Finding Scholarly Articles

The Pollak Library provides access to millions of articles, the vast majority of which are not available for free on the web, although they are mostly available online. As you are not currently students at Cal State Fullerton, you can only get these articles by coming in to the library. Depending on the database (collection) you are searching, you may be able to print, save, or email the articles.

OneSearch is big, but not comprehensive. Try using these databases to find more sources!

Academic Search Premier
General database via EBSCO that covers a wide range of research resources, including core subjects such as applied science, art, education, humanities, law, social science, business, and technology. A good place to start research.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A digital interdisciplinary archive of over 1,000 leading academic journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. JSTOR also includes other valuable materials for academic work, such as select monographs, photographs, manuscripts, speeches, maps, and pamphlets. All collections are full-text searchable, offer search-term highlighting, include high-quality images, and are interlinked by millions of citations and references.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
This interdisciplinary journal collection provides full-text access to over 300 scholarly journals. It is particularly strong in the humanities disciplines, such as literature, history, and area studies (Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe), but also has content from the sciences and the social sciences.
Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new window
Wiley Online Library provides access to a multidisciplinary collection of online resources covering life, health and physical sciences, social science, and the humanities. Among the subjects covered are: architecture, arts, business, chemistry, earth and environmental science, engineering, humanities and social sciences, life sciences, mathematics and statistics, medicine and nursing, physics and astronomy, psychology, social and behavioral sciences.
SAGE Journals Online This link opens in a new window
A gateway to journal articles in over 500 SAGE publications, with coverage in the disciplines of business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology and medicine. This database offers full-text access to numerous SAGE journal titles and includes complete access to the SAGE Full-Text Collections for education and psychology.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Search for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all subjects. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.

If you have problems connecting, go to the main Google Scholar page (https://scholar.google.com/) where you will find a link to Settings. Once you click on it, you'll be taken to a page with "Library Links" on the left side. Search for Fullerton or "California State University Fullerton" and once you check the box next to "California State University Fullerton - Pollak Library FindIt!" you'll see the links appear.

Note - if we have it electronically, a link will appear on the right. If we have it in print, you'll have to click on "More" under the article to get the FindIt! link.

Databases by Subject
We have many databases on very specific subjects. If you want to search for articles on a particular subject (american history, sociology, etc.), you can access a list of databases on that subject here.

General Database Search Strategies

Ebsco search box

Use " " for phrase specific searching
The * character is used as a wildcard: enforc* searches for enforce, enforced, enforcement, enforcing
AND narrows the search results
OR expands search results (used for synonyms or related words)
NOT excludes terms from a search

Types of Periodicals: Journals, Magazines, and Trade Magazines

	SCHOLARLY JOURNALS	POPULAR MAGAZINES	TRADE MAGAZINES
ADVERTISING-Commercials	Few or no advertisements	Extensive advertising	Extensive advertising
AUDIENCE-Who is to read it	Scholars and college students	General; broad-based	Working Professionals
AUTHOR-Who wrote it	Scholars & researchers	Staff and freelance writers	Professionals and staff
BIBLIOGRAPHY-List of references	Articles: long bibliographies	None	Might have a short bibliography
LANGUAGE/TONE-Easy to read	Academic, research-oriented	Simple language	Professional terminology
LENGTH OF ARTICLE-How long	Can be 6-40 pages	Varies; often short	Varies, often short
OVERALL APPEARANCE-How does it look	Few or no pictures Text w/statistics Few colors	Extensive pictures Glossy Colorful	Extensive pictures Glossy Colorful
PUBLISHER-Who printed it	University or professional	For-profit, commercial	Professional organizations
EXAMPLES	American Journal of Sociology Social Problems Crime and Delinquency Journal of Sociology Scholarly journals are expensive and available through academic libraries.	Time Newsweek Discover Sports Illustrated InStyle Magazines are available in bookstores and stores.	Corrections Today Police Chief Beverage World American Libraries Fast Food Times Trade magazines come with membership in a professional organization.