History

What are journal articles?

• Also known as "scholarly articles," "peer-reviewed articles" and "academic articles."
• These are sources that are written and reviewed by scholars and professionals in the field.
• Peer-reviewed means the information has been read and approved by other experts before the article is cleared for publication.
• Journal articles provide new research and analysis about a specific topic based on scholarly research and expertise.
• Articles are often focused on a narrow subject or a single case study.
• Articles are intended for an academic audience.

Visit the Evaluate Sources tab for more information on how to identify scholarly journals.

Visit the Research Metrics Guide for more information on how articles, journals and authors are rated.

Find sociology journal articles:

Accessing journal articles:

In Summon, full text articles can be easily accessed by clicking on the "Full Text Online" button in the search results. Sometimes the button will say "Open Access PDF" instead.

In databases such as CINAHL Ultimate, the full text buttons look slightly different, and sometimes articles may be offered in different formats:

If an article is listed as available in full text but does not give you access, contact a librarian.

If Wilkes does not have access to the article, try looking for the article in Google Scholar. Occasionally, the authors of the article will post a copy of their paper in ResearchGate or similar website. These sources will likely not appear in a Wilkes database search.

If you still cannot access the article, you can click on the "Request via InterLibrary Loan" link and we can try to obtain the article from another library. Visit the InterLibrary Loan page for more information on how to register for an account.

After clicking on the "Request via InterLibrary Loan" link, you may see a link to an open access version of the article, if available. Otherwise, click on "Request via InterLibrary Loan" again to access ILLiad.