How to Find Non-Law Journal Articles
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1. Introduction
This research guide is intended to direct you to some of the online periodical collections that are particularly useful for finding scholarly journal articles in a variety of disciplines. (If you are looking specifically for law journal articles, consult the USC Law Library Guide How to Find Law Journal Articles.)
You can access a wide range of periodical databases on the USC campus through the USC Libraries' Databases page. Periodical databases are useful if you have a specific journal article in mind or if you are looking for articles on a certain topic. Some of these databases provide complete full text coverage, while others are periodical indexes that only include full text for some of the indexed articles. If you are using a periodical index however, you will often see near the article citation a "Find it @ USC" link, which will either take you to the full text of the article (if it is accessible in full from a different database) or to a USC library catalog record for the journal containing that article (if it is only available in print form at one of the USC Libraries).
The Databases page allows you to search for a database by keyword, browse an alphabetical list of databases, or browse a list by subject (as shown above). Some of the more commonly used databases and database collections (including most of the ones discussed in this guide) can also be accessed through the "Quick Links" box near the top of the page. Descriptions of the various databases are provided on this page as well to help you determine which ones are most appropriate for your research needs. Keep in mind that the Databases page includes all of the databases subscribed to by the USC Libraries and not just journal databases.
You can also use the publicly-accessible Google Scholar web search engine to search for articles and papers in a variety of disciplines. Google Scholar offers a relatively simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature (including the full text of articles available online) and aims to rank articles by their relevance and probable value to researchers. Google Scholar also provides links to the full text and abstracts of the articles that are available to USC users through the USC Libraries' subscriptions as well as links to library catalogs to help you find the articles in print form.
Google Scholar offers both a basic search page as well as an "Advanced Scholar Search" page, which offers more searching options. (For guidance on searching in the advanced mode, click on the "Advanced Search Tips" link on the Advanced Scholar Search page.) While a large number of the articles, abstracts, and citations available through the USC subscription databases can actually be retrieved through Google Scholar (if you are searching on the USC campus), keep in mind that the subscription databases discussed in this guide may offer you an even greater range of searching options and more comprehensive search results.
2. Searching Basics
While each journal database has its own unique searching capabilities, there are certain searching features that are common to all of them. These features are outlined below. For additional guidance on how to search a specific database, you can consult that database's "Help" or "Tips" page(s).
Basic v. Advanced Searching
In all of the databases discussed in this guide, you can either run a basic search or an advanced search. The default search option is typically the basic or quick search where you are given one box to enter all of your terms. The advanced search option enables you to break up your search into different components, thereby giving you greater flexibility in searching and allowing for more precise results.
One search option that is typically more available in the advanced searching mode is the option of limiting your search (or components of your search) to particular sections or fields of the documents. For example, if you are looking for a specific article and know the title, you can limit your search to the words in each document title as opposed to searching the entire text of each document. If you are searching by topic, it is often useful to limit your search by keyword, so that you only search the major fields of each document, including the article citation, subject headings, and possibly the abstract as well.
Using Search Connectors and Operators
You can use quotation marks around words that you want to search as an exact phrase (e.g., "public schools"). You can also use connectors to link your terms in a logical way:
- The AND connector between terms or phrases indicates that all of them must be included in the document or field being search (e.g., desegregation AND "public schools").
- The OR connector indicates that at least one of the terms or phrases must be in the document or field. This connector is most useful to link synonymous or related terms (e.g., desegregation or integration).
- You can use both the AND and OR connector in the same search. Use parentheses around sets of terms to establish the relationships between the terms in your search. For example, the search:
"public schools" AND (desegregation OR integration)
requires in each document both the phrase "public schools" as well as either the term desegregation or integration. In other words, the AND connector operates on the parenthetical expression as one required component of the search and the phrase "public schools" as the other required component. - Many databases have additional operators that allow you to establish proximity relationships between your terms (i.e., how close your terms must be to each other in each document). The proximity operators used for the databases discussed in this guide are indicated in the respective sections below.
To allow for different versions of a particular word, you can truncate the word with a special symbol. In all of the databases discussed in this guide, the main truncation symbol is the asterisk (*). For example, the search integrat* will pull up documents containing either integrate, integration, or integrating.
