Journal articles report the results of research by experts. Sometimes they're also called "peer-reviewed articles," "scholarly articles," or "academic articles." They are often used in academic research.
You should use journal articles because they:
Find journal articles in these databases:
Sociology Database covers the international literature of sociology and social work, including relevant titles from related fields such as social policy, social care, social services, social anthropology, gender studies, gerontology, social psychology and population studies. It includes hundreds of full-text scholarly journals, as well as dissertations and other sources.
Homepage for journals published on the Sage platform. UNC does not subscribe to all titles.
Some books include research by experts, and you may want to use them in your research project.
You should use books because they:
Find books in these databases:
Images are the visual depictions of scholarly and creative works. Video represents a wide variety of streaming media sources including documentary films, concerts and recitals, lectures, demonstrations, experiments, animations, interviews, news stories, and feature films.
You should use images because they:
Find images and video in these databases:
Academic Video Online is the most comprehensive video subscription available to libraries. It delivers video titles spanning the widest range of subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. Curated for the educational experience, the massive depth of content and breadth of content-types (such as documentaries, films, demonstrations, etc.) makes this database a useful resource for faculty and students alike.
LGBT Studies in Video is a cinematic survey of the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as well as the cultural and political evolution of the LGBT community. This first-of-its-kind collection features award-winning documentaries, interviews, archival footage, and select feature films exploring LGBT history, gay culture and subcultures, civil rights, marriage equality, LGBT families, AIDS, transgender issues, religious perspectives on homosexuality, global comparative experiences, and other topics.
Primary sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of an event, created by people who had a direct connection with it. You should use primary sources to provide direct evidence about how people thought, felt, and lived at the time.
Examples of primary sources include:
Find primary sources in these databases:
Through the writings of women activists, their personal letters and diaries, and conference proceedings at which pivotal decisions were made and social movements were born, this landmark online collection traces the global history of women's international agendas and illuminates their enormous influence on the course of events and shifts in attitudes that have defined modern life.
Unlike Google, library databases can't understand complete sentences. You'll need to break your topic down into the most important concepts, also called keywords, and use those keywords to search library databases.
Example topic: How does social media impact happiness among teenagers?
Keywords: social media, happiness, teenagers
Brainstorm synonyms:
Sometimes experts use different terms than we use in everyday conversation. It's important to think of synonyms and related terms for your keywords so that you can use different combinations of words to get the best results when searching.
Keyword: teenagers
Synonyms: adolescents, youth
Library databases often have built-in search tools. Try them out!
Experts often cite each other's work, and that can help you find more sources on your topic!
To find older relevant sources:
To find newer relevant sources: