FCC Research Guides: Sociology and Social Work: Find Scholarly & Popular Articles

Find Scholarly and Popular Articles in a Library Database

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
Search scholarly journals and popular magazines on numerous subject including topics of interest to sociology and social work. TO LIMIT TO SCHOLARLY ARTICLES CHECK THE "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" BOX.
PsycARTICLES (EBSCO)
Search peer-reviewed journals that cover pscyhology and psychological disorders. TO LIMIT TO SCHOLARLY ARTICLES CHECK THE "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" BOX.
JSTOR
Includes scholarly journals in history, political science, sociology, math, statistics,and other arts, humanities, and social science fields. NOTICE: If this image, , is displayed next to an article, that article is not available to read for free.
Health Source - Academic/Nursing Edition (EBSCO)
Provides articles related to health and medicine some of which may be of interest to social workers and sociologist. TO LIMIT TO SCHOLARLY ARTICLES CHECK THE "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" BOX.
Health Source - Consumer Edition (EBSCO)
Provides access to trade journals and popular magizine articles related to health and wellness.
National Newspapers (ProQuest)
Contains news articles from the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.

Online Scholarly Journal Databases

WARNING: Many web-based search engines do not provide full-text articles without payment. NEVER PAY for an article. Instead submit an Interlibrary Loan request; it’s likely that we can get it for you for free.

PubMed Central
Full-text articles in the biomedical field and life sciences from the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM).
Google Scholar
WARNING: Many of the articles found in a Google Scholar do not include full-text articles without payment. Look for a short link to the right of the main result link. If there is a short link the article may be available for free. NEVER PAY for an article.

Library Database Search Tips

How many keywords should you use when searching a database? Find out below:

Video created by the Kimbel Library at Coastal Carolina University.

Find Statistics

Try out these resources to find specialized types of scholarly content like statistics.

Statista
The world's largest statistical portal focused on businesses, industries, and media. Also includes infographics and charts.

Statistics and Demographics Research Guide
Guide to finding all sorts of statistic and demographic information at the national, international, and local level.

Scholary Sources VS Popular Sources

Scholarly Sources

Picture of the cover of the American Journal of Psychology, which is blue with some yellow lines.

Popular Sources

Picture of the cover of Psychology Today which is a sheep in glasses.

Author: Written by experts (scientists, professors, scholars) in a particular field.
Audience: Written for other experts in a particular field.
Language: Very technical and scholarly. Not easily understood.
Citations: Provide complete and formal citations for sources.
Review Process: Often reviewed by a panel of scholars in the field being studied. (Peer-Reviewed)

Author: Written by professional writers, journalists, or members of the general public.
Audience: Written for the general public.
Language: Basic and clear. Easily understood.
Citations: Provide informal or no citations for sources.
Review Process: Reviewed by an editor or self-published with no formal review process.

REMEMBER: Popular DOES NOT equal bad. Check with your professors to find out which popular sources they accept.

How to Identify Research Studies

Scholarly Journals often have two types of articles:

Reviews look at other peoples' research and summarize research in a specific area of study.

Research studies report the actual research being conducted by the authors of the article.

Research Studies will often have these distinct sections:

Abstract: Brief summary of the article and its contents.
Introduction: Provides background and possibly discusses earlier research.
Methods: Lays out the methods used to conduct the research.
Results: Reports the results of the research. Often includes charts and/or tables.
Discussion and/or Conclusion: Discusses the results for the research and talks about other steps that can be taken.
Literature Cited or Bibliography: Lists sources cited in the article.

Check to see if the article has a METHODS section and a RESULTS section. If it DOES NOT have these two sections IT IS NOT A RESEARCH STUDY.