Off Campus Access
While some resources in this guide are openly available, many research databases and electronic journals have access restrictions that require that you be a current Washington University student, faculty member, or staff member.
Best Bet
- SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new windowScholarly journals, plus extensive indexing for books/monographs, conference papers, and other non-periodical content sources. Provides comprehensive coverage of sociology, encompassing all sub-disciplines and closely related areas of study. Access provided by the Social Work Library.
The list of journals included in SocINDEX with Full Text can be found here.
Other Databases and Index
- Academic Search Complete (1975-present) This link opens in a new windowCovers topics in most areas of academic study. Full-text provided for over 10,000 publications, with over 7,850 peer-reviewed. Abstracts and indexing available for over 13,780 journals in the collection.
- Family & Society Studies Worldwide (1970 - ) This link opens in a new windowComprehensive coverage of research, policy, and practice literature in the fields of Family Science, Human Ecology, Human Development, and Social Welfare.
- International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (1951 - ) This link opens in a new windowInternational database of bibliographic references to journal articles and to books, reviews and selected chapters for the social sciences since 1951.
- Project MUSE Premium collection This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive collection of peer reviewed, interdisciplinary journals from leading university presses, not-for-profit publishers and prestigious scholarly societies.
Journals can be searched individually, in groups, or all together. - PsycInfo (now APA PsycInfo) This link opens in a new windowJournal articles, chapters, books, dissertations and reports on psychology and related fields. Indexed materials are international in scope selected from psychology and related journals published globally in over 25 languages.
- PubMed (1946 - ) This link opens in a new windowOver 3,500 journals published internationally, covering all areas of medicine. Includes the entire Medline database (1966+) PLUS PreMedline (recent articles that are not yet fully indexed for Medline) and links to publisher full-text web sites and other databases. Learn more about this database
- SocArXiv This link opens in a new windowFree, open access, open source archive for social science research; papers on SocArXiv will be permanently available and free to the public.
- Social Science Research Network (SSRN) This link opens in a new windowSocial Science Research Network (SSRN) is composed of a number of specialized research networks in the social sciences. Topics covered by networks include accounting, economics, financial economics, legal scholarship, and management (including negotiation and marketing). The SSRN eLibrary consists of abstracts of scholarly working papers and forthcoming papers and an electronic paper collection of downloadable full text documents in pdf format.
- Web of Science (1900 - ) This link opens in a new windowScience, social science, arts, and humanities citations for scholarly literature. Access the world’s leading scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities and examine proceedings of international conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions. The Libraries subscribe to Science Citation Index Expanded (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1970-present), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present).
- Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) (1987-) This link opens in a new windowAbstracts and indexes over 600 journals and periodicals, from more than 16 countries, spanning literature of health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics from 1987 to present.
- Black Studies Center This link opens in a new windowIncludes scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles on Black Studies. Combines resources as: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index of Black Periodicals (IIBP), The Chicago Defender, and Black Literature Index.
- Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new windowContains numerous multimedia sources on the published works of prominent African Americans.
- Gender Studies Database (1972- ) This link opens in a new windowCombines Women’s Studies International and Men’s Studies databases with the coverage of sexual diversity issues. Covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. Includes more than 921,000 records.
- GenderWatch This link opens in a new windowA full-text collection of international journals, magazines, newsletters, regional publications, special reports, and conference proceedings devoted to women's and gender issues. Over 31,000 full text articles from 115 publications and archival material. Updated quarterly. Learn more about this database
- Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI) (1970-) This link opens in a new windowJournal index. Article citations about Central and South America, Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean basin, the United States-Mexico border region, and Hispanics/Latinos in the United States. Analyses of current political, economic, and social issues as well as unique coverage of Latin American arts and letters.
- LGBTQ+ Source This link opens in a new windowFull text for 50 of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as dozens of full text monographs. Full text for 50 of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as dozens of full text monographs. Also includes comprehensive indexing and abstract coverage as well as a specialized LGBT Thesaurus containing over 6,400 terms.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowIndexes and abstracts books, periodical articles, and government publications in the fields of public affairs and public policy. Provides social and economic analyses of international, national, and local policies. Learn more about this database
- Social Services Abstracts (1979 - ) This link opens in a new windowBibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. Abstracts and indexes over 1,300+ serials publications and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations, and citations to book reviews. Learn more about this database
- PrimoWashington University Libraries' discovery tool. Lets you search across many (but not all) journal indexes and databases, in addition to print holdings.
- A-Z DatabasesFind and learn about additional databases available through Wash U Libraries. (Access restrictions apply to most online databases listed there).
If full text of the article is available through the databases, a link to a PDF (or other electronic formats) appears on your search results. If you do not find full-text articles through the databases listed here, follow the steps below to look for print copies or althernative electronic editions. Wash U Libraries's collections may include a print or stand-alone electronic copy of the journal. (See also the list of print sociology journals held at Washington University Libraries, and e-journals available through the library catalog).
1. Gather as much information about the article (journal/magazine title, year of publication, volume, number, article title, pages, etc) from the index/databases.
2. Look up the journal/magazine title using the Classic Catalog.
3. If you find the journal at Wash U Libraries, follow the location(s) and call number to locate the physical copy (if print), or use the link provided on the Classic Catalog (if available electronically). If the journal is not held at Wash U, you can still request journal/magazine articles through Interlibrary Loan. (Sometimes Google Scholar provides free access to full-text articles as well).