Scholarly journal articles are very important sources for research as they contain the most-up-to-date research in a given field and often focus on a particular aspect of a topic.
To locate articles on your topic, use an index or a database such as the ones recommended on this guide.
In some databases an article's full text is readily available (either as a PDF or in HTML), in other databases, however, you will need to try one of these options:
In the database click on the Get it @ Queen's Link icon (show below):
This will take you to another window which identifies other databases that have the full-text of your article. However your article may only be available in print so always check Omni. If Queen's doesn't have access to it, you can request it through InterLibrary Loan.
Tip: There are different types of articles: scholarly, popular or trade. If you are looking for scholarly or peer reviewed articles, you can typically restrict your search results to only peer reviewed journal articles by applying a search limit in the database.
Since Black Studies is interdisciplinary there is no single database that covers all of the literature. Consider which field concerns itself with your research question - for example, does it relate to gender studies, history, political studies, sociology, or another area? Consider which fields would have researchers writing about your topic and then explore the databases and other research tools that relate to those fields.
Please see the tab for Africa and the Diaspora for additional research resources for researching Africa or the African diaspora outside of North America.
America History and Life
History of the United States and Canada from pre-historic times to the present.
Black Studies Center
Black Studies Center is a fully cross-searchable gateway to Black Studies including scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, and much more. It combines several resources for research and teaching in Black Studies: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP), historical black newspapers, and the Black Literature Index.
Canadian Business and Current Affairs
Canadian magazines, scholarly journals, news and wire feeds and Canada focused articles spanning business, education, current affairs; also agriculture, economics, government and politics, health sciences, history, literature, medical sciences, social sciences, and many more subject areas.
Canadian Periodical Index
Indexes Canadian and international academic journals, magazines, and newspapers. The full text of selected sections of The Globe and Mail is included. All subjects are represented, with an emphasis on Canadian and international issues. Many articles are full text. Coverage is from 1988 - present.
Gender Studies Database
Provides interdisciplinary coverage of gender-related topics, including women's studies, men's studies, ethnic studies, health issues and sexual diversity.
Historical Abstracts
Comprehensive index to scholarly literature on world history from 1450 to present (excluding the U.S. and Canada).
International Index to Black Periodicals (in Black Studies Center)
Included in the Black Studies Center database, IIBP contains approximately 280,000 records drawn from scholarly journals and newsletters from the United States, Africa and the Caribbean--and full-text coverage of over 130 core Black Studies periodicals.
PAIS (Public Affairs International)
Covers publications on global public policy and social issues.
PRISMA with HAPI Index (Hispanic American Periodicals Index)
A comprehensive reference resource providing full-text scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities for the interdisciplinary academic study of Hispanic and Latin America and the Caribbean Basin.
Sociological Abstracts
Covers sociological topics within such fields as anthropology, communications, crime, economics, education, community development, public policy, political studies, religion and social psychology.
Worldwide Political Studies Abstracts
Indexes international political science, international relations, and complementary fields including law, military policy, labor relations, and public administration/policy. Provides abstracts of journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations and working papers.
JSTOR 
Covers a large range of subject areas including African Studies and African American Studies. In the Advanced Search users can limit to search only African-American and African Studies journals.
Project MUSE
A joint project of the Johns Hopkins University Press and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at JHU. Can limit your search results to Area and Ethnic Studies.
Alternative Press Index
Interdisciplinary index to journal, newspaper and magazine articles from hundreds of international alternative, radical and left periodicals.
Ethnic Newswatch
A full text database of over 200 newspapers, magazines and journals from First Nations, ethnic and racialized communities. Articles present in-depth coverage of news, culture, and history from a broad diversity of perspectives and viewpoints. Coverage is from 1991 - present.
Independent Voices: An Open Access Collection of an Alternative Press
Includes digital scans of ninety-eight issues of the influential African-American journal Freedomways, the African American journal of politics and culture that for nearly a quarter century chronicled the civil rights and black freedom movements beginning in the early 1960s.