Research Guides: Interactive Media and Communications : Databases

Academic Article Format - Hints for Identifying an Academic Article

A common format for an academic study includes:

an introduction
a literature review that summarizes early research and existing theory
a description of methodology or the steps taken to carry out the study
a findings/discussion section
and a conclusion

Many journals also publish book reviews, which are not peer-reviewed.

Selected Databases

ABI/Inform Collection This link opens in a new window
Nearly 1800 worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Expanded international coverage. Fast access to information on 60,000 + companies with business and executive profiles. Now includes The Wall Street Journal.
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Provides comprehensive indexing and abstracting coverage for more than 13,800 journals with more than 9,000 full-text. The database is updated daily and includes more than 7,800 peer-reviewed journals, full-text periodicals, reports, books and more. PDF content dates back to 1887 and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,400 journals. Contains a searchable image collection.
Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window
Full text coverage of over 200 titles and citation coverage for additional sources in communications studies and mass media.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
An interdisciplinary archive of over 1,000 scholarly full-text journals. The earliest content dates back to 1665.
New York Times (1980 - current issue) This link opens in a new window
Each issue of the NYT is indexed thoroughly, to provide access to not only top news stories but also detailed information on the arts, sports, business, and popular culture. Even such items as editorials, editorial cartoons, obituaries, and letters to the editor from well-known people are indexed.
New York Times (Historical) 1851 to 2017 This link opens in a new window
Full page and article images with searchable full text dating back to the first issue. Historical local, regional and national news.
PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive database of citations, abstracts and full-text articles from major psychology journals, books, and dissertations. Journal coverage begins in 1894 and includes international material.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive sociology research database. Contains full text for over 400 core coverage journals dating back to 1908, and over 100 priority coverage journals. This database also includes full text for 720 books and monographs, and over 6,000 conference papers.

Instructions for Searching

Below are instructions for searching the above databases.

ABI/Inform

This database provides access to popular and news magazines, trade publications, newspapers, and a cross-section of scholarly journals from a variety of disciplines.

To search ABI Inform:

From the Library’s homepage, click on ABI Inform located under Popular Databases
Under Popular Databases, click on ABI Inform
Enter keywords in either the Basic or Advanced search (Basic search requires and between keywords or phrases to narrow search.
Limit by Publication Date
Limit to Scholarly/Peer Reviewed
The article is available if there is at least one of the following designations: Full text, or Full Text-PDF. If these designations are not listed, follow the Link to full text or blue QUCheck for Full Text.
To read an abstract of the article, click on the title or the word "Abstract". Also, check Subjects.
For printing always select the Full Text-PDF if available

Academic Search Complete

To begin:

From the Library’s homepage, click on Academic Search Complete located under Popular Databases
Enter keywords in the search boxes
Scroll down and under Limit your results, limit to Peer Reviewed
To read an abstract of the article, mouse over the icon after the title of the article or click on the title to open the full record
For many of the magazine and newspaper articles there is text copy for the article but not PDF format

Communications and Mass Media Complete

To begin:

From the Library’s homepage, click on Databases
Scroll down and click on Communication & Mass Media Complete
Type in keywords
Then Limit your results; some options are:
   Check off Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals
   Select Publication Type(s)
    Select Language->English
Click on Search button
Click on title to read abstract of article and review the Subject Terms
Click on Linked Full Text or PDF Full Text for the full article
Click on Check for Full Text to determine availability at Quinnipiac if a full text link is not available.

JSTOR

An interdisciplinary archive of over 1,000 scholarly journals. The entire database is full-text, with the earliest content dating back to 1665. Please note that the most recent few years are not available.
Click here to enter JSTOR.

To begin:

From the Library’s homepage, click JSTOR located under Popular Databases
Click on Advanced Search below the search box
Enter keywords and search the full-text of the article (All fields) or just the article title (Item Title)
Narrow By: Item Type (Articles), Language, Publication Date if appropriate, and Journal Filter for Discipline(s) (Communication Studies and Psychology and Sociology for example)
Click Search
Review article titles and note the Download PDF link and the Cite this Item link
Click on the Download PDF to read the article, save or print it
Click on printer icon

PsycINFO

This is the primary database for searching the psychological literature. It is published by the American Psychological Association.

To begin:

From the Library’s homepage, click on PsycInfo located under Popular Databases
Type in keywords or use subject terms from the Thesaurus
Then Limit your results to:
Publication Year – the years to be searched
Check off Limit to Peer Reviewed
   Check off English
   Set other limits as needed, for instance Age Groups or Methodology (Limits can be changed during a search
      by clicking on Show More under Refine your results in left margin)
Click on Search button
Click on title to read abstract of article and check the Subjects. Click on printer icon to print the record.
Click on Linked Full Text or PDF Full Text for the full article
Click on Check for Full Text to determine availability at Quinnipiac if a full text link is not available.
If an article is on point, click on the author's name to view their other writing and check the list of references

SocINDEX with Full Text

To begin:

From the Library’s homepage, click on SocINDEX located under Databases
Type in keywords or use database Subject Terms from the Sociology Thesaurus
Then Limit your results in the right column to:
Check off Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals
Enter Date of Publication from - years to search (if required)
Click on Search button
Click on title to read abstract of article and check the Subject Terms. Click on printer icon to print the record.
Click on Linked Full Text or PDF Full Text for the full article
Click on Check for Full Text to determine availability at Quinnipiac if a full text link is not available.
If an article is on point, click on the author's name to view their other writing