Types of Articles

Magazines and journals are called periodicals because they are issued on a regular, or "periodic," basis – weekly, monthly, once a year (annually), etc. Periodicals are usually separated into two major groups: popular and scholarly.

 Use newspapers and magazines when you need:

• up-to-date information about current events
• information or opinions about popular culture
• general articles by people who are not necessarily specialists about the topic
• editorials, commentaries, expert or popular opinions

Use scholarly journals (also called academic or scientific journals) when you need:

• original, primary research on a specific topic
• articles and essays written by scholars or subject experts
• factual, documented information to reinforce a position
• bibliographies that point you to other relevant research  

How to find articles

You can find all these types of periodicals through the STCC Library.

• One option is to do a "Discovery Search" in the box below. This will show you all different kinds of sources, which you can then select from or narrow down with filters.
• Or, to find only certain types of sources, you can choose a specific database from the links below. 

Library databases

A library database is a curated collection of articles from many different scholarly and specialized publications. Better than a general web search, it gives you access to thousands of articles from all different types of periodicals, without any paywalls.