Research Guides: SOC 2155: Introduction to Research Methods and Analysis Research Guide: Find Articles

Scholarly and Empirical Articles

What is a Scholarly Article?

Author has demonstrated expertise and academic credentials.
Published by a university press or academic organization.
Evidence is backed up with footnotes, references, and/or bibliographies.
Reviewed by peers for accuracy and research validity before publication.
Written for scholars, researchers, students.

What is an Empirical Article?
Report on the author's original data
Original analysis of existing statistical data

Selected Databases

Articles & Books
Search multiple databases at the same time.

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Scholarly journals, popular magazines and other resources covering most disciplines. A great place to start your research on any topic.
Criminal Justice Abstracts (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Search bibliographic records from the most important sources within the discipline. Subject areas covered include: criminology; criminal justice; criminal law and procedure; corrections and prisons; police and policing; criminal investigation; forensic sciences and investigation.
PsycINFO (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Indexes more than 1,400 journals on psychology, psychiatry, sociology, education, linguistics and physiology from the American Psychological Association (APA).
Social Sciences Citation Index, 1993-Current (Web of Science) This link opens in a new window
Social Sciences Citation Index is a multidisciplinary index to the journal literature of the social sciences. It fully covers journals across 58 social sciences disciplines and includes all cited references captured from indexed articles.
Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
This database abstracts and indexes the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from thousands of serials publications and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers and working papers.

Sociology Databases

Statistics and Government Sources

iPOLL This link opens in a new window
iPOLL, from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, contains data from U.S. and international polling firms with broad topical coverage of opinions and behavior on social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, and more. Includes poll data from 1935 to present.

NCJRS Criminal Justice Statistics
links to sites with statistics on wide range of topics related to criminal justice including drug enforcement, firearm possession and on different types of crime such as computer crime, insurance crime, crimes against children, etc. .
Pew Research Center
"Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy positions."

Using Find It

If the article is not available in full-text within the database click the icon (available in many of the database) to help you retrieve the full-text article. Another window will open to UMD Library Catalog.

After clicking the UMD Find It icon, if the article is not available online or in the library, UMD Library Catalog will say "Check availability":

If you are not already logged into your library account, click Sign in to request
Click Interlibrary Loan and log in using your UMD credentials.
Choose "date needed by" and your department.
Submit your request.

If you need assistance contact a librarian.

Do you have more questions about FindIt? Check out this video from UMN Libraries on the subject

Kathryn A. Martin Library

SOC 2155: Introduction to Research Methods and Analysis Research Guide

Social Sciences Librarian

Scholarly and Empirical Articles

Selected Databases

Statistics and Government Sources

Using Find It