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What's This?

WHAT'S THIS?

Abstract: Brief summary of the essential points in an article or book.

Article: Non-fiction piece published in a journal or magazine; fairly narrow topic; self-contained.

Article Sources: Huge collections of articles from journals, magazines, newspapers, trade publications, corporate reports, media transcripts, and many other types of information sources.

Citation: Information about an article or book - author, title, publisher, date published, etc. For articles, the citation also tells you the volume, issue, and page numbers. Use citation information to find print articles that are not available online.

Database: Collection of articles or other data, organized for quick search and retrieval.

Full Text: The complete article is available online, just as it appeared in print.

Journal: a professional or research publication, usually published by an academic or association press, containing signed research articles, essays, and reviews of a scholarly, scientific, or professional nature in a specific subject area.  Journal articles are intended for a specialized audience, and include footnotes and bibliographies.

Magazine: a publication containing articles of popular interest, usually written by journalists, for entertainment or general information purposes.  Magazine articles usually do not include footnotes or bibliographies.

Periodical: the catch-all term for journals, magazines, trade publications, newspapers, and any other publication produced on a regular basis two or more times a year.  Periodicals contain articles on various subjects by several writers and provide current information on their topic of interest.

Peer Reviewed / Scholarly Articles: journal articles that have been evaluated for scholastic standards and validity by a panel of recognized experts (referees) in the field prior to publishing.  This process helps to ensure that the articles selected for publication are trustworthy, free of bias, and based on solid evidence.  Sometimes also called "Refereed" or "Academic" articles.