This guide will help you find published scholarship (essays, books, chapters, journal articles, etc.) and primary source material on a topic.
Remember to evaluate the accuracy of your sources, and think critically about their content and arguments.
For remote login to the Library's electronic resources, see our instructions for Off-Campus Access.
Remember to talk about your project with your instructor in the Anthropology Department!
Subject encyclopedias and other reference guides can provide good background information on a topic. Many reference books are in printed format, while others are available in electronic resource collections such as:
Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library)
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics by 
Dictionary of Languages by 
Encyclopedia of Communication and Information by 
Encyclopedia of Communication Theory by 
International Encyclopedia of Communication by 
Linguistic and Cultural Online Communication Issues in the Global Age by 
Academic Search Complete is a multidisciplinary database of scholarly journals, magazines, and news sources. It is a good starting point for research in all areas of study.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Annual Reviews is a nonprofit publisher dedicated to synthesizing and integrating knowledge for the progress of science. This collection of critical reviews of primary research literature is written by leading scientists.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
An index to articles in journals taken by the Library and to films held at the Royal Anthropological Institute. The collection has nearly 800 journals, published in more than 40 languages, are indexed on a continuing basis. Records cover 1957 to the present.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
A robust database that provides full-text, indexing, and abstracts for many top communication journals covering all related disciplines, including media studies, linguistics, rhetoric, and discourse.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Please sign to QC Library when prompted to browse articles within the Queens College Library collections.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Humanities Source is a valuable full-text database covering literary, scholarly, and creative thought.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) abstracts and indexes the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language sciences (1973-current). The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Complete coverage is given to various fields of linguistics including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical, and geographical linguistics.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Music Index database provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts covering every aspect of classical and popular music.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Social Sciences Full Text (H.W.Wilson) covers the latest concepts, theories, and methods from both applied and theoretical aspects of the social sciences.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Provides full-text, Peer-Reviewed sociology journals covering many studies including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, racial studies, religion, and social work.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Indexes the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences; (1952-current).
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Wiley Online Library is a collection of scholarly journals and e-books published by Wiley-Blackwell in science, medicine, social sciences, and humanities.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch
What is a scholarly journal article?
A scholarly journal article is written by a scholar or an expert, and provides a detailed analysis of a topic. It is written in the specialized language of a scholarly discipline (such as Philosophy). It documents the resources the writer used by providing bibliographic citations such as footnotes, endnotes, and bibliography so a reader can check or repeat the research the scholar has completed.
A scholarly journal is edited by scholars, and any article published in the journal has usually been approved by the author's peers or by referees (other scholars expert in the subject who serve as editors or readers and critique the article before it is accepted for publication). This is why most scholarly journals are referred to as a Peer-Reviewed or Refereed journals. Here is a comparison between popular and scholarly periodicals. There are usually several databases that can be used to search for journal articles on a topic.
A sophisticated database program that can be used to view and analyze an array of community and regional data from neighborhoods and other local areas of New York City and New York State; includes population statistics, immigration trends, socio-economic indicators, birth and death data, hospitalizations, local trade data, and more, with data from 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 census, and other sources.
Contains information and statistics specific to New York City, organized in eighteen (18) categories; includes business, culture, education, income, housing, sports, and more.
Social Explorer provides interactive demographic data. Its mapping tools allow data to be easily visualized, and it also allows users to extract data table reports. Users may generate custom reports and maps, and they may create personal accounts to save their reports and maps.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
