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Communication 150: Methodologies in Communication Research

Scholarly v. Popular

Searching for Articles in Journals

There are several ways to search for journal articles. You can start with UC Library Search, using the Articles, Books and more option, which searches all the databases the UCLA Library subscribes to. Or you can go to a specific database, such as APA PsycINFO, Academic Search Complete, PubMed, etc.

In either case, start with a keyword search using words relevant to your topic. When you see some articles that look interesting, click on the title to see the complete citation. If there are subject terms or descriptors, click on those that seem related to your topic to get other articles on the subject.

Databases that Index Journal Articles

This is a very select list of available article databases. If you want to look for others, go to this page and click through to your discipline (political science, sociology, history, etc.). Here you will find a selection of the most useful databases for each discipline listed. For Comm 150, we have found that PsycINFO is one of the most useful databases.

   Get it at UC  is your link to full-text! Note that some sources only index journal articles—they don't actually have the full text.

For more tips, see our guide on database searching.

Los Angeles Public Library

Not all articles are available in databases that UCLA subscribes to. The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) has a number of databases available to anyone with an LAPL library card. You can get an ECARD online-no need to go to a library-but this will only be good for a short time. It is better to get the regular card from the library. The closest LAPL branch is in Westwood at 1246 Glendon Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024.

The most useful database to try searching is Research Library (Proquest), which UCLA does not subscribe to. It has some online journals not at UCLA.