Research Guides: National History Day: Secondary Sources

Key Article Databases in History

Find magazine and journal articles using these library databases.

MasterFILE Complete This link opens in a new window
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Access to 2,200 full-text periodicals, including PDF coverage of many popular magazines.
America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Indexes over 1,700 journals on U.S. and Canadian history published since 1964.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Multi-disciplinary; includes full-text of 3,900+ scholarly journals...
American Periodical Series This link opens in a new window
Search full-page images from 1,500 American magazines and journals published from 1740-1940.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text coverage of 200+ journals in history, plus hundreds of journals in other subject areas.
Individuals not affiliated with UNK may access content through a paid, personal JPASS account. Limited, free access is also available by registering for JSTOR's Register and Read program.

What are Peer Reviewed Journals?

Peer reviewed journals, also called scholarly or academic journals, publish original research in a specific field.

Other scholars (peers) working in similar research areas review the articles before publication.

How can you tell whether a publication is scholarly or not? Most peer reviewed/scholarly journals share the following traits:

Author's credentials and institutional affiliation (where they work) listed
Formal structure, often includings sections such as abstract, literature review, and bibliography
Citations to other peer-reviewed publications

Examples of peer-reviewed publications:

Ask a librarian if you are unsure whether a source is peer-reviewed.

Linking to Full Text Articles

Watch this video to learn how to locate full-text articles from a database citation. Note that Full Text Finder is no longer used. You will now see "Click Here to Check for Full Text".

Tertiary Sources

These databases provide biographical summaries and may list additional primary and secondary sources to consult

Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
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A full-text biographical resource, with coverage of more than 700,000 individuals, with links to related full-text articles and images.
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
An ebook collection of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources covering multiple subject disciplines.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Search or browse from nearly 600 encyclopedias, dictionaries, and reference titles in a broad array of subject areas.
Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Searches over 200 reference works published by Oxford University Press.