SOC 379 - Gender & Sexuality: Finding scholarly articles

You can find scholarly articles using the QuickSearch tool. QuickSearch searches a huge amount of content, including things that are not scholarly and not sociological, so be sure to use the filters available. 

For advice on what filters to use, read on!

QuickSearch

• 1. UNCHECK the Full Text box 
  • This will allow you to see articles available through Interlibrary Loan.
• 2. Limit by date
  • To find articles published within the past 10 years​

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• 3.  Limit to peer-reviewed
  • You can find this under Advanced Search. Or when you are looking at a list of results, you can find it under Show More in the left sidebar. 

• Use two or more search boxes (Advanced Search)
• Brainstorm alternate keywords
  • You can combine similar terms with OR if you want to be fancy. Or, you can just search a few different times.
• To limit your search to sociology journals, put sociolog* in a box.

• You can limit your search to a particular journal by putting its title in a box.

Is it current? Is it peer-reviewed? 

Double-check to see whether the articles you find were published within the past 10 years.

If you used the peer-reviewed checkbox, all the journals you find should be peer-reviewed . You can always look at their websites to make sure.

Is it in a sociology journal?

Look at the journal title. If you are not sure whether this is a sociology journal, try searching for the journal's website.

Another thing to try: See whether the database record lists the author's academic department. If they are part of a Department of Sociology, perfect! If the database only gives their name, try looking them up on the web. 

Is it empirical?

You can usually tell whether a study is empirical by carefully reading the abstract. Did the authors base their conclusions on original, direct observation or experimentation? Did they collect and analyze data? If so, the study is empirical. An empirical study usually has a Methodology or Methods section.

Some types of article that are NOT empirical:

• Literature review
• Meta-analysis
• Theoretical article

Is it relevant to your topic?

Don't just trust the title. Read the abstract to help you figure out whether this article is relevant to your topic.

For your literature review, you will need to find articles that are:

• Directly related to your chosen topic
• From peer-reviewed journals
• From sociological journals
• Empirical research
• Published within the past 10 years

Sociology journals:

• American Journal of Sociology
• American Sociological Review
• Annual Review of Sociology
• Gender & Society
• Journal of Marriage and Family
• Journal of Sociology
• Social Networks
• Sociological Methods & Research
• Sociological Perspectives

Interdisciplinary gender studies journals:

• Gender, Work & Organization
• Journal of Gender Studies 
• Studies in Gender & Sexuality 

TLU librarians offer in-depth research help.

Visit

During library open hours, ask at the main desk for help finding what you need or help setting up an appointment with a librarian. 

Email

librarian@tlu.edu

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Click on the Ask a Question tab on the right side of a library web page. It will bring you either to live chat, or to a place where you can leave a message. 

Call

830-372-8100 (main desk)

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Need an item that our library doesn't own? No worries, you can email the title, author and date of what you need to ill@tlu.edu or fill out a form. We can get most (but not all) articles within 2 days and many books within 4-8 days. 

For more information, visit our interlibrary loan page.