Your research librarian
Scholarly and Peer Reviewed Journals
Scholarly journals are written by experts in a particular field or discipline and their purpose is to advance the ongoing body of work within their discipline. These articles might present original research data and findings, or take a position on a key question within the field.
Scholarly journals are oftentimes peer-reviewed or refereed. A peer-reviewed or refereed article has gone through a process where other scholars in the author’s field or discipline critically assess a draft of the article.
Please keep in mind that not all scholarly journals go through the peer-review process. However, it is safe to assume that a peer-reviewed journal is also scholarly. In short, “scholarly” means the article was written by an expert for an audience of other experts, researchers, or students. Peer-reviewed takes it one step further and means the article was reviewed and critiqued by the author’s peers who are experts in the same subject area.
Some peer-reviewed journals available from Trinity include (with the database they are located in):
- American Politics Research (Sage Journals Online).
- American Political Science Review (Cambridge Journals).
- American Journal of Political Science (JSTOR).
- Journal of Women, Politics & Policy (Taylor and Francis)
- Political Research Quarterly (Sage Journals Online).
- Social Science Quarterly (Google Scholar).
Best Bets
Below are some great places to begin your research for scholarly journal articles (as well as eBooks) on your topics:
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Diversity Collection This link opens in a new window
Three databases combined in one collection: Alt-Press Watch, Ethnic NewsWatch, and GenderWatch. Alt-PressWatch includes full-text newspapers and magazines from alternative, independent presses. Ethnic NewsWatch contains full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press and also Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, covering Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989. GenderWatch publications include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books and NGO, government and special reports focused on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas.
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Taylor & Francis Social Science & Humanities Journals This link opens in a new window
Over 1,400 online journals from ca. 1997 - present.
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JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archive of past issues of scholarly journals from all areas of study. Includes full runs of covered journals, excluding content from the past 2-5 years. Also includes eBooks and book chapters.
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Sage Journals This link opens in a new window
Contains more than 1,000 journals in Business, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology and Medicine.
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Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google's search engine for scholarly material.
When on campus articles available through Trinity Library resources are indicated by an Online- Trinity College link to the right of the article title. To view these indications when off campus open Google Scholar Settings and in the Library Links page search for Trinity College. Select Trinity College – Online- Trinity College and save your selection. -
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline is the world’s largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. It contains comprehensive coverage from inception of both U.S. statutory materials and more than 2,300 scholarly journals, all of the world’s constitutions, all U.S. treaties, collections of classic treatises and presidential documents, and access to the full text of state and federal case law powered by Fastcase.