Journal Articles

Journal articles provide in depth scholarly information. They are vetted and improved by peer review. They are usually fairly short in length and focused on discussing one specific issue. The indexes below are good places to find journal articles for your research. See the Advanced Searching tab for examples of ways to develop terminology and construct search statements.

When you find an article of interest, if the full text is not immediately available, use the Find It button to check for Haverford or Bryn Mawr holdings.

Indexes for History

America: History and Life
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Use this database to find scholarly journal articles on United States and Canadian history. (For articles on non-US history topics, search the Historical Abstracts database instead.)
Historical Abstracts
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Provides abstracts of journal articles, books, book reviews and dissertations that cover world history from 1450 to the present (excluding the U.S. and Canada which are covered in "America: History and Life"). Includes publications from 1953-present.
Swarthmore has access to the full text.

Indexes for Related Subject Areas

Alternative Press Index and Alternative Press Archive
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Research tool for identifying articles in 300+ radical and left journals, magazines, and newspapers. Includes US and global publications, in English and other languages.
ATLA Religion Database + ATLA Serials (American Theological Library Association)
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Provides online access to the entire core collection of more than fifty significant scholarly journals in the field of religion. Also provides citation information for journal articles, book reviews and essays for over 600 journals in the fields of religion and theology. Covers 1949-present.
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
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Provides citations to journals in the fields of architecture, city planning, interior design, historic preservation and archaeology. Covers 1930-present.
EconLit
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Provides abstracts to economic journals, books, book reviews, dissertations, and working papers. Topics include economic theory and history, monetary theory, labor economics, international, regional and urban economics. Coverage 1969-present.
HeinOnline
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Provides searchable database of full text legal periodicals and primary documents. Subscribed libraries include: Law Journal Library, U.S. Congressional Documents, U.S. Federal Legislative History Library, U.S. Presidential Library, U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Supreme Court Library, and many others. Coverage for each periodical is from the beginning issue to the most current allowed under contract. Navigate to Help --> Knowledge Base to find helpful how-to articles and short training videos.
MLA International Bibliography
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Database of scholarly books and articles related to literature, language, linguistics, film, theater and folklore. Includes scholarship from 1926 to the present.
Philosopher's Index
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Provides citations and abstracts of journal articles, books, anthology contributions and book reviews published worldwide. Topics covered include: ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy, political philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of law, religion, science, history, education, and language. Covers 1940-present. Contains over 328,000 records as of August 2005. Monitors over 550 journals from more than 40 countries.
Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) Index
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Provides abstracts of journal articles, books, government documents, statistical compilations, committee reports, intergovernmental, and private organizations reports. Areas covered include political, economic, social and public policy issues. Covers 1915-present.
Women's Studies International
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Provides citations and abstracts of journal articles, books, book chapters, newspapers, dissertations and bulletins, in the core areas of women's studies. Subjects include, feminism, women of color, science, health and technology. Includes different women's studies resources. Covers 1972-present.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
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Provides citations and abstracts of journals in political science and related fields including international relations, law, and public administration/policy. Covers 1975-present.

Tracking Citations Forward in Time

Usually researchers find more sources by looking at the footnotes in an article or book, but these will always be older than the publication you have in hand.
Citation indexes like the Web of Science (which includes sections for the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, and Science) are set up to search for sources cited in the footnotes of journal articles as soon as they become available.

This allows you to find newer articles which cite the books and articles you already know are key for your topic. By relying on connections between authors rather than subject words and by moving forward in time, citation searching can open up new avenues of research.

See this tutorial for more information on cited reference searching.

Web of Science Citation Databases
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When you connect, choose the Cited References option to begin.
Enter the author's name: Last name first, First name initial only with asterisk (e.g., Smith J*)
Skip Cited Work box
Put the publication year in the Cited Year(s) box
On the next screen, sort the results by Cited Work, choose the relevant results and hit "See Results."
The results screen shows the newest articles first. Most records include a summary of contents, so that you can determine how relevant they may be for your research.
Use the search box and filters on the left to refine your results.
Note also the References link on the far right. It gives you an immediate view of the bibliographies from the Cited References you have just found.
Google Scholar
To search for cited references in Google Scholar, enter the title of the article or book in quotation marks.
In the results list, check the link Cited by [number] for both books and journal articles which cite the title you have entered. The Related Articles may also offer useful sources.
Results example:
[BOOK] Body and soul: The Black Panther Party and the fight against medical discrimination
A Nelson - 2011 - books.google.com
Cited by 433 Related articles