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Paideia 112 Research Unit

A step-by-step guide to the Research Paper Unit in Paideia 112.

Characteristics of Scholarly Articles

Scholarly articles are academic essays that:

  • are written by and for academics and professionals in scholarly language specific to their profession or field
  • include footnotes and a list of citations at the end of the article
  • appear in academic journals or book-length collections of scholarly essays

Article Formats

Depending on the database you are using, articles may be displayed in different formats:

  • Full-text: Includes an electronic copy of the actual article in HTML or .pdf format (this displays the article as it originally appeared in the magazine with graphics and pictures), or both.
  • Abstract: Includes only the article’s citation information (e.g. author, title, date, volume, etc.) and a brief summary of the article's content.
  • Index: Includes only the article’s citation information.

Recommended Databases for Paideia

Preus Library has access to approximately 50 databases and indexes that provide access to articles. The broad-based databases listed below are good starting points for scholarly article searches because they cover a wide range of topics, are focused on scholarly content, and contain full text for many topics. Click on a link to begin a search in one of these databases.

For a tutorial in how to use one of these databases, see the box, lower right.

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