Simpson Library: Philosophy: Locating Articles

Using Databases

Databases provide access to published material in:

magazines
newspapers
scholarly journals
books
and other valuable information sources.

Magazines vs. Journals

Magazines are periodicals that are generally popular in nature, unlike journals, which are usually more scholarly and specialized. Here are some differences between the two:

♦ Appearance

Magazine: Glossy; pictures often in color.

Journal: More serious look; few pictures, if any.

♦ Content

Magazine: Current events; general interest.

Journal: More specialized; research topics.

♦ Audience

Magazine: General public.

Journal: Scholars and researchers in a particular field.

♦ Style

Magazine: Written for the average reader.

Journal: Written for others in the field; shows research.

♦ Foot / Endnotes and Bibliographies

Magazine: Few notes, if any. No bibliographies.

Journal: Includes notes and sometimes bibliographies.

♦ Advertisements

Magazine: Many ads, often in color.

Journal: Few or no ads. If any, they are usually for books.

Philosophy Databases

Religion & Philosophy Collection This link opens in a new window
Furnishes the full text of some 300 journals, including more than 250 peer-reviewed publications.
ATLA Religion Database This link opens in a new window
Furnishes citations to and abstracts (summaries) of journal articles and books on church history, biblical studies, and other topics relating to religions of the world.

Other Useful Databases

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides abstracts and full-text articles from more than 10,000 books, scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, and reference works on a wide variety of topics.
America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Covers United States and Canadian history from earliest times to the present. Includes abstracts of articles (summaries), and full-text articles.
Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
Provides access to critical and biographical information on living and deceased authors from around the world.
Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
(indexing: 1984 to date; select full text: 1995 to date)
Indexes some 600 journals in the humanities.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
(archived publications from the 1800s to the last 1-5 years).
A full-text collection of scholarly journals in a wide variety of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. To focus your search, use the Advanced Search and the "narrow by discipline" and "language" limiters.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
(coverage varies; mostly 1995 to date)
Provides online access to more than 400 scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.