Below are some recommended databases for searching for journal articles in sociology. For other databases, check the Article & Research Databases page. To search for individual journals by title, go to the Journals & Newspapers section.
Key Resources
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Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest)
Sociological Abstracts "covers the world's literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behaviorial sciences."
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SocINDEX with Full Text (EBSCO)
SocINDEX with Full Text is the world's most comprehensive and highest-quality sociology research database. Its extensive scope and content provide users with a wealth of extremely useful information encompassing the broad spectrum of sociological study. The database features more than 2.1 million records with subject headings from a 20,000+ term sociological thesaurus designed by subject experts and expert lexicographers. SocINDEX with Full Text contains full text for 890 journals dating back to 1908. This database also includes full text for more than 850 books and monographs, and full text for over 16,800 conference papers.
Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1908-Current
Additional Resources
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ABI/INFORM Complete (ProQuest)
Indexing, abstracts, and full-text of scholarly and trade journal articles in business, management, and trade. Also covers dissertations, SSRN working papers, market reports, industry reports, business cases, local and regional business information, and global and trade news. Includes full text of The Wall Street Journal and digital images of selected key business journals from the first issue to the present. ABI Help Guide
Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access -
Abstracts in Social Gerontology (EBSCO)
"Abstracts in Social Gerontology includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to social gerontology, including the psychology of aging, elder abuse, society and the elderly, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline."--About the Database page.
Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access -
Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
Academic Search Premier is a multidisciplinary resource that "provides journal coverage for most academic areas of studies."
Permitted Use | eResources record | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | Full text: 1990 - present. I -
ATLA Religion Database (EBSCO)
The ATLA Religion Database is an essential tool for the study of religion. It is the premier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion. Journals are selected for inclusion according to their scholarly merit and scope. Journals representing all the major religious faiths, major denominations, and numerous language groups are included.
Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1949-Current -
Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America (EBSCO)
Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America (BIPNA) is a bibliographic database covering all aspects of Indigenous culture, history, and life in North America. This resource covers a wide range of topics including archaeology, education, the gaming industry, religion, folklore, economic development, acculturation, mythology, missions, tribal governments, and ethnohistory. BIPNA contains more than 350,000 citations for newspapers, magazines, academic journals, books, reviews, and trade publications from the United States and Canada with expanded content from Great Britain and Australia. Dates of coverage for content range from the sixteenth century to the present.
Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1989 - present -
Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) Reference (ProQuest)
Please note: CBCA Reference is now searchable as part of the larger CBCA Complete collection. Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) Complete is the nation's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic full-text reference and current events database. Available through the ProQuest Web interface, CBCA Complete combines full text and indexed content from all four CBCA database subsets (Business, Current Events, Education, and Reference). Subject coverage is comprehensive and information is available from the broadest range of Canadian sources anywhere.
NOTE: In certain instances ProQuest has decided to omit particular 'articles' from full-text access due to copyright restrictions or because the item has not met their criteria for being an 'article' (ie. too short, a letter, not attributed to an author, etc.).
Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access -
Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC - EBSCO)
"CMMC incorporates the content of CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association), and Mass media articles index (formerly produced by Pennsylvania State University) along with numerous other journals..."--About the database.
Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1915-Current -
Criminal Justice Abstracts (EBSCO)
Criminal Justice Abstracts is a comprehensive database which indexes and provides summaries of international journal articles, as well as books, dissertations, and reports on virtually any topic in criminal justice.
Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1968-present -
EconLit (EBSCO)
Produced by the American Economic Association, EconLit is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts more than 700 international economic journals back to 1969. The database contains over one million records and is considered the foremost source for journal articles, books, dissertations. book reviews, and working papers in the field of Economics.
Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1969-Current -
ERIC (EBSCO)
ERIC is a "bibliographic database that contains education-related documents and journal articles." The EBSCO interface also provides some full text linking.
Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1966-Current -
Google scholar
Google Scholar searches a subset of the Web that Google has classified as "scholarly literature". They do not publish a list of chosen sites, and they do not state how often sites are checked. Some important sources are not covered at all. Thus, Google Scholar alone should not be relied on for comprehensive research.
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International bibliography of the social sciences (IBSS)
The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) is an essential online resource for social science and interdisciplinary research. IBSS includes over 3 million bibliographic references to journal articles and to books, reviews and selected chapters dating back to 1951. It is unique in its broad coverage of international material and incorporates over 100 languages and countries. Over 2,800 journals are regularly indexed and some 7,000 books are included each year. Abstracts are provided for half of all current journal articles.
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LegalTrac
Provides references to articles in major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals, and international (including English-language and French-language Canadian) legal journals. Also includes references to selected law-related articles from business and general interest publications.
