LibGuides: Geography: Recommended Research Tools

E-Journals & Fulltext

To find fulltext, electronic versions of articles...

Go to OneSearch from the Libraries home page and search your topic or the title of an article.
If the word "fulltext online" appears below the result, click on it or the title to get to the fulltext.
If it says "citation online" then no fulltext version of the article was found in Ball State-accessible databases.
You can then do a search for the journal title to see if we have it in print. You will need to match the volume and issue with that of the article and then go up to the shelves to get it.
If we do not have it in print, then you will need to request it via Interlibrary Loan.

You can also go to OneSearch and click on Journal Search to find electronically accessible journal titles.

Databases

Databases are available from the University Libraries home page or this A-Z list. Below are databases recommended for research in geography and related fields.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Scholarly (must choose), general topics related to geography, over 8,000 journals
Description: Good database for most research topics and contains lots of full text, peer reviewed articles. More than 18,000 of the journal titles indexed are peer reviewed and almost all of the full text is. Provides searchable cited references for more than 1,000 journal titles so you can easily see what sources a given article cites.
Time Period: 1911 to present
Sources: Indexes nearly 18,000 journals and magazine and provides full text for more than 8,700.
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Business, Education, English & Linguistics, General, Health, History, Humanities, Law, Music, News, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences, Technology
Scholarly or Popular: Semi-scholarly
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Case Studies, Citations, Conference Papers, Images, Journal Articles, Magazine Articles, News, Other, Reviews
Information Included: Abstracts,Full Text,Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: EBSCO
Updates: Daily
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Scholarly, 1964-present, over 1,700 journals, good for historical topics related to the US
Description: Key database for research in American and Canadian history. Indexes journals from the 1960's to the present, containing articles on all eras of American history.
Time Period: 19th century to present
Sources: Search more than 1,800 journal titles.
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, History, Humanities, Mobile, Social Sciences
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Books/e-books, Citations, Conference Papers, Dissertation and Theses, Journal Articles, Magazine Articles
Information Included: Abstracts, Full Text, Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: EBSCO
Updates: Monthly
Number of Simultaneous Users: 6
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Scholarly (must specify), 1926-present, over 8,800 journals,
Description: Business Source Complete covers all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance, and more.
Time Period: 1886 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 6,700 journals and magazines plus thousands of reports and other sources.
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Business, Education, News, Social Sciences (Accounting, Finance, Management, Business Education, Banking, Economics, Marketing, Computer Science)
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Case Studies, Citations, Conference Papers, Journal Articles, Magazine Articles, News, Other, Report, Reviews, Trade Publications
Information Included: Abstracts, Full Text, Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: EBSCO
Updates: Daily
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
Dissertations and Theses Global This link opens in a new window
Scholarly, used to find other research projects in various disciplines, work with our ILL office to try and obtain these
Description: A key source for discovering doctoral dissertations and master's theses in all fields from around the world. Some 250,000 new dissertations from leading academic institutions are added to the database each year, many with full text and/ or a free 24 page preview. This includes some from Ball State University, others can be found in Cardinal Scholar. The full text may be purchased for most dissertations added since 1997.
Note: Dissertations and theses from other institutions can be obtained at a discount through our Interlibrary Loan department. Contact them for details at (765) 285-1324.

