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!
Sometimes an argument you want to make in an essay can be strengthened or supported by the use of quantitative evidence. Try these databases to locate such evidence on a variety of topics.
Using Library Databases to Find Articles
To locate articles using Library databases, you can click on the tab Databases from the Library homepage. Click on the word GO to more than 130 databases.
Credo Reference The Credo Reference database is a portal to over 600 full-text reference titles from over 80 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.
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.
Academic Search Complete includes more than 8500 periodicals (newspapers, magazines and journals) in all subject areas. Most articles are available full-text online.
Points of View Reference Center is a 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.
Health and Wellness Resource Center Health & Wellness Resource Center provides access to medical, statistical, health, and related information from reference sources, full-text articles and other resources
To locate news articles, try Nexis Uni or ProQuest Newsstream
Nexis Uni is a full-text database that provides access to full-text news, business, and legal publications, using a variety of flexible search options.
ProQuest Newsstream offers full-text news from over 1,280 sources, including domestic and foreign newspapers, wire services, magazines, trade publications, and blogs. Over 50 of the highest-circulation newspapers in the United States are included in the database, including such key titles as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
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
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).