Reading Popular Articles
Source Types
Popular articles
Popular articles are the ones you run into everywhere on the internet: CNN, ESPN, HuffPost, Refinery29, BonAppetit. They're written to inform readers on a topic. They're meant to be read front to back, with the most important information towards the front of the article, after the interesting opening written to catch a reader's eye. Written by journalists, these are written for people interested in the topic, but who probably don't have an academic interest or degree in it, i.e. the general public. They contain stories, facts, opinions, people, and dates.
Where to Find Sources You Can Use
- Academic SearchA general catch-all database. A good place to start, but don't forget it has a lot of non-scholarly stuff in it.
- Nexis UNI (Formerly Lexis/Nexis) This link opens in a new windowWide range of news, business, legal, and reference information, with full text of 2,000 journals and magazines. Especially good for legal research.
- Business SourceTry this database for business-type articles.
- SPORTDiscus This link opens in a new windowA sports-specific database. Don't get freaked out that most of it isn't full-text. Just use the Find It button to request a copy and we'll email it to you in about 2 days.
In class activities
Searching EBSCO databases
Academic Search Premier is a general database that contains both popular and scholarly articles from a variety of disciplines and sources. Great place to start if you need to confirm the viability of a topic.
The tips in this video will apply to most other EBSCO databases as well, including SocINDEX, ERIC, , and more. Subject specific databases like those may have some special features like unique limiters, but otherwise they will function the same way. The name of the database will be listed above the search bar:
Searching LexisNexis/NexisUni
LexisNexis/NexisUni is a database containing a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information, with 2,000 full text journals and magazines.