3. Useful Databases for Journal Articles
Full-Text Collections
- JSTOR
JSTOR is a database collection of core social science, humanities, and science journals. Among the fields included are economics, education, history, law, philosophy, political science, sociology, and literature. Articles are searchable full text and are viewable as PDF files. Coverage typically goes back to the very first volume for most of the journals included in the database. However, due to licensing restrictions, most of the journal issues do not get added to the database until 3-5 years after they are published. (Depending on the journal, this time period may be shorter or longer.)
When searching on JSTOR, you can use proximity operators in addition to the AND and OR connectors discussed above. The proximity symbol on JSTOR is the tilde (~). Place the terms you want in close proximity in quotes, followed by the ~ symbol and the maximum number of words you wish to allow between your terms (e.g., "school desegregation"~5).
Also, besides the standard truncation symbol (*), you can use the ampersand (&) at the end of a word to search for both the singular and plural forms of that word at the same time.
For additional information on how to use JSTOR, click on the "Search Help" link near the top of the screen.
The JSTOR screen below shows you what the Advanced Search page looks like (with a sample search that illustrates the use of the symbols described above). Notice that you can limit different components of your search to different fields (e.g., article title field, author field, etc.) instead of searching the entire full text of each document. You can also limit your search by date, language, and/or specific discipline(s) or journal(s).
- Project MUSE
Project MUSE is another completely full text database, providing access to over 350 humanities and social science journals from over 60 scholarly publishers. Unlike JSTOR, which is particularly useful for finding older journal articles, Project MUSE is designed for recent articles (with most journals going back no earlier than 2000). Articles on Project MUSE can be viewed in both HTML as well as PDF formats.
The Project MUSE Advanced Page is shown on the screen below, with a sample search that makes use of the truncation symbol (*) as well as the AND and OR connectors. Notice that you have the option of excluding the "text" portion of each document from your search by adding a field restriction. For additional guidance on how to search on Project MUSE, click on the "Help" link at the upper right hand portion of the screen.
- ProQuest Databases
ProQuest is a collection of databases that includes mostly full text articles (including many in PDF format). Although not limited to scholarly journals, ProQuest contains many databases that are very useful for scholarly research, including "ABI/Inform Global" (a database that includes close to 1,800 worldwide business periodicals) as well as the "ProQuest Research Library," which covers a wide range of disciplines. You have the option of searching individual ProQuest databases or multiple ones at the same time. Dates of coverage on ProQuest vary widely from journal to journal.
As on JSTOR and Project Muse, the Advanced Search page allows you to search for different components of your search in different fields. You can use the W/# proximity connector (where you choose a number for # to indicate up to how many words apart your terms can be).
When searching the "Citation and document text" field, Proquest searches the citations, abstracts, subject headings, as well as the complete text of each article. If you use the AND connector to link your terms and your terms only appear in the article text, the article will only be retrieved if the terms appear roughly in the same paragraph. If you do not want to require a proximity relationship, use the W/DOC connector instead of the AND connector when using this field.
The screen below shows a sample advanced search that makes use of the truncation symbol (*) as well as the numerical proximity connector (W/#).
In this search, either the term integration or desegregation (or a form of one of those words) as well as the phrase "public schools" must appear in either the citation or abstract of each document. Additionally, a form of the term psychological must appear within 20 words of a form of the word desegregation in the citation or text portion of each document.
For additional help in searching on ProQuest, click on the "Search Tips" link near the top of the search page.
Periodical Indexes
- FirstSearch Databases
FirstSearch is a collection of periodical indexes covering a variety of scholarly disciplines, with limited full-text material. However, if you retrieve a citation to an article that is available full-text in another accessible database or location on campus, a "Find it @ USC" link will be provided along with the citation.
Listed below are some of the more commonly used FirstSearch indexes, along with an indication of which disciplines and years they cover:
The searching methods are the same for all of the FirstSearch databases. In addition to the AND and OR connectors, there are two proximity connectors that you can use on FirstSearch: w# and n# (where # can be any number from 1-25 to indicate up to how many words apart your terms can be). The w# connector requires that the first term precede the second term while the n# does not require a particular order. You can click on the "Help" button to learn more about how to search in the FirstSearch databases.Database Name Discipline(s) Covered Years of Coverage ABI-Inform Business and Management 1971-present ArticleFirst Multi-disciplinary 1990-present ECO (Electronic Collections Online) Multi-disciplinary 1995-present EconLit Economics 1969-present ERIC Education 1966-present Medline Medicine 1965-present PAIS Archive Public Policy and Social Issues 1915-1976 PAIS International Public Policy and Social Issues 1972-present Periodical Abstracts Multi-disciplinary 1986-present Wilson Select Plus Multi-disciplinary 1994-present
Below is a sample Advanced Search in the Article First database. The + symbol is used in the FirstSearch databases to retrieve both the singular as well as the plural form of words (in this example, school or schools).
