Los Angeles Valley College Library: English Research Guide: Find Sources

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Also known as "Scholarly Articles," "Peer-Reviewed Articles," or "Academic Articles," these are:

Written and reviewed by scholars and provide new research, analysis, or information about a specific topic.
- "Peer Review" means the article is approved by other experts before publication
Usually focused on a single subject, but may have a wider scope than Literary Criticism articles
Intended for an academic audience

Find Journal Articles:

Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
A multi-disciplinary database that provides full-text for more than 9,000 journals, including nearly 8,000 peer-reviewed titles. Magazine and newspaper articles are also included. Coverage includes biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, psychology, religion & philosophy, science & technology, veterinary science, and more.
Proquest Central This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive periodical resource, which brings together complete databases across major subject areas, including Business, Health and Medical, Language and Literature, Social Sciences, Education, Science and Technology, as well as core titles in the Performing and Visual Arts, History, Religion, Philosophy, and includes thousands of full-text newspapers from around the world.
JSTOR Archival Journals This link opens in a new window
Full-text scholarly and peer-reviewed journal articles across many disciplines. Please note this archive does not include current issues -- a three to five year delay is typical for most publications. Coverage includes economics, philosophy, political science, language and literature, history, art and art history, archaeology, classics, music, film studies, psychology, health policy, public policy, folklore, performing arts, religion, and more.

Literary criticism is expert-level writing that defines, classifies, analyzes, interprets, and evaluates individual works of literature or an author's complete works.

Features of Literary Criticism

Published as journal articles or full-length books
Peer-reviewed work of scholars
More in-depth critique of a work (compared to book reviews)
Intended for an academic audience

Find Literary Criticism:

Gale Literary Sources This link opens in a new window
Cross-searches Gale's literature databases. Provides full-text literary content with tools to analyze information. Coverage includes authors and their works, literary movements and genres. Full-text of literary works, journal articles, literature criticism, reviews, biographical information and overviews.
MLA International Bibliography with full text This link opens in a new window
This resource combines a collection of full-text journals with an index for the study and teaching of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric, writing studies, folklore, film, theater, and other dramatic arts.
JSTOR Archival Journals This link opens in a new window
Full-text scholarly and peer-reviewed journal articles across many disciplines. Please note this archive does not include current issues -- a three to five year delay is typical for most publications. Coverage includes economics, philosophy, political science, language and literature, history, art and art history, archaeology, classics, music, film studies, psychology, health policy, public policy, folklore, performing arts, religion, and more.

smaller rocks balancing on a natural stone "scale," representing the concept "pro/con" If your research topic involves a current social or political issue -- especially one that could be considered "controversial," with strong opinions on either side -- then you might want to use a Pro/Con database. The databases listed below contain many different types of sources: full-text magazine, newspaper, and academic journal articles; pro/con viewpoint essays; in-depth reports; videos and more.

Find Pro/Con Sources:

Opposing Viewpoints In Context This link opens in a new window
Topic overviews and opinions on hundreds of today's most controversial social issues. Includes pro/con viewpoint essays; full-text magazine, academic journal, and news articles; more than 300 primary source documents; court-case overviews; biographies; statistical tables, charts, and graphs; images, videos; audio files, and links to vetted websites.
Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window
Covers topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture. Includes editorials, opinions, and in-depth articles. Content is curated to support research papers, debate preparation, and persuasive writing assignments.

Unlike journal articles and literary criticism, scholarly books:

Are written on a broader, general subject
May contain a collection of related chapters by different authors
Contain less recent information

Remember: you may only need to read one chapter of a scholarly book!

Find Books & eBooks:

OneSearch This link opens in a new window
OneSearch is the Library's "discovery" platform. It searches our collection of print books and provides access to ebooks and articles from select databases.

List of eBook databases

Video: Types of Sources

In the following video [3:54], you will learn how to select a resource appropriate to your information need, the importance of analyzing a resource’s capabilities and constraints, and how to determine if a resource has quality information.

Note: clicking on the image below will open the video in a new tab or window.

English Research Guide

Citation Resources

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