Useful Tips
Databases identify and locate articles published in magazines, journals and newspapers. Many databases also index essays, book chapters and monographs.
Tip 1: Some of the databases provide full-text coverage of journals.
Tip 2: If the database does not provide full-text, use Get it! Cornell or search the library catalog for the journal title (or book title). This will provide you with Cornell's holdings of the journal (in both print and electronic form).
Tip 3: For more precise searching, it is best to search the databases individually (rather than using Search Articles).
Selected Databases
The selected databases below are an excellent step in locating journal, magazine and newspaper articles; Additional Databases
General Interest:
- Academic Search PremierThis multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 8,500 journals, including full text for more than 4,600 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles.
- ProQuest Research LibraryProQuest Research Library, formerly known as Periodical Abstracts, is a comprehensive database available through the ProQuest online system. It indexes and abstracts general interest magazines and scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities and sciences. It comprises two components: a core list of periodicals covering about 800 publications, and 15 subject-specific modules that supplement the core list. Modules cover arts, business, children, education, general interest, health, humanities, international studies, law, military, multicultural studies, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women's interests. Full text of many articles is provided.
- JSTORJSTOR is a fully-searchable database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business, and other fields. It includes the following collections: Arts & sciences I, II and III, General science, Ecology and botany, Business, Language and literature.
Africana Specific:
- Black Studies CenterBlack Studies Center combines invaluable resources for research and teaching in Black studies: Schomburg studies on the Black experience, International index of Black periodicals (IIBP), The Chicago defender, ProQuest dissertations for Black studies, and Black literature index. This fully cross-searchable gateway to Black studies includes scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, and much more.
- African American Historical Newspapers OnlineThis guide provides a list of historical African American Newspapers available online as part of digitization projects at libraries and historical societies as well as digitization projects, as well as selected online databases.
- African newspapersAfrican Newspapers, 1800-1922 provides more than 40 fully searchable African newspapers published in the 19th and 20th centuries. Featuring English- and foreign-language titles from Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, African Newspapers offers unparalleled coverage of the issues and events that shaped the continent and its peoples between 1800 and 1922. This collection includes such key publications as the East African Standard, Mombasa Times & Uganda Argus (Kenya), Leselinyana la Lesutho (Lesotho), Central African Times (Malawi), Beira Post (Mozambique), Lagos Standard (Nigeria), Mafeking Mail and Protectorate Guardian (South Africa), Sierra Leone Weekly News (Sierra Leone), Uganda Herald (Uganda), Buluwayo Chronicle (Zimbabwe) and nearly two dozen others.
- Africa-WideAn index covering material on Africa from the 19th century to the present.
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th CenturyPrimary source material from federal agencies, letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, and diaries are among the unique resources available in digital format for the first time. Module one consists of 37 collections of organizational records and personal papers, and the second module is comprised of 36 collections from federal government agencies.
- Black Abolitionist PapersThis primary source collection presents the international impact of African American activism against slavery, in the writings and publications of the activists themselves. Covering the period 1830-1865, the approximately 15,000 articles, documents, correspondence, proceedings, manuscripts, and literary works of almost 300 Black abolitionists show the full range of their activities in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Germany. The digital collection reproduces in full the 17 reels of microfilmed content from the original collection and provides a searchable, easily accessible format for research, teaching, and study.
- Ethnic NewsWatchEthnic NewsWatch is a full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press from 1960.
Interdisciplinary:
- PsycINFOContains citations and summaries of the international literature in psychology and related behavioral and social sciences, including psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, education, pharmacology, and linguistics. Includes applied psychology, communication systems, developmental psychology, educational psychology, experimental human and animal psychology, personality, physical and psychological disorders, physiological psychology and intervention, professional personnel and issues, psychometrics, social processes and issues, sports psychology and leisure, and treatment and prevention.
- MLA International BibliographyThe premier scholarly bibliography covering languages, literatures, folklore, film and linguistics from all over the world. Online coverage back to 1926. Includes books, articles in books, and journal articles. Does not index book reviews.
- ERICERIC is a web-based digital library of free education-related sources of interest to educators, researchers, and the general public, and consists primarily of electronic bibliographic records describing journal and non-journal literature.
- Music Index OnlineBibliographic database covering more than 725 international music periodicals from over 40 countries in 23 languages. Topics include every aspect of the classical and popular world of music, and are thoroughly categorized and organized according to the framework of an internal Subject List, which includes both Subject and Geographic headings. Covers all styles and genres of music. Cites book reviews, obituaries, new periodicals, and news and articles about music, musicians, and the music industry. Selected coverage before 1973. Coverage: 1973 to present.
- Art & Architecture SourceThis database covers a broad range of subjects from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. It features full-text articles as well as detailed indexing and abstracts for an array of journals, books, podcasts and more. International in scope, Art Source includes periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Dutch and is designed for use by a diverse audience, including art scholars, artists, designers, students and general researchers.
- Nexis UniProvides access to full text resources on topics including current and general news; business and financial information; newspapers; company directories; government and politics; medical and health topics; accounting, auditing, and tax; federal and state laws; legal cases; and regulations. Resources include TV and radio news transcripts.