- CSA Illumina
CSA Illumina is another collection of periodical databases covering a variety of disciplines. Below is a list of some of the available CSA databases in the social science, humanities, and technology disciplines. (Note that the ERIC database is included in both the FirstSearch collection as well as the CSA Illumina collection.)
With the exception of PsycARTICLES (which includes the full text of articles published by the American Psychological Association as well as a few other publishers), all of these databases are periodical indexes that do not include the full text of the indexed articles (though "FIND IT @ USC" links are provided if the articles are available elsewhere). Both PsycARTICLES and PsycINFO can be accessed through the "Quick Links" menu on the USC Libraries' Databases page. The others can all be accessed individually through the "Browse Databases A-Z" link on the Databases page.Database Name Discipline(s) Covered Years of Coverage ERIC Education 1966-present LISA-Library and Information Science Abstracts Library and Information Science 1969-present Philosopher's Index Philosophy and Ethics 1940-present PsycARTICLES Psychology 1894-present PsycINFO Psychology 1806-present Social Services Abstracts Social Work, Social Welfare, Social Policy 1979-present Sociological Abstracts Sociology 1952-present
The proximity connectors used in CSA Illumina are Within # (where you choose a number for # to indicate up to how many words apart your terms can be) and Near (which requires your terms to be within 10 words of each other). For additional guidance on how to search on CSA Illumina, click on the "Help & Support" link near the upper right hand portion of the search screen.
Below is a screen showing you a sample advanced search in which you can limit different components of your search to different fields. Notice that you can choose to search either a specific CSA Illumina database or a general subject area (like Social Sciences, Humanities, etc.), which involves searching multiple CSA Illumina databases at the same time.
- Web of Knowledge Databases
The "ISI Web of Knowledge" collection includes the Web of Science database, which not only enables you to conduct general searches as you would any other periodical database but also allows you to run "cited reference" searches to see what articles a particular published work has been cited in. The following periodical indexes are included in the "Web of Science" database:
- Social Science Citation Index (1965-present)
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present)
- Science Citation Index (1965-present)
This screen shows an example of a general search not limited to a particular field. Note however that you have the option of limiting different parts of your search to different fields. If you enter an author's name, only include the author's initials for the first and middle name (e.g., Stone CD instead of Stone, Christopher D). If you are unsure if a middle initial will be included, place the truncation symbol (*) after the first initial (e.g., Stone C*). - Cited Reference Searches
If you click on the "Cited Reference Search" link near the top of the page, you will be taken to the "Cited Reference Search" page (shown below), which you can use to search for articles that have cited to a particular article or book of interest.
As with regular author searches, use only the first and middle initials when entering the cited author's name. For the cited work, enter the title of the book or the name of the journal (if it is an article). For the journal name abbreviations, click on the "journal abbreviation list" link to identify the appropriate abbreviation for your journal.
The screen below shows an example of a cited reference search for articles that have cited to Amy Stuart Wells' article that was published in the Winter 1994 issue of Review of Educational Research:
Another database included in the "Web of Knowledge" collection is Current Contents Connect, which provides citations to articles from more than 7,000 research journals (plus the author abstracts for those articles). Current Contents Connect is organized into 7 editions, which can be searched in combination (the default option) or separately. Within each edition, journals are further classified into subject disciplines, which you can use to refine your searches.
Current Contents Connect can be accessed from the "Quick Links" menu on the USC Libraries' Databases page or through the "Select a Database" tab on the ISI Web of Knowledge pages shown above. - ABC-CLIO's History Indexes
ABC-CLIO is the publisher of two periodical indexes very useful for finding articles in history journals:
- America History and Life (covering the history of the United States and Canada)
- Historical Abstracts (covering the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present)