Searching advice
When searching for scholarly articles, keep the following strategies in mind:
- Don't be afraid to change up your search terms. Skim your search results and use the terminology and themes that you are finding to improve your next search. Didn't find what you expected or wanted? Just try a different combination of search terms or a different database.
- Make use of the filters and features that are built in to each of the search tools. Look for filters like subject and publication date, as well as features that recommend related articles.
- Get the most out of one really great source. Search for the sources that are cited in that article, and use Google Scholar to locate other works which have cited that article.
- Search in at least two databases to find a broader range of sources. Many databases include unique journals, and, even when there is overlap, the search algorithms may surface different results in a different order.
Databases and Search Tools
Use OneSearch@IU for a broad search of what is available through the IU Libraries, or do a more targeted search in one of these recommended databases (and remember to make use of filters and subjects as you go):
- Academic Search (EBSCO)This database provides access to scholarly articles, as well as popular and trade publications. Use the Peer Reviewed limiter to narrow your results.
- America: History & Life
Bibliographic database focusing on the history and life of the United States and Canada, indexing more than 1,800 journals published, dissertations and reviews.
- Historical AbstractsLimited to publications focused on history, Historical Abstracts contains and links out to full-text articles on a broad range of historical topics.
- JSTOROne of the most prominent databases for research in the humanities, JSTOR provides access to a wide range of journals, book chapters, and more.
- Peace Research Abstracts
Bibliographic database with materials on peace and conflict resolution research. Indexes thousands of journal articles and other sources covering peace-related topics, including nonviolence, war, international affairs and peace psychology.
- Political Science Database
Access to political science, public policy, and international relations journals. Also includes thousands of recent full-text doctoral dissertations on political science topics, together with working papers, conference proceedings, country reports, policy papers and other sources.
- Project MuseThis database provides full-text access to both scholarly journals and ebooks. Use the robust set of filters on the left to narrow your search results.
- ProQuest One AcademicLimit your results to Scholarly Journals to access a wide variety of titles. Use the Document Type filter on the left to limit your results to features and articles.
- Sociological Abstracts
Abstracts to journal articles and citations to book reviews in the international literature of sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Includes abstracting and indexing of articles and book reviews drawn from thousands of serials publications, plus books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers.
