Guides: SW 200: Introduction to Social Work (Smith): Finding Journal Articles

Jaimie Beth Colvin

elizabeth.parang@pepperdine.edu

Contact:

Pepperdine University Libraries
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90263

310-506-4046

Subjects: African American Studies, American Studies, Art, Art History, Creative Writing, Education, Humanities, Music, Psychology, Theatre Arts

Useful Databases

Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
This database abstracts and indexes the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.
Gender Watch This link opens in a new window
Focuses on women and women's issues, including academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, booklets, and reports.
APA PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new window
From the American Psychological Association (APA), is a definitive source of full text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology.
Child Welfare Information Gateway This link opens in a new window A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, covers topics from prevention to permanency, including child welfare, child abuse and neglect, and adoption.
Atla Religion Database This link opens in a new window
Includes major theology and religious journals reflecting all major faiths, denominations and language groups. Beginning in 1949 although indexing for some journal titles extends back into the nineteenth century.
Scopus This link opens in a new window Abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed scientific journals, books and conference proceedings covering fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.

Professional SW Associations

Getting Started

Academic Search Complete
Provides full text coverage of social sciences, humanities, general science, multi-cultural studies, education and more.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias (Online)

Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Access to encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the most current and controversial issues of the day with complete summaries, insight into all sides of the issues, bibliographies and more, published weekly.

Encyclopedia of Social Work
In Oxford Reference Online.
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
In Oxford Reference Online.

Data Sources

Statista This link opens in a new window
Statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources, includes access to the Global Consumer Survey .

Pew Research

U.S. Census Bureau Home Page

FedStats The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies.

General Social Survey Data and Information Retrieval System (GSS-DIRS) The GSS is widely regarded as the single best source of data on societal trends.

Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research The world's largest archive of digital social science data.

National Opinion Research Center (NORC)

Roper Center for Public Opinion Research One of the world's leading archives of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion.

Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research, Internet Data Sources for Social Scientists An informal list of sites that CISER staff have found useful.

Bureau of Justice Statistics Includes statistics about: crime & victims, prosecution, federal justice system, criminal offenders, law enforcement, and more.

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data Provides criminological and criminal justice data collections on specific topics.

National Institute on Aging Conducts research on aging processes, age-related diseases, and special problems and needs of the aged.

AARP Research Center Features authoritative information on issues affecting the 50+ population.

Los Angeles Times This link opens in a new window
Indexing and full-text access to the Los Angeles Times. Covers 1985 to current date.
New York Times (NYTimes.com) This link opens in a new window
**Access requires logging in with a Pepperdine email on the NY Times homepage. Find step-by-step log-in instructions on the access guide to log in. For more information on using the NY Times digital edition, visit our Guide. **
Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com) This link opens in a new window
**Access requires logging in with a WSJ.com account. Register using your Pepperdine email address.** Get unlimited access to WSJ.com, WSJ mobile apps, curated newsletters and podcasts.

Editorial: an article in a newspaper presenting the opinion of the editor(s) so it does not receive a byline because it represents the opinion of the newspaper.

Purpose: To give opinions on current issues and events, written by the editorial board.
How to find editorials in library databases: use the advanced search and look for "Editorial" as a document or article type limit or look for the limit after doing a search.

Op-ed: (or “opposite editorial”) are articles devoted to commentary, feature articles, and opinions. Authors are not officially affiliated with the newspaper and can range from state legislators to local business owners and interested local citizens. Op-eds must be approved by the editorial page or opinion page editor and will also be cleared by a copy editor.

Purpose: To discuss and provide arguments on issues of relevance to the readers of the newspaper, written by named authors not associated with the newspaper's editorial board.
How to Find: In online databases, search for keywords related to the topic and look for document type limit: Commentary.

Letter to the Editor: usually written in direct response to an article, editorial, op-ed, or column that the paper has printed. They can also be a reaction to or notification of a newsworthy event. They are printed on the editorial page.

Purpose: To provide reactions from readers to the content of the newspaper.
How to find: In online databases, search for keywords related to the topic and look for document type limit: Letters.

Column: A single article containing the author’s opinion

News Story: a news report of any length, usually presented in a straightforward style and without editorial comment. Most often written in the inverted pyramid style, with summary lead.

Featured Story: a story that is written to inform, but also to entertain. A feature article builds upon the interests of the audience and can be written more creatively than traditional inverted pyramid formatting. These stories focus on people and what they like to do, where they live, what they eat, what entertains them; the sky's the limit as long as it interests the audience.

News Analysis: More and more frequently, you’ll see newspapers such as The New York Times printing pieces that are not quite news articles, not quite editorials and not quite features. They go into more depth than a straight news article, described above, typically would, offering an analysis of events and how it might affect the surrounding area. Pieces like this require a great deal of knowledge about the event, the area in which it takes place and the people involved, and thus are usually written by more experienced reporters who specialize in covering certain areas or topics.

Press Release: written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something ostensibly newsworthy. Typically, they are sent to the assignment editors.