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Art Resources

School of Art: Animation, Art, Art Education, Art History, Graphic Arts Management, Visual Arts. Art Resources for AHS 100, AHS 101, and AHS 201.

Find Articles

Scholarly articles, like books, are textual sources which help you interpret the works of art you are studying. They often contain the newest research and presume an expert knowledge which can demand that you consult and compare other perspectives to gain full context. Most articles initially appear within journals, but we tend to access them through online databases. On this page, learn how to find articles and evaluate their authority.

Finding Scholarly Articles

University Libraries provides access to nearly 300 online databases which you can use to find scholarly articles. Different databases are geared toward different disciplines. Find a complete list at the A-Z Databases page at the Libraries website, or select the subject Fine and Performing Arts to see databases which can be useful in visual arts research.

Recommended Databases for Art Research:

Many articles can be found in multiple online databases, while others must be found in print journals held at Bracken Library. Click here to search for a specific journal title, including online and physical locations. OneSearch and Google Scholar can also be useful tools for finding scholarly articles. If searching on the open internet, be sure to evaluate the authority of articles you find. Download the browser extension LibKey Nomad to avoid paywalls you encounter on the open internet.

and Art Index Retrospective

In addition to specialized databases like Art Full Text and Art Index Retrospective, you can also use OneSearch to find scholarly articles. OneSearch returns results in all formats and across many disciplines, so be sure to use filters to narrow your results. To search specifically for articles, select the filter "Journal Article" under Content Type on the Refine Pane to the left side of your screen. You can also select the filter "visual arts" under Discipline, if your results are still too broad or too numerous. Or, consider using Advanced Search and multiple keywords to strengthen your search.

The list of results offers citation information as well as access options. The article title and author name appear first followed by the title of the journal in which the article appears, such as American Art, Art History, or International Journal of Art and Design Education. The date of publication, volume number, and issue number are also included here. You can click on buttons like "Article Page," "Full Text Online," or "PDF" to access the text of articles. Meanwhile, options like "Browse Journal," "Cited by," and "Cites" can be useful in locating related works.

Other filters toward the top of the Refine Pane can also be useful. Select "Full Text Online" and/or "Open Access" to narrow results to those you can access immediately. Select "Scholarly & Peer-Reviewed" to eliminate non-scholarly results, although—be careful—you might inadvertently eliminate scholarly results that are not tagged as such. For more information about OneSearch, see the research guide https://bsu.libguides.com/onesearch, or feel free to ask any Libraries staff member for help.

How to Tell if a Journal is Scholarly

Scholarly or peer-reviewed journals share these characteristics:

Scholars write the articles:

  • The author has a PhD or another graduate-level degree.
  • The author is an expert in the field.
  • The author is usually a university professor.

Scholars decide which articles are published:

  • The main editor is a scholar in the same field.
  • There is a panel of editors (the "peers" who review the articles). They are usually called an "editorial board." They are also experts in the same field.
  • Authors submit their articles to the editorial board, which decides if the articles are appropriate for the journal.

Scholars are cited in the articles:

  • The article has a bibliography and footnotes or end-notes
  • Authors of the articles and books in the bibliography are scholars.
  • The article may refer to the fellow researchers' theories or findings in the body of the article.

Other features:

  • The journal is published by an association.
  • The word "journal" is in the title.
  • Advertising is minimal, usually book publishers or upcoming scholarly events.
  • Book reviews are lengthy, often with footnotes or end-notes.

For examples and a comparative chart, see Popular Literature vs. Scholarly Articles from Rutgers University. Also see the guide Evaluating Information Sources by Ball State University Libraries for further considerations.

Interlibrary Loan

Users are encouraged to search for items beyond University Libraries' catalog via Art Full Text and WorldCat. Materials not available in print or online may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Please allow up to seven days for electronic delivery and up to fourteen days for delivery of physical items.