If you are looking for geography articles, start with these databases. Remember that not every article in these databases will be scholarly nor will every article be available online.
If you can't find it online or in print in the library, submit an Interlibrary Loan request for the article.
Article databases sometimes include the full article, and sometimes only have the citation that tells you when and where the article was published.
Often, if the article text isn't included along with the citation, you'll see this Find It @GSU button instead. Click the button to get a list of possible online sources for the article you want. You may get several links if we have the article on more than one site.
If we don't have the article online, search GIL for the journal title, just like you'd search for the title of a book. (Note: that's the journal title, not the article title.)
Science journals are on Library South 3rd floor, recent non-science journals are on Library North 1st floor, and older non-science journals are on Library North 3rd floor.
Try these databases first:
Web of Science provides seamless access to the Science Citation Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index as well as Book Citation Index and Conference Proceedings Citation Index.
This link opens in a new windowThe Wiley Online Library hosts a multidisciplinary collection of online resources covering life, health and physical sciences, social science, and the humanities
This link opens in a new windowA scholarly, multi-disciplinary database providing indexing and abstracts for thousands of journals and other publications. PDF content dates back to 1887.
These databases may also be useful:
A robust art research database providing full-text art journals and magazines, plus detailed indexing and abstracts. Direct Opt Out Link
A digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. It offers an interdisciplinary journal archive across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences
This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing and abstracting of international publications in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.
This link opens in a new windowPeriodical is a term used to describe any publication that is published multiple times (periodically). Periodicals include materials such as popular magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers.
It is important to understand the difference between a popular and a scholarly periodical. When you are doing research, most of your sources should be scholarly.
Often popular periodicals are called magazines and scholarly periodicals are called journals. Many times it will be acceptable to use some popular material, but research papers should not be based solely on popular literature.
| Criteria | Popular Magazine | Trade Journal | Scholarly Journal |
| Example |
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| Content | Secondary discussion of someone else's research; may include personal narrative or opinion; general information, purpose is to entertain or inform. | Current news, trends and products in a specific industry; practical information for professionals working in the field or industry. | In-depth, primary account of original findings written by the researcher(s) or reviews of original research; very specific information, with the goal of scholarly communication. |
| Author | Author is frequently a journalist paid to write articles, may or may not have subject expertise. | Author is usually a professional in the field, sometimes a journalist with subject expertise. | Author's credentials are provided; usually a scholar or specialist with subject expertise. |
| Audience | General public; the interested non-specialist. | Professionals in the field; the interested non-specialist. | Scholars, researchers, and students. |
| Language | Vocabulary in general usage; easily understandable to most readers. | Specialized terminology or jargon of the field, but not as technical as a scholarly journal. | Specialized terminology or jargon of the field; requires expertise in subject area. |
| Graphics | Graphs, charts and tables; lots of glossy advertisements and photographs. | Photographs; some graphics and charts; advertisements targeted to professionals in the field. | Graphs, charts, and tables; relatively few advertisements and glossy photographs. |
| Layout & Organization | Informal; may include non-standard formatting. May not present supporting evidence or a conclusion. | Informal; articles organized like a journal or a newsletter. Evidence drawn from personal experience or common knowledge. | Structured; includes the article abstract, goals and objectives, methodology, results (evidence), discussion, conclusion, and bibliography. |
| Accountability | Articles are evaluated by editorial staff, not experts in the field; edited for format and style. | Articles are evaluated by editorial staff who may be experts in the field, not peer-reviewed*; edited for format and style. | Articles are evaluated by peer-reviewers* or referees who are experts in the field; edited for content, format, and style. |
| References | Rare. Little, if any, information about source materials is given. | Occasional brief bibliographies, but not required. | Required. Quotes and facts are verifiable. |
| Paging | Each issue begins with page 1. | Each issue generally begins with page 1. | Page numbers are generally consecutive throughout the volume. |
Based on Scholarly vs. Popular Materials by NCSU Library
