Q. How can I find scholarly journals?

Try the catalog!

If you already know of a journal by title (maybe because it was recommended to you) and wish to search through it or browse articles via indexing, search for it by title or ISSN in the catalog on the library's homepage. Our catalog searches through a lot of databases all at once, so it can be a great initial place to start. The catalog will tell you if we hold it/subscribe to the title through any of our databases (sometimes more than one!) and coverage date ranges within those specific databases.

• Check to see if a specific title is scholarly by using this other FAQ. 

If you do not know a journal title and are just trying to find one, you might try a catalog search for subject area you're researching and limiting to "journal" and "peer reviewed." Here's an example for how to find a psychology journal in the catalog, limited to peer reviewed results. Or, you might start by finding scholarly articles first and working backwards to see what journal they are listed in. What qualifies as "scholarly" is often subjective and should ultimately default to what your instructor requires, so limiting to peer review is the most scholarly distinction. 

View this video to learn more about what qualifies as a scholarly journal and why defining it can be hard: 

Browse catalog peer reviewed journal results examples: 

• Culture journals 
• Middle East
• Theology
• Women's Health
• Law

The West Campus Library, Metro Library, and the Southeast Campus Library have some back issues of print journals in their physical collection. Our library staff can direct your to the print collections on your campus library.

Things to keep in mind: Some databases, such as JSTOR and ScienceDirect, only include peer-reviewed journals (and therefore scholarly) in the database, so there is no need to limit your results when searching there. You can find these databases in the A to Z listings under Articles & Databases.

Because articles in scholarly journals are usually written by experts for other experts in a particular field, they are often difficult for students to understand, especially when they are just beginning to study a topic. If a keyword search for journal articles doesn't seem to bring up any articles that are useful, you may need to backtrack and read up on the topic in more general sources, such as books or articles from reference databases, magazines, or even newspapers. This will help by exposing you to different keywords, as well as give you a better overall understanding of the topic.

You will be prompted to log into MyTCC before accessing the library subscription databases if not already signed in.