Find scholarly articles in databases
The Library provides access to thousands of scholarly, peer-reviewed articles, which are available within our many online databases. Start your search by selecting one of these databases. If you know the name of your database, find it with A-Z Databases. You can also filter the A-Z list by subject or browse our other LibGuides. Watch this short video for a quick demonstration of how to find scholarly articles through the Library website.
Searching a library database is different than searching Google. Try these best practices:
- Use the Advanced Search option. Advanced Search allows you to search for multiple keywords. The "AND" option allows you to combine terms and focus your search, e.g. cats AND dogs. Use the "OR" option to broaden your results, e.g. cats OR dogs. Use the "NOT" option to filter your results, e.g. cats NOT dogs.
- Many articles contain summaries or abstracts. Use these to determine if an article is a good fit.
- Search results may automatically include the full text of an article. If not, look for a button on the result that says "Look for it." Choose this button to see if we have the article in another database. If the article is unavailable, interlibrary loan is another option.
- Use your imagination. Think of all possible ways to express your topic. For example, an article about post traumatic stress disorder may not have the acronym PTSD. To get the best results, use the "OR" option mentioned above to combine synonyms and acronyms, e.g. post traumatic stress disorder "OR" PTSD.
- Try more than one database or set of results. Search a database that covers many subjects, e.g. Academic Search Premier, and a subject-specialized database, such as PsycARTICLES. The same phrase in two different databases may bring up completely different results. Don't be content with the results of one search.