Why should I look for academic articles?
Why should you do research in academic journals?
- Academic journal articles are often authored by scholars active in a particular field
- Academic journal articles provide a close look at a particular topic
- Academic journal articles often provide data to support their findings
- Academic journal articles can lead readers to other sources through their bibliographies
If you find one good article that supports your research, you can use the bibliography at the end of the paper to locate further research.
What are Library Databases?
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From Idea to LibraryWhere do research articles come from? This brief video from NCSU Libraries explains why using the library is a critical component of academic research.
Multidisciplinary Article Databases
Use BCC library databases to find articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers. Review the Search Tips page for help in constructing a good search phrase. Most databases have options for limiting results, such as by publication date, resource type, additional subjects. Check them out - it's well worth your time to target your results! An alphabetical listing of BCC's databases provides a brief description of each and the subject matter covered. Below is a selection of databases which are useful for College Writing:
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Academic OneFile (Gale) This link opens in a new windowMulti-disciplinary database containing mostly peer-reviewed, scholarly articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources. Over 8,000 academic journal titles are included with extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and many other subjects. Also includes hundreds of podcasts and transcripts from NPR, CNN, and CBC, as well as full text New York Times content back to 1995. Coverage 1964 – present.
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Business OneFile (Gale) This link opens in a new windowBusiness OneFile contains full-text coverage of all business disciplines, including accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management and strategy, and business theory and practice. Users will understand the activities of companies and industries worldwide through leading business and trade publications, which are updated daily. Complementing these titles is a selection of international, U.S., and regional news publications.
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Environmental Studies and Policy OneFile (Gale) This link opens in a new windowThe Gale OneFile: Environmental Studies & Policy is a digital resource that answers inquiries about environmental concerns with coverage of more than 5.4 million articles from more than 300 journals and book reference content from Delmar, including Soil, Science, and Management; Introduction to Agronomy; Food, Crops, & Environment; Fundamental Soil Science; and more.
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Films On Demand This link opens in a new windowA web-based digital video delivery service that allows you instant 24/7 access to over 6,200 full-length programs and 65,800 video segments grouped into prearranged subject-specific categories: Humanities & Social Sciences, Business & Economics, Science & Mathematics, Health & Medicine, Technical Education, Family & Consumer Sciences, Careers & Job Search, and Guidance & Counseling.
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General OneFile (Gale) This link opens in a new windowThis multidisciplinary database includes access to articles in nearly 10,200 titles, 6,000 of which offer full text of their contents. More than 3,000 scholarly journals are included in this count as well as 121 newswire services and five newspaper indexes. General interest and news magazines; academic journals, business and technology publications, law journals, health care periodicals, and newspapers are all made accessible through this OneFile. Coverage: 1980 – present.
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Health & Wellness (Gale) This link opens in a new windowProvides instant access to carefully compiled and trusted medical reference materials. Includes nearly 400 health/medical journals, hundreds of pamphlets, over 700 health-related videos from partner Healthology, Inc., and articles from 2,200 general interest publications in addition to a broad collection of Gale reference titles. Material contained in this Resource Center is intended for informational purposes only.
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ScienceDirect College Edition This link opens in a new windowScience Direct College Edition is a database of full-text, high quality journals published by Elsevier. This database consists of 2 different collections--Physical Sciences, and Health & Life Sciences. Citations & abstracts are provided for pre-1995 information and for Elsevier journals the library does not subscribe to. Most titles are from 1995 - present.
Topic Portals
Topic portals organize selected sources to introduce you to a variety of current events, influential people and controversial issues. The content in these "gateway pages" is by no means exhaustive so use it more as a jumping off point.
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CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowA database of in-depth, authoritative reports on a full range of political and social-policy issues extending back to 1923. Each report is footnoted and includes an overview, background section, chronology, bibliography and debate-style pro-con feature, plus tools to study the evolution of the topic over time.
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Global Issues In Context (Gale) This link opens in a new windowOffers international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics, and current events. Featured are hundreds of continuously updated issue and country portals that bring together a variety of specially selected, highly relevant sources for analysis of social, political, military, economic, environmental, health, and cultural issues.
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Opposing Viewpoints In Context This link opens in a new windowFull text database providing essays from books, magazine and news articles, statistics, primary documents, and Web sites present diverse views on many issues. Also a great source of ideas for research papers.
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Science In Context This link opens in a new windowScience in Context is an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information on hundreds of today’s most significant science topics. The new solution merges Gale’s authoritative reference content with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, experiments, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience.
Newspapers from Across the Nation & Around the World
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Newspaper SourceSelected full text for 260 regional U.S. newspapers; 26 international newspapers; 19 newswires and newspaper columns; and 35 TV and radio news transcripts. Also provides access to Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.
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ProQuest Platform (Power Search) This link opens in a new windowProvides full text coverage for the following Proquest databases: Boston Globe (1980 - current), Coronavirus Research Database, Ebook Central, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe (1872 - 1988), .ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851 - 2016), and The Wall Street Journal (1984 - current).
How Can I Tell if an Article is Popular or Scholarly?
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Examples of Scholarly and Non-Scholarly Articles in the Sciences, Social Sciences, and HumanitiesScholarly literature looks different depending on the academic discipline. Click the link to view a brief tutorial offering a visual comparison between popular and scholarly periodical literature. This tutorial was created by the librarians at the University of Michigan.
Advanced Searching in Ebsco
Remote Access for Science Direct
Follow these steps to request remote access for your account:
- Go to the ScienceDirect main page.
- Click 'Remote access’ in the footer of the page. The ‘Apply for remote access’ dialog displays.
- Enter your email address and click 'Continue’.
- You may be requested to select your organisation if more than one account or organization is associated with your email address.
- If you are not registered in ScienceDirect, the registration page displays.
Either register for an account with ScienceDirect and click ‘Register’ or click ‘Continue without registering’. - You will receive an email with a remote access activation link. Click the link to activate your account.
After completing these steps:
- You may be prompted to sign in.
- You will have remote access for 180 days to your account.
- Your access will automatically be extended each time you sign into your account.
- You may need to repeat this process, if you do not sign in to ScienceDirect for a long time.