LibGuides: American Studies: Background

From Wikipedia: About Citing Wikipedia

Wikipedia: Academic Use
Wikipedia is not considered a credible source, it is a tertiary source for information. Read their thoughts concerning academic use.
Wikipedia on their Reliability
Wikipedia allows anonymous editing. There is no formal peer review. Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information found on the site.
Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation
Article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, by Jeffrey R. Young.
Mining the 'Depths of Wikipedia' - New York Times
Article highlighting the popular IG account showcasing the weirdest finds from Wikipedia 55 million+ articles.

Google Scholar
Scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, preprints, and more. Access through the library to see CSUF subscriptions, or allow in Settings under "Library Links."
Google Newspaper Archive
Browse listing of all historical newspapers digitized and available online free from Google.
Google Magazine Archive
Collection of digitized magazines including Time, Life, New York Magazine, and Boys Life.

Gale eBooks (Formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library)
Scholarly dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, and more for all subjects. Great resource for starting background research.
Oxford Reference
Multidisciplinary reference books. Great for trusted and concise information on a person, concept, or term.
Biography Index
Includes autobiographies, interviews, obituaries, letters, diaries, memoirs, book reviews, and more.
Biography Index Retrospective
Biographical content from periodicals including articles, interviews, profiles, and book citations of history-makers.
Opposing Viewpoints
Covers a wide range of controversial topics. Includes primary sources, articles, statistics and more.
CQ Researcher
Detailed reports on controversial issues and current events such as social, economic, political, educational, or environmental topics.

Ulrich's Periodical Directory
Directory of academic journals, popular magazines, and newspapers. Helps determine the peer-review status of a publication.
SCOPUS
Click on Sources along the top bar to search by publication. SCOPUS provides a Citescore, number of citations, and other metrics on thousands of academic journals.