Why articles?
Good researchers know that having a thorough understanding of their topic is necessary to begin their original work, giving a firm foundation to their knowledge and resulting argument. When you move to focus on what professionals have said and even debated, this foundation will help you to navigate articles and understand what is most relevant to your own research.
When you think about understanding and assembling existing research as evidence for your own research, remember that the result you're working towards will further the scholarship in your field. You're contributing to scholarly conversation through this work!
What is a Scholarly Article?
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Use SURF to Find Articles
Suggested Databases
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Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new windowOffers access to an unprecedented collection of resources including journals, magazines, reports, books, and videos. Many are peer-reviewed and full-text. Subjects range from astronomy to zoology.
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Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowCovers all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance and more. Content includes many full-text journals and topical video content
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HeinOnline Academic This link opens in a new windowProvides topic specific databases including all of the world's constitutions, all U.S. treaties, collections of classic treatises and presidential documents, Criminal Justice, Religion and the Law, and Women and the Law, etc. Full text case law powered by Fastcase is included.
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JSTOR (including ARTSTOR) This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text access to a broad range of resources about the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, including primary sources, images, articles, and books. Does not contain the most recent journal articles.
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Social Sciences Abstracts This link opens in a new windowSU no longer subscribes to this resource. Due to overlap in content, we suggest searching the following resources instead: Academic Search Ultimate, JSTOR. Read more information about the 2025 library cancellation process.
You can search for databases by name or by subject.
SURF or Databases?
SURF does a good job at checking a lot of places the library has access to, essentially trying super hard to complete your search across not only all of the library's physical and digital holdings but also across as many of our database and journal subscriptions as possible - but it's just not able to check absolutely everywhere every time.
Remember, it's your job to determine where and how to search for the best results that meet your information need! It's a good practice to cast the widest net in your research by looking in different places for your sources and digging deeper than just a simple search in SURF. As the place where information or the source itself is kept, databases can connect you with sources directly and allow for much more customized and deeper research practices as you continue.
For example, one way to incorporate it would be to try out different keywords and result limiters with SURF before moving the search into a larger, interdisciplinary database, like Academic Search Ultimate, or even a more focused subject database, like Business Source Complete, where you can see how different levels of technical language can effect your searches.