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Media Studies: A Guide to McFarlin Library Resources: Articles

This McFarlin Library Research Guide will introduce you to some of the major resources available from McFarlin Library for research in the field of MEDIA STUDIES.

Why are journal articles so important?

Graphic of the cover of the August 2023 issue of Journal of Communication

Scholarly journal articles are a vital secondary source of information for serious researchers. Articles are much shorter than books and focus in-depth on very specific topics.  Published by academic presses or associations and written by scholars and professionals in media studies, they provide detailed information on the most current research and developments in the field.

You will often hear scholarly journals described as being "peer reviewed".  This means that when an author submits their article to a journal for publication it is first referred to a committee of experts in that field.  (These experts would be the author's professional equals or peers, hence the term.) This committee carefully reads and studies the article, making sure that the research was properly done.  If they find possible errors in the article, it may be referred back to the author for further work and revision.  Only when the peer-review committee is satisfied that the article meets the journal's standards of scholarship will it be published.  If properly done, peer reviewed articles provide you with the most authoritative information available on your research topic.

Best Databases for locating scholarly/academic articles in Media Studies

Media Studies Journals/E-Books

Search Discovery for Journal Articles

Search the library using Discovery for articles from scholarly/peer-reviewed journals.

Communication & Mass Media Complete Quick Search

Communication & Mass Media

JSTOR Quick Search

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Need help? See the "How to Search JSTOR" guide.

 

Looking for a specific Journal?

Search here to see if McFarlin subscribes to a journal you need: