Research Guides: Sociology: Databases

Databases for scholarly articles (use these first!)

Use these databases to locate peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles.

Even though there is sometimes overlap, different databases contain different stuff. That's why you may want to search more than one database.

If you have questions about how to best use any of these resources, please contact the Reference Desk for help.

Sociological Collection
A great resource for sociology topics. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
Sociology Database
A good resource for sociology topics. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "Abstract - AB."
Academic Search Complete
A great interdisciplinary resource for social and behavioral sciences. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
PsycINFO
A great resource for psychology topics. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection
Another great resource for psychology topics. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
Social Science Database
A good interdisciplinary resource for social and behavioral sciences. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "Abstract - AB."
ScienceDirect
A good interdisciplinary resource for social and behavioral sciences. Go into "Advanced Search" if you want to limit to abstract only.
SpringerLink
A good interdisciplinary resource for social and behavioral sciences, though searching is less intuitive. After a search, you'll want to use the limiters on the left to refine your results.
Wiley Online Library
A useful resource for social and behavioral sciences. Go to "Advanced Search" if you want to limit to abstract only.
Annual Reviews
A great resource for academic literature reviews and overviews of topics. Go to "Advanced Search" if you want to limit to abstract only.

Other databases to consider

If you still need articles, use these databases to supplement those above.

AgeLine
A great resource for social, behavioral, and cultural topics with emphasis on age and aging. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "Abstract - AB."
ERIC
A great resource to use if looking for topics in education. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
Communication & Mass Media Complete
A good complementary resource to use if looking for sociology-related topics in communication and media. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
Business Source Complete
A good complementary resource to use if looking for sociology-related topics in organization, management, marketing behavior, and more. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
Criminal Justice Database
A great resource for criminal justice topics. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "Abstract - AB."
EconLit
A good resource to use if looking for sociological topics related to economics. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
America: History & Life
A good resource to use if looking for topics in US and Canadian civics and social history. Be sure to tick the Peer-Reviewed limiter option. When starting your search, change the dropdown menu to "AB Abstract."
Web of Science: Core Collection
A good interdisciplinary resource for social and behavioral sciences, but you may find limited full-text. Search articles by "Topic." Also, can be used as a tool to see how often articles have been cited.
Newspaper Source
Use this database if you need newspaper articles about current events.

Legal & government resources

If you're looking for U.S. laws or government information about social and civil topics involving human rights, social justice, social welfare, and related topics, you might consider these resources. To use effectively, you'll often need to know which law(s), case(s), and/or publication(s) you're looking for.

Legislative Insight
Includes bills, public laws, reports, hearings, and more. For best results, use the options of "Guided Search" (if using general search terms) or "Search By Number" (if you know exactly the document number you want).
U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs, 1832-1978
Includes transcripts, petitions, and other official papers of the most-studied and talked-about U.S. cases, including many that resulted in landmark decisions. For best results, search by case name, docket number, or reports citation number.
U.S. Government Printing Office: Federal Digital System
A central resource of publications from all three branches of U.S. government.

Social Sciences Librarian

Margie Ruppel

Email Me

Contact:

2-1, William T. Young Library

Subjects:Psychology, Social Work, Sociology

Are all articles full-text online?

Many journal articles to which UK Libraries has access are available to you full-text online in .PDF format.

However, sometimes you may encounter a bibliographic record for an article to which we do not have access. When this happens, you can request that we get the article from another library using Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

If you have questions about or need assistance with ILL, please contact them.

ILL contact info:

Borrowing: (859) 218-1880
Lending: (859) 218-2049
Document Delivery: (859) 218-1203
Fax: (859) 257-0502
Email: ILLBorrowing@uky.edu