Department of Journalism and Mass Communications

Scholarly (peer-reviewed) resources undergo review by experts in a field of study, who determine that the articles are objective and credible before they are published. Examples of peer-reviewed resources include articles in scientific journals, encyclopedias, and textbooks

Non-scholarly resources are published without review by experts. Non-scholarly resources range from a variety of types, such as websites and magazines, to newspapers, and books.

* If you plan to use non-scholarly materials, ask your instructor beforehand, and use the CRAAP Test to guide your judgment in using these resources.

Academic Search Complete
This database offers an enormous collection of the most valuable full-text journals, providing users access to critical information from many sources unique to this database. In addition, this database is the leading source of peer-reviewed, full-text for STM research, as well as for the Social Sciences and Humanities. This scholarly collection offers unmatched coverage of information spanning a broad range of important areas of academic study, including anthropology, engineering, law, sciences and more.

Nexis Uni is designed to address three key components requested by millennial students: personalization, collaboration and quick discovery. Nexis Uni offers many new features to address these needs, and is a better research experience overall for students.

Research Library (at Proquest)
ProQuest Research Library provides one-stop access to more than 4,000 periodicals from one of the broadest, most inclusive general reference databases ProQuest has to offer. Search from a highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, and magazines covering over 150 academic disciplines.

Think of the best keywords to enter and be ready to change them as you pursue your topic. Try using a subject encyclopedia or dictionary for specialized terminology. Get ideas for new keywords by carefully examining the title, abstract and subject fields in your first results.

Try these search features:

• Use quotes to search for phrases (example: "sociology of education”)
• Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to broaden or narrow your search
• Use truncation (example: socio* will find sociology, sociologist, sociological)
• Set search limits such as scholarly journals, full-text, or document type
• Sort results by date or relevance
• Browse subject headings