Finding Articles and Databases
Articles and databases will be incredibly useful to your research at the University of Iowa. Many of our articles and databases are cataloged through InfoHawk+ (see the video to the lower left) - but not all of them. To search databases, select your database title or subject area. Each database has a slightly different interface - don't feel like you need to be an expert at them all. Use the help/search tips and you can always ask a librarian!
Finding Articles in InfoHawk+
View in Panopto (upper-right pointing arrow) for full-screen.
Add this direct link to ICON or other webpages:
Requesting Full-Text of Articles
Many of the articles in our databases offer access to the full text, but some will just show an abstract. You could also know the title of an article, but it's in a journal that the University of Iowa Libraries doesn't own.
To get the full text of an article, use Article Delivery.
If we have the article you want in our print collection, we'll scan if for you and deliver it electronically through the Article Delivery/Interlibrary Loan system. If they article you want is not in our collection, we will try to get it for you from another library and deliver it through the system.
Communication Studies Databases - Best Bets
- Alt-Press Watch This link opens in a new windowFull-text database indexes over 250 alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines. Includes selected abstracts from research journals. (Main Library Reference Area holds vol. 1- July 1969- to present in the paper edition.)
- CIOS Journal Index This link opens in a new windowThis system allows you to perform electronic searches of 58 core serials and annuals in the discipline of communication studies and related fields (e.g., journalism, rhetoric, mass communication, and social linguistics).
- ComAbstracts This link opens in a new windowThis database contains abstracts of articles published in the discipline of communication studies and related fields (e.g., journalism, rhetoric, mass communication, and social linguistics).
- Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowRECOMMEND USING CHROME; Combines CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association (NCA)), and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Pennsylvania State University).
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides article abstracts from 1,800 journals in sociology, from 1952 to the present. [Not compatible with Internet Explorer 9]
Creating a Search Statement
1. Create a Research statement
This can be in the form of a question or a sentence. Just think about what you want to research and write it down in one sentence.
2. Identify the Keywords
Look at your research statement. What are the main words or concepts? They will likely be nouns and can include phrases. Highlight them.
3. Think of Synonyms
Look at the words/phrases you highlighted and think of synonyms or alternate phrases to describe these concepts. Scholarly articles often use words that we wouldn't use in ordinary life.
4. Search in the Databases
Pick two or three words/phrases from your list. Put each concept in its own search box.
6. Search again!
Try different combinations of words to get different results. Add more words to narrow down your results. Look at the "Subject" headings for each article to see what keywords are being used the most.
5. Use Boolean Operators
The most common operators used in databases are AND, OR, and NOT. Make sure you separate different concepts/keywords by AND, and use OR in the same box to combine synonyms.
Communication Studies - Additional Databases
- Oxford Research Encyclopedia. Communication This link opens in a new window