Search Tools
Consider exploring beyond OneSearch (great for journal and newspaper articles, but not other things like ebooks, statistics and videos - see below). It searches across all disciplines, so you may get thousands of results. Explore some of the other databases listed below as well as OneSearch.
Search Tip: broad phrases, especially one such as "human services," may not always work when searching. Consider using one or more specific professions or industries within human services instead, such as counseling, "child welfare" or "social work." If I wanted to find information on dealing with stress in human service professions, I might try a variety of searches combining stress with names of specific professions. Example: stress and "social work"
- OneSearchSearch many (but not all) library databases at once. "Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed" limit option is on the results page. [OneSearch helpful tips video]
- Statistics & Data SourcesPortals for finding statistical info & data sets, such as those produced by the Census Bureau, HHS, other gov't & non-governmental orgs.
- Education SourceCovers all levels of education: early childhood to higher ed, and specialties like multilingual education, health education, and testing.
- Healthcare Administration DatabaseFind information on health & hospital administration.
- NIDA International Drug Abuse Research Abstract Database This link opens in a new window Search for abstracts of presentations from meetings hosted or supported by the NIDA International Program between 2003 and the present, or browse all abstracts.
- Opposing Viewpoints in ContextPro/con, academic, popular, and reference articles on variety of social issues.
- PsycARTICLESPsychology journals database.
- Social Science & Humanities Library Collection
1480+ scholarly Taylor & Francis journals (millions of full-text articles) from 1997 to present. SUNY Empire Login Required
- Social Science Research Network eLibrary Database SearchOver 606,900 abstracts of scholarly working papers and forthcoming papers, and over 504,500 downloadable full text scholarly articles.
- Social Sciences with Full-text
Full-text scholarly articles about social science concepts and methods. SUNY Empire Login Required
- SocINDEX with Full-textScholarly, full-text articles in sociology, social work, and social psychology.
Accessibility Note
Please note: If you need to request accommodations with content linked to on this guide, on the basis of a disability, please contact Accessibility Resources and Services by emailing them. Requests for accommodations should be submitted as early as possible to allow for sufficient planning. If you have questions, please visit the Accessibility Resources and Services website.
How to Start
To better understand (and write about) a research topic, and to effectively search the literature, you should first determine and define the main concepts involved. Find an encyclopedia or Wikipedia entry on that concept (this is called "background reading"). It will give you an historical context (how has the thing, theory, or technology evolved over time?, what people, laws and policies are involved?). This will also help you find the correct terminology for searching the scholarly literature. Once you have a handle on your concept(s), you'll be better equipped to search the journal, book and other literature, using the "Search Tools" section to the left.
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