Sociology

Article Databases

In addition to searching the library website, you may also search individual databases for articles. The following databases contain newspaper and magazine articles.

Background Information

The following databases provide overviews or current social topics and issues. Browse the databases for general information and to get a better understanding of your research topic.

Journal Articles

Journal articles are highly credible sources which are written by professors, researchers, or scholars (e.g., historians) for other professors, researchers, and scholars. Journal articles are also used by post-secondary students to gain a better understanding and learn about latest research findings on a topic. Journal articles usually report on results of original research and discuss very specific topics. You can access many journal articles for free through Library Search or the library's databases.

Journal articles are often referred to as scholarly, research, or peer-reviewed sources. Peer-review refers to a form of quality control where subject experts first review and approve the article before it gets published. This process increases the credibility and quality of information presented in a journal article. However, it's important to remember that not all journal articles are peer-reviewed. Journals also contain content that is not peer-reviewed such as book reviews and editorials.

Newspaper Articles

Newspaper articles provide you with an account of current events locally, nationally, or internationally. Articles are usually authored by journalists who may or may not have subject expertise. Articles are mainly written for the general public and generally not long. You'll likely not find citations or a reference list, but the article may mention the name of their sources or individuals interviewed. 

Magazine Articles

Popular magazines can provide you background and current information on general interest topics. Popular magazine articles cover different points of view on current issues (e.g., politics, economy), pop culture (e.g., celebrities), and general-interest topics (e.g., sports, lifestyle). They can be written to entertain, inform, advertise, or present a viewpoint. The articles are usually written by a staff writer or journalist who may or may not have subject expertise. They tend to have simple, informal language since they are written for a general audience. Articles are not long and often have images / advertisements. They also don't have citations, but could mention names of sources and individuals interviewed.

What are Peer-reviewed Articles?

Peer-reviewed journal articles go through a peer-review process where a group of subject experts review and approve/reject the article for publication. The subject experts generally evaluate the quality of writing, research methods used, how the results are presented, and how the findings contribute to the knowledge about the topic.

Take note that not all articles found in journals are peer-reviewed. For example, you may find articles such as book reviews and editorials which do not undergo the peer-review process.

Format of Peer-reviewed Articles

Peer-reviewed articles are found in scholarly journals and usually follow a consistent format. Some of the most commonly found sections in peer-reviewed articles are:

• Abstract: Sometimes also called a summary. It identifies the focus of the article. This is a good starting point if you're trying to determine if the article would be relevant to your research question/topic.
• Introduction: It often covers the "why" and provides some information on the purpose of the research, its importance, and its contribution to current knowledge of the topic. The introduction may also contain a literature review which discusses research that has already been done on the topic.
• Methods: Discusses how the authors conducted their research study, such as the materials and methods that they used.
• Results: This discusses what the authors found in their study and can include statistics, graphs, charts, figures, and tables.
• Discussion: This section is where authors interpret and analyze their results.
• Conclusion: Authors can write about what they learned, the importance of their findings, the strengths and weakness of their research, and other recommendations they may have for future research on the topic.
• References: Section at the end of the article that lists the sources the authors cited

Example of a Peer-reviewed Article  

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