Time Period: 17th century to present
Sources: Indexes nearly 5 million dissertations and theses and includes the full text of 3 million.
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Business, Education, English & Linguistics, General, Health, History, Humanities, Law, Music, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences, Technology (Dissertations and Theses)
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Citations, Dissertation and Theses
Information Included: Abstracts, Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: ProQuest
Updates: Monthly
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
GeoRef This link opens in a new window
American Geological Institute, Geology focus, 1785-present, over 3,000 journals
Description: GeoRef is a key database providing access to the literature of the geosciences including economic geology, environmental and engineering geology, geophysics, hydrology, paleontology, petrology, marine geology, oceanography, and mineralogy.
Time Period: 1669 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 3,500 journals.
Subject Headings: Mobile, Science (Geology)
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Books/e-books, Conference Papers, Dissertation and Theses, Journal Articles, Maps, Report
Information Included: Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: American Geosciences Institute
Updates: Weekly
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
GeoScienceWorld This link opens in a new window
Scholarly, citations to articles and book chapters/essays
Description: GeoScienceWorld searches the content of GeoRef plus an additional 45 titles and is a comprehensive internet resource for research and communications in the geosciences. According to their website the database provides, “specialized searching capabilities and links to millions of relevant resources hosted elsewhere on the Web.” The database also searches more than 300,000 maps and other vetted resources such as cross-sections, charts, data, and e-books.
Time Period: 1669 to present
Sources: Searches across more than 3,500 journals.
Subject Headings: Science
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Books/e-books, Conference Papers, Dissertation and Theses, Journal Articles, Maps, Report, Statistics or Data
Information Included: Abstracts, Full Text, Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: No
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: GeoScienceWorld
Updates: Daily
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
Environmental Issues, popular and scholarly, over 600 titles
Description: GreenFILE draws on the connection between the environment and disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology. The database covers topics such as climate change, green building, renewable energy, and recycling.
Time Period: 1910 to present
Sources: Indexed more than 700 titles.
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Education, Health, Law, Mobile, Science, Technology (Environment)
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Journal Articles, Magazine Articles
Information Included: Abstracts, Full Text, Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: EBSCO
Updates: Daily
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Scholarly, about 420 journals, electronic archive of older journals
Description: JSTOR allows you to search across approximately 2,000 journal titles from more than 50 disciplines. It contains complete backfiles of scholarly journals starting with the first issues, many of which date back from the 1800s. Although the majority of titles do not have the most recent 3 to 5 years available in full text, there are some which have the current issues available.

Note: Additional content has been permanently added to JSTOR, including archived journal collections and primary resources. Searches performed using the databases page link will include results from the additional sources, as will the link above.

Time Period: 19th century to present
Sources: Provides the full text for approximately 2,000 journals.
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Business, Education, English & Linguistics, General, Health, History, Humanities, Law, Mobile, Music, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences, Technology
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Citations, Journal Articles, Reviews
Information Included: Full Text, Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: No
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: JSTOR
Updates: Daily
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
PAIS International This link opens in a new window
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, 1972-present, good for public policy topics, over 3,700 journals
Description: Key database for the field of political science and public policy issues. Includes PAIS Archives 1914-1976.
Time Period: 1914 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 3,800 journals.
Subject Headings: History, Law, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Social Sciences (Political Science)
Scholarly or Popular: Semi-scholarly
Primary Materials: Journal Articles
Information Included:Abstracts, Citations, Full Text
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: Cambridge Scientific Abstracts
Updates: Monthly
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
Publications Warehouse This link opens in a new window
A free index to publications of the United States Geological Survey. Types of items include maps, technical reports, monographs, research bulletins, professional papers and more.
Description: Publications Warehouse is a free index to publications of the United States Geological Survey. Types of items include maps, technical reports, monographs, research bulletins, professional papers and more. Please check OneSearch to see if University Libraries' owns the title.
Time Period: 1882 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 150,000
Subject Headings:Science (Geology, Geography)
Scholarly or Popular: Semi-scholarly
Primary Materials: Journal Articles, Reports, Book Chapters
Information Included: Abstracts, Citations, Full Text
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: United States Geological Survey
Updates: Daily
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Scholarly, 1952-present, over 1,800 journals, social sciences
Description: Sociological Abstracts provides access to U.S. and international literature on sociology and related disciplines and may be useful for research in social work and women and gender studies.
Time Period: 1952 to present
Sources: Indexes more than 1,800 journals.
Subject Headings: Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Social Sciences (Sociology)
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Journal Articles, Dissertations and Theses, Books, Conference Papers
Information Included: Abstracts, Citations, Full Text
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: None
Publisher: Cambridge Scientific Abstracts
Updates: Monthly
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Scholarly, abstracts and citations, 1987-present, cross searches citations
Description: Cross searching of Science Citation Index Expanded back to 1973, Social Sciences Citation Index back to 1981/82, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index back to 1976.
Time Period: 1956-present
Sources:
Subject Headings: Art & Architecture, Education, English & Linguistics, General, Health, History, Humanities, Law, Music, Philosophy & Religion, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences, Technology
Scholarly or Popular: Scholarly
Primary Materials: Abstracts, Citations, Journal Articles
Information Included: Abstracts,Citations
FindIt@BALL STATE: Yes
Print Equivalent: Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index
Publisher: Clarivate Analytics
Updates: Weekly
Number of Simultaneous Users: Unlimited