Find Scholarly Journals - COMM 20 Job Interview - Persuasive Presentation

General Search Strategies

You may search for scholarly articles from without the library catalog (OneSearch) which searches through all books, databases and articles at the same time or you may go into individual databases to search for articles on your topic.

In general, to find articles you should:

Identify keywords and synonyms for your selected topic
Start with a keyword search to get an idea of what and how much information is available on your topic
If a keyword search returns too few results, try a broader search term to retrieve more records
If a keyword search returns too many results, try a narrower search term to retrieve fewer records
To refine your search, consult the thesaurus for the descriptors or subject headings used for your particular topic

Useful Databases

Some library databases have general knowledge on many topics; some databases are more specialized.

A list of all of our databases is found in A-Z Databases.

Some of the most popular, General/Multidisciplinary databases include:

Academic Search Complete
Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications.
Gale Academic OneFile
Gale Academic OneFile connects learners to the information they’re looking for with tools that make discovery fast and easy. This premier periodical resource provides millions of articles from scholarly journals and other authoritative sources with extensive coverage in key subject areas, such as biology, chemistry, criminal justice, economics, environmental science, history, marketing, political science, and psychology.
ProQuest Research Library
ProQuest Research Library is a multidisciplinary resource featuring a diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and other timely sources across the top 150 subject areas. Research Library provides access to a wide range of the core academic titles, from business and the sciences to literature and politics. The database expands daily and currently includes more than 6,000 titles, 75% of which are available in full text.

Some of the Business-Focused databases include:

Business Source Elite
Business Source Elite provides full text for over 1,000 business publications. The rich collection of titles in Business Source Elite provides information dating back to 1985. More than 10,100 substantial company profiles from Datamonitor are also included.
Gale OneFile: Business
Gale OneFile: Business contains full-text coverage of all business disciplines, including accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management and strategy, and business theory and practice. Users will understand the activities of companies and industries worldwide through leading business and trade publications, which are updated daily. Complementing these titles is a selection of international, U.S., and regional news publications.
ProQuest Research Library: Business
ProQuest Research Library: Business provides one-stop access to thousands of full-text periodicals on accounting, business, corporations, economics, and management.

Need Help With the Databases?

If you are having trouble finding sources in the databases, please contact your Merritt Reference Librarians.

You might also find these guides helpful:

Gale Academic OneFile tutorial videos
Academic Search database tutorial video
Searching ProQuest databases research guide