Articles from journals, magazines, and other publications are normally the most useful resources for a researcher. However, finding the best articles for your paper or project can be challenging. This guide will help you understand articles and show you how and where to find articles from popular, professional, and scholarly sources. (What's the difference? Look below!)
This guide includes several different pages. To view one of these pages, select the appropriate tab. Here's what you will find:
If you're ready to start searching for articles now, the links on the right will take you to DBU's article collections.
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CRITERIA |
POPULAR MAGAZINES |
SCHOLARLY JOURNALS |
|
Authors |
Journalists, staff writers, popular authors (or the author may not be listed) |
Researchers and experts |
|
Audience |
The general public |
Researchers and experts |
|
Documentation |
Sources usually not cited |
Sources always cited |
|
Content |
General interest, news, or entertaining stories |
Original research findings, scholarly reports, methodology, and theory |
|
Language |
Broad, simple language that anyone can understand |
Jargon that assumes expertise in the field |
|
Publisher |
Commercial organizations |
Associations or Universities |
|
Appearance |
Glossy paper, many advertisements, heavily illustrated in color |
Plain paper, few academic-related ads (or none at all), charts / graphs, some black and white illustrations |
|
Review Policy |
Reviewed by editors |
Reviewed by peers and experts in the field (editorial boards made of distinguished scholars) |
|
Examples |
Newsweek, Economist, Psychology Today, Cooking Light |
Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Southern History, Journal of Modern Literature, Annual Review of Biochemistry |
Good research will rely on books and journal articles, because each medium brings its own strengths to the table.
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Aspect |
Articles |
Books |
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Focus |
Narrower – Articles tend to focus on a narrow topic or sub-topic. |
Broader – Books cover the broad spectrum; chapters divide the content. |
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Currency |
Newer – Content can go from writing to publication within a few months to 1 year. |
Older – It takes a long time to write, sell, edit, print, and eventually publish a book: 1 to 3 years. |
|
Discovery |
Database – Articles are found in journals, which are published several times a year. A database collects articles as they are published and makes them available online. A database (or the catalog linked to a database) can pinpoint the articles you need. |
Catalog – Books are published just once (usually). The catalog is the searchable list of all the books owned by the library.\ |
