What's On This Page?
- Why Use A Database and Other Tips
- What is the Difference Between a Popular and a Scholarly Source?
- Databases covering:
Also see the tab to the left covering Congress / Legal Research, etc.
Why Use A Database?
Search a database to find journal, magazine, or newspaper articles. Some databases also provide access to other materials such as dissertations, book chapters, books, datasets, sound recordings, videos, etc.
- Some databases have the full text of articles. If not, follow these instructions to figure out if the library has the journal, or call the Research Help Desk at 405-325-4142 for assistance.
- What if the library does not have a journal article that you need? We can still get it for you via our interlibrary loan service. It's free! And articles often come electronically within a few days. For more information see the interlibrary loan page.
What is the Difference Between a Popular and a Scholarly Source?
If you are not familiar with scholarly publications, it can be difficult to tell the difference between scholarly and popular periodicals. There are no definitive rules for distinguishing between the two, but here are some guidelines:
Scholarly (e.g., academic journals):
- Are written by professionals within an academic field or discipline.
- Contain research projects, methodology, and theory.
- Have few, if any, advertisements.
- Use college-level or specialized vocabulary of the discipline.
- Include articles with extensive bibliographies, footnotes, or other documentation.
- Graphics are often tables, charts, and diagrams.
- Are peer-reviewed or refereed.
- A simple explanation of peer-review: other scholars in the field have evaluated a work. Check a journal's website to see what it says about the peer-review or referee process. See this page, for example.
- NOTE: Even though many databases allow you to limit to scholarly articles, it's not a guarantee that every article so limited will actually be a peer-reviewed research article. Peer-reviewed journals also contain non peer-reviewed content such as book reviews and editorials.
Popular (e.g., magazines, newspapers):
- Are written by journalists.
- Contain general news articles written to inform, update, or introduce a new issue.
- Have many full-color, full-page advertisements.
- Use a general, non-technical vocabulary.
- Include articles with little or no documentation.
- Graphics are often full-color pictures and illustrations.
Subject Specific Databases
These databases have proven useful to political science students in the past. See also the other subject guides.
- ATLA Religion Database (Ebsco)Biblical studies, world religions, church history, etc. References to or full text of journal articles, essays, book reviews.
- Communication Source (Ebsco)Communication, linguistics, rhetoric and discourse, speech-language pathology, media studies. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, books, and book reviews.
- EconLit (Proquest)Covers both economic theory and application. References to or full text of journal articles, books, working papers, dissertations, and more.
- Exploring Race in Society (Ebsco)Cover important issues related to race, ethnicity, diversity, and inclusiveness in today's society. Resources include essays, journal articles, government agency reports, photographs, speeches, and other primary sources. A wide range of topics are covered, including affirmative action, food insecurity, environmental racism and environmental justice, the black lives matter movement, voting rights and voter suppression, police use of force, sports team branding changes, neighborhood gentrification, and much more.
- GreenFILE (Ebsco)All aspects of human impact to the environment. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, books, book reviews, and reports.
- MEDLINE (Ebsco)Medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other health fields. Created by the National Library of Medicine. References to or full text of journal articles and some magazine articles.
- Military and Government Collection (Ebsco)Current news pertaining to all branches of the military. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, trade publications, reviews, newspaper articles, government documents, books, and more.
- ProQuest One Business (formerly ABI/INFORM)Focus is on business and management topics, but includes many other subjects as well. References to or full text of journal, magazine, and newspaper articles, books, videos, company reports, and more.
- PsycINFO (Proquest)Psychology and related disciplines in the behavioral sciences. References to or full text of journal articles, books, dissertations, and more.
- SocINDEX (Ebsco)Sociology and other social and behavioral sciences. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, reviews, trade publications, dissertation, books, and conference papers.
Video and Images / Audio
These databases cover still images, video, and audio. See also the Film and Media Studies and the Audio and Video Resources at OU guides.
- American Archive of Public Broadcasting (Library of Congress and WGBH in Boston)An initiative to digitally preserve and make accessible public broadcasting radio and television programming,
- American History in Video (Alexander Street Press)Access to commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries related to American history.
- ARTstor (JSTOR)Repository of over two million images that include collections from a wide variety of civilizations, time-periods, and media. The images are drawn from different sources, such as museums, archaeological teams, photo archives, slide collections, and art reference publishers.
- Avon: Academic Video Online (Alexander Street Press)Streaming academic video content, including acclaimed and award-winning interdisciplinary documentaries, independent non-fiction films, training and instructional videos, foreign films and shorts, and other educational titles. NOTE: AVON video access is mediated. This means that any video not currently licensed for use will require the user to request access. Access is being enabled for class use with instructor approval.
- British Pathé Archives85,000 historic films from 1896 to 1976, includes footage from Britain and around the globe. The archive is particularly strong in its coverage of the First and Second World Wars.
