including primary source documents and guides to critical thinking.
  • ProQuest Central
    ProQuest Central is a large multidisciplinary database indexing over 14,000 publications, the majority of them available in full text. Over 160 subjects areas are covered extensively in this product including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences, and more. The publications include over 6,500 scholarly journals, over 3,600 trade publications, over 2,000 magazines and newspapers, and over 800 industry reports, plus dissertations and theses, company annual reports, and videos.
  • ProQuest Newsstream
    Full-text access to newspapers and other news media from the United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Important titles include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The Times (London), The Bangkok Post, El Norte, Financial Times, The Guardian, Jerusalem Post, South China Morning Post, The Daily Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the BBC Monitoring series of publications, plus many other major news publications.
  • ProQuest Social Science Database
    ProQuest Social Science Database, a subset of the ProQuest Central database, offers indexing and full text for hundreds of academic journals, providing extensive coverage across a wide range of social science disciplines including anthropology, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology, social work, and sociology. Contains full-text content for over 1,200 titles.
  • Scopus
    Scopus is a comprehensive database providing access to the research literature of the natural and physical sciences and the social sciences. The database currently provides over 50 million citation records and indexes over 20,000 peer-reviewed journals, over 390 trade publications, and over 370 book series. Also included are citations for over 5.5 million conference papers from proceedings and journals, over 25 million patent records from five patent offices, and articles in press from over 3,800 journals. [1823 - Present]
  • Sociological Abstracts
    Sociological Abstracts, which includes the companion file Social Services Abstracts, covers the international literature of sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. It provides abstracting and indexing of articles and book reviews drawn from thousands of serials publications, plus books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers. [ 1952 - Present ]
  • Statista
    The Statista database is a portal to statistical information, pulling together data on over 80.000 topics from over 18.000 sources onto a single platform. Categorized into 21 market sectors, Statista.com provides companies, business customers, research institutions, and the academic community with direct access to quantitative data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas of interest or markets. Data sources include market research reports, such as the Ipsos Affluent Survey published annually by Ipsos Media, Simmons National Consumer Studies and Consumer Insights from Scarborough Research, as well as trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases. For each statistic, Statista provides available information about the source, release date, number of respondents, and any other relevant details to facilitate verification. The data can easily be exported to graphic formats, Excel, or PowerPoint for analysis or incorporation into presentations.
  • Statistical Abstract of the United States
    The Statistical Abstract of the United States is the most authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. It offers convenient access to a wide variety of data on such topics as population, education, elections, all major sectos of the economy, health and nutrition, government, science and technology, transportation, housing, and much more. Every table in the Statistical Abstract provides citations to more extensive and detailed sources of data for its subject, which also makes it an efficient guide to data sources. The data in the Statistical Abstract is drawn from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and many other Federal agencies and private organizations. [2013 - Present]
  • Student Activism Collection (on the JSTOR Platform) New
    Student Activism is an open access primary source collection containing items documenting the voices of students across the great range of protest, political actions, and equal-rights advocacy from the 20th and early 21st century United States. The primary sources are broad-based across time, geography, and political viewpoint - from the conservative to the anarchist. The collection contains materials drawn from special collection libraries and archives around the country. These include circulars, leaflets, fliers, pamphlets, newsletters, campaign materials, protest literature, clippings, periodicals, bulletins, letters, press releases, ephemera; and meeting, demonstration, conference, and event documentation. While the collection currently has over 170 items, it will grow to approximately 75,000 pages.
  • Women's Studies International
    This bibliographic database provides citations and abstracts for materials in all areas of women's studies. It includes more than 958,800 records and spans from 1972 to the present and indexes journals, newsletters, bulletins, books, book chapters, reports, theses, dissertations and grey literature.
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Scholarly v. Popular

When conducting research, you will usually be asked to find Scholarly Articles, or artices from a Scholarly Journal, rather than popular sources (like magazines and newspapers).

Not sure what the difference is between scholarly and popular?  Check out this short tutorial: Scholarly v. Popular

Is It Scholarly?

How can you tell if you've found a scholarly article?

Some of our databases allow you to limit your results to Scholarly or Peer-Reviewed (possibly Refereed) articles.  In some cases, this isn’t so clear.  You can either check with your professor or a librarian, or you can search for the journal name in Ulrichsweb (from on campus).