LegalTrac also provides access to over 100 full-text journals covering the aforementioned fields of study. -
Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) International and Archive (ProQuest)
The PAIS International database contains references to journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material, and more. Newspapers and newsletters are not indexed. Also included in PAIS are the PAIS Archive and ProQuest Deep Indexing: Public Administration and Policy databases.
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Public Housing, Racial Policies, and Civil Rights: The Intergroup Relations Branch of the Federal Public Housing Administration, 1936-1963
"Public housing at the federal level was introduced in 1937 and was intended to provide public financing of low-cost housing in the form of publicly- managed and owned multifamily developments. This collection includes directives and memoranda related to the Public Housing Administration's policies and procedures. Among the documents are civil rights correspondence, statements and policy about race, labor-based state activity records, local housing authorities' policies on hiring minorities, court cases involving housing decisions, racially-restrictive covenants, and news clippings. The intra-agency correspondence consists of reports on sub-Cabinet groups on civil rights, racial policy, employment, and Commissioner's staff meetings."
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Scopus
Scopus, a multidisciplinary online resource, will be invaluable to students and faculty in various fields of study within the sciences, health sciences and the social sciences. Scopus offers full-text linking, abstracting-and-indexing information including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources.
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Social Services Abstracts (ProQuest)
Social Services Abstracts "provide bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development."
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Social Work Abstracts (EBSCO)
"Social Work Abstracts offers extensive coverage of more than 450 social work and human services journals dating back to 1977. Produced by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the database provides indexing and abstracts dealing with all aspects of the social work field, including theory and practice, areas of service and social issues and problems. Researchers seeking scholarly and professional perspectives on subjects such as therapy, education, human services, addictions, child and family welfare, mental health, civil and legal rights, and more will find Social Work Abstracts to be an indispensable resource."
Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1977-Current -
Violence & Abuse Abstracts (EBSCO)
Violence & Abuse Abstracts publishes 1,200 abstracts annually plus and extended bibliography of recent literature on all types of interpersonal violence, including sexual, physical and psychological child abuse, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault and harassment, hate crimes, workplace violence, gang violence, elder abuse and neglect. Each abstract is categorized into one of four distinct sections: medical, legal, psychological and social.
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War on Poverty and Office of Economic Opportunity: Part III Administration of Antipoverty Programs & Civil Rights, 1964-67 (Gale)
"This collection brings together a series of Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) collections that highlight efforts to meld the issue of civil rights and antipoverty initiatives:1) Alphabetical File of Samuel Yette, 1964-1966: Yette was the Special Assistant to the Director of Civil Rights. Among his records are correspondence, reports, antipoverty program analyses, minutes of meetings, transcripts of testimonies, and other material.2) Program Files, 1964-1967: These records consist of correspondence, weekly reports on civil rights matters, reports by civil rights coordinators, equal employment opportunity guidelines, and more.3) Records Relating to the Administration of the Civil Rights Program in the Regions, 1965-1966: These records arranged by region > state > local areas and cities consist of correspondence between regional coordinators, various civil rights groups, labor organizations, members of Congress, and community groups regarding the activities of the OEO."Original Microform Title: The War on Poverty and the Office of Economic Opportunity; Part 3: Administration of Antipoverty Programs and Civil Rights, 1964-1967
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Women's Studies International (EBSCO)
Covers the core disciplines in Women's/Gender Studies, including history, sociology, political science, public policy, international relations, humanities, business and education. ALso relevant to family violence research,nursing and other disciplines. Contains Women's Studies Abstracts, Women's Studies Bibliography Database and Women's Studies Librarian.
Permitted Use | Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1972-Current -
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (ProQuest)
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides "citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy."
Selected Core Journals
The following is a selected list of core peer-reviewed academic journals which are among the most important to the general discipline of sociology. During database searches, you will encounter articles from these journals, plus many additional titles essential to specific sociology sub-fields, research approaches, geographic regions, or related disciplines.
- Canadian Journal of Sociology (University of Toronto Press)
- Canadian Review of Sociology (Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association)
[formerly Canadian Review of Sociology & Anthropology (1990-2007); alternate access] - American Journal of Sociology (University of Chicago Press)
- American Sociological Review (American Sociological Association)
- Sociology (British Sociological Association)
- British Journal of Sociology (London School of Economics and Political Science)
- Social Forces (University of North Carolina Press)
- Qualitative Sociology
- Sociological Methods and Research (Quantitative)
- Social Problems (University of California Press)
Newspapers
The newspaper guide lists databases for finding news stories. The library subscribes to many newspapers online, including major historical archives for The Globe & Mail, The New York Times, and The Times (London).