- Kanopy Streaming VideoAccess to streaming video supporting classes in the arts, business, health, media/communication, science, humanities and education. Kanopy video access is mediated. This means that any video not currently licensed for use will require the user to request access. Access is being enabled for class use with instructor approval.
- Library of Congress - Prints and PhotographsDigitized photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings.
- New World Cinema: Independent Features and Shorts (Alexander Street Press)Streaming full-length feature films from leading independent distributors and award-winning short films.
- Smithsonian Open AccessDigital assets that are created, stored, or maintained by the Smithsonian. This might include text, still images, sound recordings, research datasets, 3D models, collections data, and more.
- Swank Digital CampusSwank's streaming platform offers access to over 25,000 feature films, documentaries, foreign films, and TV shows from the largest movie studios, including Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Columbia Pictures, Lions Gate, MGM, and others. NOTE: Swank Digital Campus access is mediated. This means that any video not currently licensed for use will require the user to request access. Access is being enabled for class use with instructor approval.
- Television News of the Civil Rights Era (1950-1970; Univ. of Virginia)Aims to collect, digitize, and present television news footage from the period.
Essential Databases: Political Science
These are the major databases for finding articles in political science journals.
The first two databases are hosted by Proquest. Search them at the same time by clicking "change databases" in the hamburger menu once you are in either one of them, and then select the other database from the list.
- PAIS Index (Proquest)Public and social policy issues, foreign and domestic. References to or full text of journal articles, government documents, books, pamphlets, yearbooks, statistical directories, grey literature, and more.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (Proquest)Political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy. References to or full text of journal articles, book reviews, books, dissertations, and working papers.
- Annual Reviews (Annual Review of Political Science) (1998- )This database "critically reviews the most significant primary research literature to guide researchers to the principal contributions of their field and help them keep up to date in their area of research." Includes political theory and philosophy, international relations, political economy, political behavior, American and comparative politics, public administration and policy, and methodology.
Multidisciplinary Databases
- Academic Search Complete (Ebsco)Multidisciplinary database. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, major newspaper articles, book reviews, and more.
- Environmental Science and History Digital Archive (Wiley)Focuses on critical aspects of environmental science, history, and anthropogenic change and includes unique and rare archival collections from multiple global sources. The archive includes manuscripts, images, maps, and photographs covering topics such as deforestation, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, ecology, botany, biodiversity, extinction, water sources, irrigation, wetlands, and hydrology.
- Google ScholarGoogle Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
When off campus, be sure to access Google Scholar settings > library links > type in University of Oklahoma. - JSTORIncludes the full text and complete archives of core scholarly journals in many disciplines, some dating from the 1600s. Current issues may not be available.
- Project MuseFull text of scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (was Dissertation Abstracts)Millions of searchable citations to dissertations and theses from 1861 to the present day together with over a million full-text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. Includes UK & Ireland content.
NOTE: Many universities have started archiving dissertations locally rather than through this database. Try a search in Worldcat, note the name of the institution where the dissertation was written, and go to that institution's catalog to see if a copy is in a local repository.
Most OU dissertations are full text through summer 2013; after that date, find OU dissertations in SHAREOK. - Web of Science (Clarivate)Multidisciplinary database. Includes a "cited reference" search. (A type of search that allows you to find articles that cite a previously published work.)
International and Area Studies
These databases are useful for finding articles and other materials about international affairs and individual regions of the world. Also see this guide to International and Area Studies Resources.
- American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (Ebsco)Multi-disciplinary coverage of East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, online resources, and selected government publications published in the United States and Canada.
- Bibliography of Asian Studies (Ebsco)East, Southeast, and South Asia, with special focus on the humanities and social sciences. References to or full text of western-language journal and review articles, conference proceedings, chapters in edited volumes, and Festschriften .
- ClasePeriodica (Firstsearch)Multidisciplinary coverage of Latin America. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, essays, conference proceedings, and technical reports in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English.
- Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)International politics and related fields, including security studies, global finance, diplomatic practice, humanitarian law, global governance, development studies, and environmental studies. Includes working papers, policy briefs, and current analysis and commentary, as well as scholarly journal articles, e-books, and videos. Economist Intelligence Unit supplies comprehensive country surveys, including in-depth political and economic data and detailed maps.
- Handbook of Latin American Studies (Library of Congress)Multidisciplinary coverage of Latin America. References to journal articles, books, book chapters, and conference papers in Spanish and English. NOTE: "Check for Full Text" is not available in this database; you must search the Local Catalog for the title of the journal to see if we own it.
- HAPI, the Hispanic American Periodicals Index (Latin American Institute, UCLA)Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinx communities in the United States. References to or full text of journal articles.
- Index Islamicus (Proquest)Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world, all time periods. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, conference proceedings.