How articles are published

There are very different processes involved in publishing different kinds of articles. Newspapers rely on a team of staff reporters as well as free-lance writers to create what is famously called "the first draft of history." They also draw on a shared pool of "wire services" so that you often will find in a local newspaper an article written for the Associated Press or for a different newspaper published elsewhere.

Magazines are similar, though they are typically less immediate than newspapers and cover local news in less depth. There are three major news weeklies in the US: Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News; there are hosts of general magazines such as The New Yorker and Harper's. Some magazines consciously reflect a political perspective. The National Review represents a conservative perspective, while The Nation is left-wing. And then there are "trade publications," magazines written to cover a particular business or industry. Articles in those magazines are written by journalists who specialize in those fields.

Scholarly journals contain articles that are more analytical and are written by scholars, for scholars. They raise questions and apply research methods that are specific to a discipline such as history or chemistry. These generally go through a process of "peer review" in which other scholars weigh in on the value and validity of each article before it is published. Scholarly journals also publish other kinds of articles, such as book reviews. Because scholarly articles take time to research and to be reviewed by peers, scholarly journals will not be as current as newspapers or magazines; however they can provide perspectives that make sense of current events. They also can become news. A scholarly article that reports on how charter schools are doing or on a new scientific study may become the subject of a story in The New York Times.

Kinds of databases

We have many different databases - so many, it can be bewildering. Some provide only references to published articles, perhaps with "abstracts" (summaries). Some provide the full text of the articles. Some are a mix of full-text and references.

Some are interdisiplinary and try to cover a great many subjects and kinds of publications. Academic Search Premier is an example. Others specialize in a particular format, such as newspapers. A note about newspapers: most of them have Websites with free material, but charge for older articles. Use the library's databases for those.

For each major, there are discipline-specific specialized databases, that focus more narrowly on a subject area, but in far more depth than any other database. Though these may not be a place to start researching an unfamiliar topic, they are essential for more advanced projects.

Though many databases focus on articles published in the past thirty years or so, some serve as historical archives. JSTOR, for example, is a full-text archive of scholarly journals; in most cases recent years are not included, but you will find articles published back in the 1920s. When using this database, take care you aren't using out-of-date analysis. The New York Times Historical database does not include current years of the newspaper (though you can search those elsewhere). But it does cover the past - back to 1851!

If you are looking for historical magazines, you won't find these online. However, we have a print index you can use. Just ask a reference librarian to point you toward The Reader's Guide to Periodicals. Many of the indexed magazines are available on the lower level of the library in print.

You can afford to be far more specific in your search terms when looking for shorter pieces of writing such as articles than when looking for books. The trick is deciding which terms to use. Be prepared to rethink your search multiple times and use an advanced search option when available.

Many databases include subject headings or descriptors in records for a particular article. Use these to rethink your search terms. You can also shorten a search term and end it with an asterisk. For example "psycholog*" as a search term will look for psychology, psychological, psychologist, and so on.

You can also combine terms in a variety of ways using "and," "or," and "not." Synonyms can be strung together to search them all at once using the "or" connector. ("Pumas or Mountain Lions" will find both.) You can narrow a search down by using the "and" connector. ("Ireland and peace" will find information about both concepts.) You can also elminate terms from a search using "not" ("viruses not computer").

Once you've identified an interesting article, look for a yellow "find it!" button to see if it is available either in full text or in print. Print journals are shelved on the lower level alphabetically by title, with the most recent issues in separate A-Z section from the older issues. With the exception of the most recent issue of the most popular magazines (shelved near the Browsing Collection), you may check up to three magazines or journals out for 24 hours.

If an article is not available in full text or in print, there is an option to request it through interlibrary loan, using your barcode number and last name to identify yourself. This generally means it will be scanned in for you at another library. An e-mail message will be sent to you with a URL and pin number to retrieve it. Though these scanned articles are sometimes are available within 48 hours, they can take longer. Plan ahead.

Sometimes you come across a footnote with an article that looks interesting. You don't need to turn to a database to find it. Check the title of the magazine or journal (not the article title) in our journal locator. If it is not available here, you can click a button to fill in a blank interlibrary loan request. These will come the same way as described above.