SOC 268: Social Problems (Hindert-Alexandria)

While these databases are included in the Library Catalog ARTICLES search from the first page of this guide, you can do more powerful searches directly in the databases themselves.

Articles are published in periodicals, which is any type of publication published at a regular interval (weeks, months, etc.).  Periodical types include magazines, newspapers, trade publications, and peer-reviewed scholarly journals.  These types of sources are different from each other:

• Magazines and newspapers (also called popular sources) are written by journalists and intended for the general public - no specialized knowledge is necessary to understand them.  They provide current information on events and issues.
• Trade publications are written by and for professionals in a particular occupation.  They provide news and general updates related to that occupation.
• Peer-reviewed journal articles are written by experts for other experts.  They are sharing new discoveries and analyses in their disciplines, and are extremely detailed and focused.  Click here for more information on identifying scholarly sources.

You can check a magazine or newspaper's website for information about their mission and perspective (look for an "About Us" section).

You can also find information about magazines and newspapers in this library database, which provides basic overviews and sometimes reviews for thousands of magazines, journals, and newspapers: