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SOCI 254: Research Methods

USING DATABASES

The databases on this page are suggested starting points for locating scholarly peer-reviewed articles, along with other types of informational resource. For more resources, visit the links below.

Complete Sociology Database List | Newspapers & Magazines Current | NYTimes, WaPo, WSJ & The Atlantic

Databases for Starting Your Search: Peer-Reviewed Articles & More

Sociological Abstracts
Index to literature in sociology and related disciplines (anthropology, economics, education, medicine, political sciences, and more) Abstracts of journal articles, conference papers, dissertations, books, and book reviews.

SAGE Discipline Hub - Sociology, Gender Studies, and Cultural Studies
SAGE collection of core disciplinary journals and books in sociology, gender studies, and cultural studies.

ProQuest Social Science Collection
Combined search of 15 ProQuest products: Alt-PressWatch, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, Black Study Center, Coronavirus Research Database, Econlit, ERIC, Ethnic NewsWatch, GenderWatch, Healthcare Administration Database, LGBT Magazine Archive, PAIS, PTSDpubs, Sociological Abstracts, and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
ERIC
National education database containing citations to research documents, journal articles, technical reports, and more
Ethnic NewsWatch
Newspapers, magazines and journals from ethnic, minority and native presses.
Includes the module Ethnic NewsWatch: A History™, which provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989. Full coverage: 1959 - present.

For historical content, date filter for years "1959-1989".
PsycInfo
American Psychological Association index covering the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. Includes journal articles, book chapters, books, technical reports and dissertations.
PubMed
Index of scholarly articles relevant to biomedicine and clinical medicine. MEDLINE is a key component of PubMed
Urban Studies Abstracts
Covers essential areas related to urban studies, including urban affairs, community development, urban history, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Politics, international relations, government, public policy.

Web of Science

Index of articles from scholarly journals spanning the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Provides cited reference searching capability.

The Web of Science “Core Collection” includes the following:
Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI)
Book Citation Index - Science (BCKI-S)
Book Citation Index - Social Sciences & Humanities (BCKI-SSH)
Current Chemical Reactions (CCR-EXPANDED)
Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
Index Chemicus (IC)
Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
ProQuest Platform
Cross search of the entirety of PQ's collections of primary sources, scholarly journals, popular magazines, newspapers, and more. Date range: approximately 1600 - present
Project MUSE
Covers literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, etc. Contains current full text scholarly journals which cover these fields and a significant collection of recent scholarly books.
Scopus

Index of articles from scholarly journals spanning the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Provides cited reference searching capability.
JSTOR
Provides full text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, architecture and art history and other fields. Consult the online tables of contents for holdings, as coverage varies for each title, but usually ends several years before the current year.

Vassar Library Search
Access the vast resources available at the Vassar College Libraries. Use Library Search to locate books, special collections, media, government documents, and electronic resources, including journals, journal articles, ebooks, databases, and more.

Consider the database's:

scope: subject specific or multidisciplinary
- subject specific databases often have filters specific to research in that discipline
types of resources indexed: books, peer-reviewed articles, newspaper articles, legal documents, data, primary sources, etc.
publication date coverage
- JSTOR has wonderful historical coverage however does not include the most recent 3-5 years of journal articles.
full text, citation only, or a mix
search functionality and features

SELECT SOCIOLOGY JOURNALS

Vassar Journal Search

Access from the homepage in the Quick Links section under the search bar
From the top banner in Library Search

Google Top Publications: Sociology Journals

Annual Review of Sociology
In publication since 1975, review articles covering significant developments in the field of sociology, including theoretical and methodological developments as well as current research in major subfields.
American Journal of Sociology
Established in 1895 as the first US scholarly journal in its field, the American Journal of Sociology (AJS) presents pathbreaking work from all areas of sociology, with an emphasis on theory building and innovative methods.
Social Forces
Renowned journal of sociological research associated with the Southern Sociological Society. It highlights sociological inquiry but also explores realms shared with social psychology, anthropology, political science, history, and economics.
Sociology Compass
Online-only journal publishing peer-reviewed original articles and review articles of the most important research from across the entire discipline.

Last Updated: Sep 2, 2025 3:00 PM
URL: https://library.vassar.edu/soci254
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Subjects: Sociology

Tags: literature reviews, research methods