Find Academic Articles

Academic OneFile

You can do a keyword search to find a large number of articles, or click on Subject Guide Search button below the search box to get more focused results.  If you have a topic that is too broad and need to narrow your focus, use the Topic Finder icon on the front page; choose between the wheel or tiles format to see how others have searched for this issue. Click a Topic Finder option to see relevant articles.

You can try using the terms below as a starting point.  If you are looking for scholarly sources, check the box on the right marked “peer-reviewed journals” in your results list.  You can also search for (non-scholarly) sources like magazines and news in your results list.

Hints:

1. In addition to searching for your basic topic (Johnny Cash), also search for the broader subject (Country music) to see how your topic relates to the bigger picture.
2. If you do a Subject Guide Search, once you have found your subject, click the plus sign icon to open up Subdivisions.  These are articles on particular aspects of your topic, which can give you very particular and focused information (Johnny Cash — works, Johnny Cash — family, Johnny Cash — appreciation.)  You may also want to look at related subjects for more ideas and resources.
3. In your results list, using the document types may be helpful.  Book/movie/sound recording reviews will be evaluations of particular works by a performer.  Many times, an article, essay, report or critical essay will be more in-depth and will provide a larger overview.  A brief article is usually less than two pages and may be too short to help you in your research.
4. You may be able to “layer” different subjects to find really specific articles.  For example, you can find information on college and high school age volunteers by searching two subjects simultaneously.  Go to the advanced search (the plus-magnifying glass) and use the dropdown box to select subject, then type volunteerism.  Add a second subject of college students, subject high school students or subject youth volunteers. Any articles found will have both the subjects listed.

OmniFile (EBSCOhost)

You can do a basic keyword search by entering in your search terms on the first screen. To search only for scholarly, peer-reviewed articles, click the box marked “scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals” under the “limit your results” bar.

To search for a particular subject, click advanced search under the search box. On the next screen, enter your subject and change the drop-down box at right from “select a field” to “SU subject.” Please note: the subjects may vary from database to database. Here are a few topics that are different in OmniFile:

To do a subject search, use the Thesaurus in the blue bar for subjects related to your topic.  Select “term contains” or “relevancy ranked” (to get the most relevant first.)  Put a check in front of any subjects you wish to search; for more details, click on the name of the subject to get a break-down of content.  Once you have checked your subject(s), click “add” in the green bar, and your subject should appear in the search box.  Click “search” to begin finding articles.

Pop Culture Universe

Search by keyword for your topic. People are usually covered very well in this database.  Look for links throughout the articles to take you to related topics or people.  If you don’t find material on your first search (for example, Assassin’s Creed,) then try a broader term (video games, XBox, etc.)

American Mosaic: African American Experience

American Mosaic: American Indian Experience

American Mosaic: Latino American Experience

American Mosaic provides articles on people, events and history relating to particular ethnicities and backgrounds.  These resources may be helpful for some but not all topics.

Newsbank

Newsbank provides (non-scholarly) coverage of topics from newspapers around the world.   For the most recent, up-to-the-moment coverage of a topic, search here for articles.  Begin by selecting United States news (unless you are discussing an international pop culture topic, like K-pop, a pop music style from South Korea.)  You can do a keyword search through the entire article, but you may receive more precise results if you change the “all text” drop-down box to “lead/first paragraph” or “headline.”  There will be a lot of results, so it can be helpful to limit to source type: newspapers and to select the most recent year unless you are looking for historical information.  You can also change the article ranking in the upper-right from “best matches first” (which gives you the most relevant information) to “newest matches first” to see the most recent (which may only mention your topic.)