Guide to Journalism & Mass Communication Research

Databases, Indexes, & Abstracts

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The following databases and paper indexing and abstracting publications may be used to locate articles relevant to journalism and mass communication  in journals, magazines, conference proceedings, books, and other sources.  Contact a librarian (688-5570 or 800-786-2038) for more information or if off-campus access is denied to a current SDSU student, faculty member, or staff member.

CIOS Journal Index System. Provides electronic searching of 21 serials in communication studies and related fields. The time period covered varies with each title.

EBSCO MegaFILE. This multi-disciplinary database provides full text for over 19,100 total publications and indexing & abstracting for nearly 24,000 publications. Coverage spans every area of academic study and general interest subject area and offers information dating as far back as the 1800s. In addition, the database contains more than 85,800 biographies, 118,000 primary source documents, 10,150 company profiles and an image collection of more than 293,000 photos, maps and flags. EBSCO MegaFILE is comprised of EBSCO’s Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier and Regional Business News databases.  

ERIC. 1966+ Comprised of two components, Current Index to Journals in Education (1969+) and Resources in Education (1966+), this resource provides comprehensive indexing to more than 800 scholarly and professional journals in education and related disciplines. In addition, it provides extensive indexing to many different types of documents including research, project and technical reports, curriculum guides, doctoral dissertations, etc. Many of these documents are available at Briggs Library on microfiche.

Gallup Poll Public Opinion (RESERVE/MAIN LEVEL HN90.P8 G35 CD-ROM ). Presents the results of all Gallup public opinion polls from 1935 through 1997.

Indian Country Today Index. 1996-June 2003. An index to America's largest Indian newspaper. This database serves as an index to articles published since the start of 1996. Select the "Articles &  Indexes" tab to access the index.

Journalism and Mass Communication Abstracts. 1963-1997 (Abstracts 070.08 J826) An annual compilation of theses and dissertations written in departments of journalism and communications in North America.

LexisNexis Academic. Provides online access to full-text and bibliographic information from newspapers, news and business magazines, newsletters, wire services, broadcast transcripts, and biographical sources.

LexisNexis Congressional. Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information from Congressional Information Service, Inc. Includes search capabilities for congressional publications from 1970 to the present, testimony from congressional hearings, the Congressional Record and Federal Register, and information about members and committees.  

LexisNexis Statistical Universe. Comprehensive access to statistical information from Congressional Information Service, Inc. Search summaries of statistical publications, then link to the full-text of selected publications on Statistical Universe and government Web sites. 

ProQuest. This resource provides access to several different bibliographic and full-text databases covering a wide variety of disciplines and topics.

Sociological Abstracts. 1953+ A comprehensive index, including abstracts, to scholarly sociological literature.

Web of Science. 2001+  Social Science Citation Index, a multidisciplinary database of citations and abstracts from journal literature, is one of two databases that can be accessed via Web of Science.  It can be used as a conventional author-subject index, or it can be searched by cited author or paper.  It covers an extremely large amount of social sciences literature including most social sciences disciplines. Older paper volumes, 1973-1976, 1985-1996, are shelved on the library's main floor in the abstracts area (016.3.So13).

Other Useful Indexes/Abstracts:

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online). 1991+ A comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs.

Current Contents. 1996+ This multidisciplinary, current-awareness resource provides indexing and tables of contents for over 6,000 publications.

Dissertation Abstracts. 1861+ A compilation of abstracts of doctoral dissertations submitted by over 450 cooperating universities in the U.S. and Canada. Recent master's theses are also indexed by this source.

MarciveWeb DOCS. 1976+  Indexes United States Government publications by subject keyword, title, and author. Entries list the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) number.

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This page was created and is updated by Nancy Marshall.
Contact Information: Hilton M. Briggs Library, SBL 2115, SDSU, Brookings, SD 57007-1098, Phone: 605-688-5570, Fax: 605-688-6133, Email Us
Updated: 30 September 2008 by njm

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