INTL 201 Introduction to International Studies : Find Articles

If the article you have found in a database doesn't have the full-text right there, click on the button to see if the article is available in full-text in another database. If we do have it, it will take you to a page that shows you where it's available (if you see a Download Article link, you can click to access the electronic copy).

If we don't have a journal article you need for your research in our collection, we can get it for you! Just request it through Interlibrary Loan. Please note: it can take up to a week or more to secure an article from another library.

The first thing you should do when you have a research assignment is figure out what types of article sources are required or allowed. Some professors require you to use only scholarly peer-reviewed journals while others might let you use professional journals (also known as trade journals.

Scholarly article - written by an expert in the field and reviewed by peers who are experts in the same area. In many databases, you can limit your search to scholarly, peer-reviewed or refereed journals to weed out any non-scholarly content.

Professional/trade article - Trade or professional journals can have articles written by experts in the field or by staff writers. The articles are only reviewed by editors for style, so they go through a less rigorous review process. The articles often do not contain reference lists.

Popular journals - Written for a general audience rather than for professionals or scholars. Examples include The New Yorker, People, and Rolling Stone.

These databases are the best places to search for articles in areas related to international studies. They are multidisciplinary and thus are useful for finding articles on many different types of topics. 

When searching in one database, make sure to use fewer search terms. For example, if I were looking for information on the political landscape in Ecuador using the Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, I would start with just Ecuador since this is a database already limited to the political science field.