Magazine and journal articles take less time to publish than books, so they typically provide recent information on a topic. Because they are shorter than books, they take less time to read. However, articles often focus on a specific aspect of a topic rather than providing an overview or background information. Here are some things to keep in mind when searching for articles.
- Journal articles often provide the most up-to-date research in a field and present original research findings, a review of research findings on a topic, or take a position on a key question within the field.
- Newspaper and popular magazine articles are good sources for current events and controversies.
- Some scholarly journal articles are peer-reviewed, others are not.
- The library's article databases include scholarly articles, peer-reviewed articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, and book review articles.
In some databases, you can search for the type of article you want -- an empirical research article, a review article, a peer-reviewed article, a book review, etc.
Review articles. Sometimes categorized as a literature review in a database, a review article is a survey of articles on a topic with findings summarized. This provides the reader with the current state of research in a field or research area.
Meta-analysis. Similar to a review article, but uses a mathematical method to pool and analyze the findings of the articles.
Empirical research articles. Articles that report findings from an experiment or observation.
Book reviews. These articles typically summarize the plot or thesis of a book and compare it to books on the same topic or in the same genre. A book review can help you determine whether you want to find and read that book or move on to something else.
