Articles are shorter-length pieces that are published within a larger journal or magazine. There are many different types of articles, including newspaper articles, research articles, magazine articles, and more. You will probably need to find many articles throughout your time on campus, and there are a number of ways to find relevant materials.
Newspaper Articles report on current events. You can find many newspaper articles by using Search It.
Journal Articles may be written by and for researchers reporting on studies or experiments they have conducted, but they can also be published for a certain trade or industry. You can find journal articles by using Search It, or by looking at our many databases individually.
Magazine Articles are generally written for the general public, rather than experts in a field. You can find many magazine articles by using Search It.
Databases are collections of electronic materials. Most of the journals and other periodicals (publications that are published on a periodical basis) that we have access to come to us through one of our many databases. Washington State University subscribes to many databases, each one of which gives us access to the journals and books in their collection. Search It searches many of our databases simultaneously, but you will get the best search results by searching the databases individually. This is because they come with functions that don't always translate well when searched by Search It.
We have tutorials and instructions for many of our most commonly used databases. Take a look!
CINAHL is a definitive resource for nursing research
Cochrane Library is a set of high-quality systematic review articles, which are studies that evaluate the research in a particular area of study and draw conclusions on what we can learn from the research studies that have been conducted.
PsychInfo is a database focused on psychological research.
ERIC is a database of educational research
PubMed is a definitive resource for research in the field of medicine
Web of Science allows you to search the references used by an article, or were cited by another article.
Journals are publications that are issued periodically. Some journals may be published annually, while others may be weekly. You will probably need to find academic or scholarly journals most often.
Journals can be within databases, which is how we have access to most of our electronic or online journals. Journals can also be received in print. We receive many fewer print journals than we used to, but some do still come to us this way. Print journals are shelved in the library, and can be used within the Library. Online journals can be accessed from anywhere using your WSU credentials.
Search It allows you to search many of our resources simultaneously. It will search a number of our databases, the catalog of our physical items, and our ebook collections with a single search. Search It is a great place to start your research, but it is not comprehensive, so there may be some additional places to look depending on how many articles you find, and whether your topic is represented in the resources that Search It does search.