Women's Studies Resource Guide: Finding Articles

(and Reports, Book Chapters, etc.)

Scholarly / Popular

How can you tell the difference between and scholarly and popular periodicals? The table shown below lists some differences between scholarly and popular sources.

For examples, see the Inflite tutorial.

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Searching Article Databases

Background

University Library subscribes to hundreds of article indexing databases which are available to you on campus or from home once you have logged in with your user ID and password. These databases are important because they allow to search for articles by keyword, topic, title, author, etc. Remember, a library catalog such as IUCAT will allow you to search for journal titles, but will not allow you to search for specific articles within the journal.

Search Tips

To find out which databases are most likely to have the kinds of articles that will be helpful to you, check the "Database Descriptions", "Title List", or other "information" or "about" options available in a particular database. See the section below on Suggested Databases for Women's Studies specific databases.

Before you start entering any search terms, spend a few minutes trying to think of as many relevant terms and combinations of terms as you can. This will help you to avoid getting stuck in a rut with the first terms that come to mind.

If you need help in coming up with terms, you may want to try the databases' "Thesaurus" or "Subject Headings" features.

Check out the "Help" or "Search Tips" to learn some of the search features specific to that database. Most databases provide similar features, but the methods may vary.

Try the databases' Advanced Search feature, which usually gives you the ability to search multiple fields (author, title, keyword, subject, etc) with one search and may offer additional ways to expand or limit your search.

If your first search strategy does not work, try another approach. Remember, too, that you can ask for Reference Help.

Looking for a way to find out which electronic full-text journals IUPUI has access to? Then try here...

• Women's Studies Journals Online
  Alphabetical listing of all electronic full-text journals to which IUPUI University Library has access. Use when you would like to search or browse a specific journal that is not necessarily in the field of Women's Studies or when you already have a specific citation and want to see if the article is available online.

or, if you want to see a listing of all of the Women's Studies journals IUPUI subscribes to, try here:

• School of Liberal Arts Library Journals Database (Available inside Cavanaugh Hall and University Library only)
  "The Liberal Arts Journals database contains journal titles to which the University Library subscribes from the resources account for Liberal Arts." (from website) To see which Women's Studies journals IUPUI subscribes to, go to the Search by a specific Liberal Arts Department: menu and select Women's Studies, and then select Individual Report. This will yield a listing of all Women's Studies journals. The listing is updated at the beginning of the fiscal year.

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Suggested Databases, Journals: Online or at UL, and Newspapers.

Full-Text, Abstract, and Citation Databases (Journals, Magazines, Book Reviews, and some Newspapers)

• Academic Search Premier (access via Academic Search Elite link or EBSCOhost Web link)
  "Academic Search Elite offers full text for more than 2,000 serials, including more than 1,500 peer-reviewed titles. This multi-disciplinary database covers virtually every area of academic study. More than 100 journals have PDF images back to 1985. This database is updated on a daily basis via EBSCOhost." (from website)
• Arts and Humanities Citation Index (1987-)
  Available through ISI's Web of Knowledge's Web of Science. This database features humanities citations from 1987 to the present. Features general, advanced, and cited reference searches.
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Gender Studies
  Links to Open Access (or freely available) full-text, peer or editorial reviewed, gender studies related journals.
• Expanded Academic ASAP
  Includes citations and lots of full-text. Very general database, but includes articles from women's studies, and sociology journals.
• GenderWatch
  “A full text database of unique and diverse publications that focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas. With its archival material, dating back to 1970 in some cases, GenderWatch is a repository of important historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgendered community, and the changes in gender roles over the years. Publications include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, and NGO, government and special reports.”—database website
• Humanities Full-Text (via Wilson Web)
  Includes full text of social history. Good source for examining how various topics have been presented in literature throughout history.
• Humanities Index International (access via EBSCOhost Web link)
  "Humanities International Index is a comprehensive database covering journals, books and other important reference sources in the humanities. Produced by Whitston Publishing (an imprint of EBSCO Publishing), Humanities International Index provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracting for over 2,000 titles and contains more than 2 million records." (from website)
• IngentaConnect
  Includes citations and lots of full-text. Very general database. Not all content is peer-reviewed, but you can limit your search to return only peer-reviewed items.
• J-STOR
  All full-text. All scholarly. Presents the backfiles or the complete run of important journals No controlled vocabulary or subject headings used. May limit keyword search to abstract, title, full-text. Please view this tutorial for guidance in searching within JSTOR.
• LexisNexis
  For more current full-text articles in newspapers and magazines search the News section of LexisNexis. Most articles are from late 1980's-present.
• Master File Premier (access via EBSCOhost Web link)
  "Designed specifically for public libraries, this multidisciplinary database provides full text for more than 1,700 general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1975. Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Premier also includes nearly 500 full text reference books, 84,774 biographies, 100,554 primary source documents, and an Image Collection of 202,164 photos, maps and flags. This database is updated daily via EBSCOhost." (from website)
• Periodicals Archive Online
  "Periodicals Archive Online is the new name for PCI Full Text - an archive of hundreds of digitised journals published in the arts, humanities and social sciences." (from website)
• Periodicals Index Online
  "Periodicals Index Online is the new name for Periodicals Contents Index - a database of millions of article citations published in the arts, humanities and social sciences, across more than 300 years." (from website)
• Project MUSE
  All full-text, all scholarly.

