Research Guides: Sociology Research Guide: Finding Articles

Finding Articles

Evidence found in newspaper, magazine and journal articles is more specific than background information and support your arguments. Scholarly (peer-reviewed) articles are often required for academic papers. These articles are found using subscription library databases.

The short list of databases on this page may be particularly useful for your assignment. A full list of our databases can be found here:

Database List (all databases)
A list of all databases available through the PCC Library. Can be viewed as an alphabetical list or sorted by subject and type of content.

Specialized Research Databases for Sociology

Criminal Justice (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window
Access to over 700 journals on criminal justice topics, including law, law enforcement, homeland security, forensic science and more. Also includes magazines and news sources.
Criminal Justice Database (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Resources on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. Includes scholarly journals, correctional and law enforcement trade publications, crime reports, and more.
Diversity Studies (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window
This collection explores cultural differences, contributions and influences in our global community. Includes 130 full-text scholarly journals as well as magazines and news sources.
Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Articles from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals of the ethnic and minority press. Articles from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals of the ethnic and minority press.
GenderWatch (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Full text database focusing on gender and women's studies, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) research. It includes scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, booklets, and reports. Some archival material as far back as 1974. Articles from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals of the ethnic and minority press.
Gender Studies (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window
Scholarly journal and magazine articles covering topics including gender studies, family and marital issues, and more.
Global Issues (Gale in Context) This link opens in a new window
Focuses on broad issues of the 21st Century, such as war, genocide, terrorism, human rights, poverty, famine, globalization, world trade, nuclear proliferation, and global warming, as well as more specific events and topics in the news that are related to these broader issues. Includes news, global viewpoints, reference materials, country information, primary source documents, videos, statistics, and more.
Statistical Abstract of the United States (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
An authoritative and comprehensive collection of statistics on the social, political and economic conditions of the United States. Statistics can be browsed, or searched by keyword and topic.

Best Bets - List of Sociology Databases

Other Recommended Databases

EBSCOhost (Combined) This link opens in a new window
A combined search of a wide variety of EBSCOhost databases containing thousands of journal, magazine, and newspaper articles covering all disciplines. Includes scholarly journal articles. Includes Academic Search Premier, America: History and Life, science and medicine/health databases, psychology databases, and many more. PCC offers a brief video with instructions for using this database, and more advanced ways to improve your search,
ProQuest (combined) This link opens in a new window
A combined search of a wide variety of ProQuest databases offering full text access to articles from academic journals, newspapers, magazines and other periodicals covering a variety of subject areas. Includes ProQuest Research Library, GenderWatch, Ethnic NewsWatch, and many more databases.
JSTOR (including Artstor) This link opens in a new window
JSTOR offers scholarly journal articles, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. PCC has access to JSTOR's Arts & Sciences I, II, III, V, VII, and XI collections, as well as JSTOR's Open Access eBook Collection. JSTOR also incorporates the thousands of searchable, high-quality Artstor images covering architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, and more.
SIRS Issues Researcher (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
SIRS Issues Researcher provides insight into the most-studied social issues by delivering the pros and cons from relevant, credible documents and graphics selected from over 2,000 global sources. Leading Issues pages provide a framework for understanding and analyzing over 360 complex social issues with overviews, essential questions, viewpoints, and editorially selected primary and secondary sources.
US Major Dailies (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Newspaper articles from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post. PCC offers a brief video with instructions for using this database.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
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A broad search for scholarly literature, including articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions. Not all articles are available in full text. Before using Google Scholar, see this brief video to learn how to set it up to connect you to articles available via PCC.

Sociology Videos

Academic videos and documentaries may also be useful for your research.

PCC has two streaming video databases:

Academic Video Online: AVON (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new window
Collection of over 70,000 videos including documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, demonstrations, original and raw footage.
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Over 48,000 full length programs and more than 329,000 segments on a wide variety of educational subjects. Most are closed captioned.

Sociology Research Guide

Off Campus Log In (Database Access)

Why Use a Database?

Popular vs. Scholarly Sources

Finding Articles

Specialized Research Databases for Sociology

Other Recommended Databases

Sociology Videos