ENGC 1101 College Writing (Woodward)

Topic Ideas
If anyone is still looking for topic ideas, Opposing Viewpoints has a giant list of potential topics here.

Books
Books give in-depth information on broad topics, and are a great starting point. To use a book as a source, you don't have to read the whole book - you can use just one chapter, or even just a few pages.
Book Search

Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia articles give short overviews of broad topics. They are usually just a few pages and give general information. Think of them as similar to Wikipedia pages.

Gale eBooks
Selected dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference books in many subjects.


Credo Reference
Articles from dictionaries, general and subject encyclopedias, handbooks, atlases, and more.
 

Current Issues and Hot Topics

These databases collect articles on current issues and hot topics, along with what's going on in the current social landscape. CQ Researcher contains news reporting specifically, and Opposing Viewpoints collects all kinds of sources, including pro/con argumentative essays they call "Viewpoints."

CQ Researcher
Reports on controversial issues of national importance (health care, public safety, education, environment, etc.). Each report is on a single topic. Helpful as a topic overview. 

Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context)
Topic overviews, opinion articles, and additional sources on social, economic, and political issues.
 

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, and Academic Journals

These databases contain articles from newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. They tend to have a more specific focus than books or encyclopedias, so you can be a little more narrow and focus on a specific aspect of your topic. Newspapers report on specific people, events, and general trends as they play out locally; magazines cover general trends in culture; and academic journals contain articles written by scholars that are in-depth and usually very specific to one aspect of a given topic. Remember to click the full-text box in Academic Search Premier to limit to just articles the database has access to.

Academic Search Premier (EbscoHost)
Articles in all subjects from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers. An all-purpose database and often a good place to start.

Academic OneFile (Gale)
Articles in all subjects from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers. An all-purpose database.
 

Academic Journals Only

Academic journal articles are written by scholars and researchers in specific fields to share their findings and research with others in their field. These databases only contain academic journals. 

JSTOR
Scholarly articles and ebooks in the social sciences, humanities, earth and biological sciences, and more. Incorporates image results from Artstor.

Project MUSE
Journal articles and books on literature, history, visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and more.
 

Newspapers Only

Newspaper articles are written by journalists and reporters to inform the general public about current local events, people, and trends.

ProQuest News & Newspapers

News articles from U.S. newspapers. Includes the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Star Tribune, and more.

 

Search (Nearly) Everything

This Combined Search is the search box on the library home page - it searches nearly everything, print books + many (but not all) databases. 

Combined Search

The most common source you will use, if you are searching in the databases on this guide, is an article from an online database. Here is the basic form. You will likely need to tailor the citation to match your particular source - double check a guide like the OWL Purdue MLA guide online, or visit the library or writing center.

Article from Online Database - basic form:
Author. “Article Title.” Journal Title, volume number, issue number, date of publication, page numbers if available. Database Name, DOI or stable URL.

Example:
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates.” Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.20155.