Journals and Newsletters Online

• Advancing Women in Leadership
  • A professional, referred journal created in 1997 for women in leadership.
• Feminist Collections
  • A quarterly of Women's Studies resources.
• The Feminist Majority Report
  • A quarterly newsletter created in 1995 featuring feminist news and events.
• Gender Policy Review
  • A monthly magazine for policy professionals and others interested in gender, international development, and domestic politics.
• Gender and Society
  • Focuses on the social and structural study of gender as a basic principal of the social order and as a primary social categor. (JSTOR)
• Journal of South Asian Women's Studies
  • A journal created in 1995 to address the concerns of Asian women.
• On Campus With Women
  • Provides readers with the most up-to-date information on women in higher education.
• National NOW Times
  • A newsletter created in 1995 by the National Organization for Women.
• Violence Against Women
  • Original research and scholarship on all aspects of violence against women, including sexual assault and coercion, sexual harassment, female infanticide, domestic violence and incest.
• Womanist Theory and Research
  • A biannual, international journal on women of color.
• Women and Performance
  • A journal of feminist theory.
• Women in Higher Education
  • A monthly practitioner's news journal for college and faculty administrators.
• Women in Management Review
  • Covers a diverse range of topics about women in management. (Emerald FullText)
• Women's History
  • A journal published each March pertaining to the history of women with biographical profiles.
• Women's History Review
  • A major international journal whose aim is to provide a forum for the publication of new scholarly articles in the rapidly expanding field of women's history.
• Women's Studies International Forum
  • Bimonthly journal to aid the distribution and exchange of feminist research in the multidisciplinary, international area of women's studies and in feminist research in other disciplines. (Elsevier Science Direct)
• Women's Writing
  • An international journal focusing on women's writing before about 1900.

Journals at University Library

• CHOICE 1964/1965-Present Z1035.C5 4th Flr
• Differences 1989-Present HQ1101 .D54 3rd Flr
• Feminist Studies : FS 1972-1983, 1985-Present HQ1101 .F46 3rd Flr; 1994 HQ1101 .F46 Philanthropic St Lib
• Frontiers 1981-Present HQ1101 .F76 3rd Flr
• Gender & Society 1987-Present HQ1075 .G457 3rd Flr
• Gender, Work, and Organization 2001 HD6050 .G46 Current Periodicals-2nd Flr
• Hypatia 1987-Present HQ1101 .H96 3rd Flr
• International Journal of Women's Studies 1979-1985 HQ1101 .I55 3rd Flr
• International Supplement to the Women's Studies Quarterly 1982 HQ1181 .U5 W6571 3rd Flr
• Journal of Women's History 1989-Present HQ1101 .J68 3rd Flr
• Ms 1972/1973-1988/1989 HQ1101 .M55 3rd Flr
• New Woman 1973-Present HQ1101 .N48 3rd Flr
• NWSA Journal 1988-Present HQ1101 .N97 3rd Flr
• Psychology of Women Quarterly 1976-Present HQ1206 .P76 3rd Flr
• Sex Roles 1980-Present HQ768 .S4 3rd Flr
• Signs 1975/1976-Present HQ1101 .S5 3rd Flr; 1994-1995 HQ1101 .S5 Philanthropic St Lib
• Trivia 1984-Present HQ1402 .T75 3rd Flr
• U.S.-Japan Women's Journal 1995-Present HQ1101 .U538 3rd Flr
• Women in the Arts 2001 N858.N36 A3 Current Issues- 2nd Floor
• Women in German Yearbook 1985-1986, 1988-1989, 1991, 1994 HQ1180 .W67 3rd Flr
• Women's Studies 1975-1994 HQ1101 .W77 3rd Flr
• Women's Studies Abstracts 1972-Present HQ1101 .W65 3rd Flr
• Women's Studies International 1982 HQ1181 .U5 W6571 3rd Flr
• Women's Studies International Forum 1982-Present HQ1101 .W775 3rd Flr
• Women's Studies International Quarterly 1981 HQ1101 .W775 3rd Flr
• Women's Studies Quarterly 1981-Present HQ1181 .U5 W657 3rd Flr
• Working Woman 1990-Present HQ1101 .W78 3rd Flr
  

Newspaper Databases

• Historical New York Times (ProQuest Newspapers)
  Searchable online database which houses full-text digitized version of New York Times from 1860's-2004. Includes advertisements and images.
  
• Indiana Newsstand (ProQuest Newspapers)
  "Full-text coverage of major Indiana newspapers including the South Bend Tribune, and the Evansville Courier, plus selected coverage of other regional sources and indexing for the Indianapolis News and Star." (from the website)
• Indianapolis Star (via NewsBank)
  Online version of the Indianapolis Star, covering from 1/1/1999 to the present.
• LexisNexis
  For more current full-text articles in newspapers and magazines search the News section of LexisNexis. Most articles are from late 1980's-present.
• Los Angeles Times (ProQuest Newspapers)
  "Major daily newspaper from Los Angeles. With the nation's largest editorial department, it offers extensive coverage of national, international, and local news." (from website) Covers from 1985 to the present.
• McClasky-Tribune Collection (access via EBSCOhost Web link)
  "The McClatchy-Tribune Collection includes a 90-day archive of approximately 290 newspapers from the McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. This database is updated daily." (from website)
• Newspaper Source (access via EBSCOhost Web link)
  "Newspaper Source provides selected full text for nearly 30 national (U.S.) and international newspapers. The database also contains full text television & radio news transcripts, and selected full text for more than 200 regional (U.S.) newspapers. This database is updated daily via EBSCOhost." (from website)

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Access

When you find a reference for an article by using a database:

In the record for the article, if there is an icon for the PDF of the article (PDF Full Text - or something similar), click on it and the PDF of the article will open. You can then read, print, email, or save it. (If you want to print, be sure to use the Adobe printer icon or you will only get blank pages.)

If there is a choice between PDF and HTML, use the PDF because it will look like a photocopy of the article. If you need to quote something from the article, you will be able to see the correct page numbers of the quote (which you will need when citing your sources). In most cases, the HTML version will not indicate page breaks and will sometimes not include graphics.

If full text is not an option in the database you are searching, there should be an "SFX" linking icon shown.

Clicking on this icon will lead you to a menu of Access options. Please see this brief Flash tutorial if you have questions about this menu.

If the article is not available electronically or in print through University Library, or if you are a Distance Education student and the article is only available in print, you can place an Interlibrary Loan for the article. When the article comes in (which usually takes at least a week), you will receive an email explaining how to access it electronically.

When you find a reference for an article from some source other than a database:

To find out if University Library has access to an article that you have found in a bibliography or some other source, you can:

Enter the citation (reference) information into Citation Linker. This should bring you to the Access menu. Please see this brief Flash tutorial if you have questions about this method.

Or

Check the Electronic Journal List to see if the journal and issue are available electronically. If not, search IUCAT by Periodical Title for the journal and check to see if University Library has access to the journal and issue you need. If you would like to see how to check IUCAT for access to journal holdings, please see this brief Flash tutorial.

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