Library Guides: Gender &amp; Social Justice Studies: Databases

Most Frequently Read Articles from Gender & Society

Gender & Society is a peer-reviewed journal, focused on the study of gender. It is a top-ranked journal in both sociology and women's studies. The journal primarily publishes empirical articles, which are both theoretically engaged and methodologically rigorous, including qualitative, quantitative, and comparative-historical methodologies. Gender & Society also publishes reviews of books from a diverse array of social science disciplines.

Tutorials and Help Pages

You don't use the Library Catalogue to find articles. These pages will help you understand the process and select your resources wisely.

Tutorial: Scholarly Articles
Scholarly articles: what they are, how to find, recognize, read, and use them. Includes exercises. Estimated reading time: 20 minutes.
Tutorial: Keyword Searching
A short tutorial providing background on how keyword searching works, with tips to improve your search results. Estimated reading time: 10 minutes.
Cited Reference Searching - Web of Science / Web of Knowledge
Learn to make the most of this powerful database search functionality.
Using Google, Google Scholar and Other Internet Search Engines
A guide on using internet search engines, with a section on using Google Scholar and setting it to recognize you as a Trent student.

What is Interlibrary Loan?

Interlibrary loan is a system that allows you to request material from other libraries to be sent to Trent for you to borrow. Normally, there are no costs to use the ILL service. Plan ahead because it can take a few days or even weeks for material to be sent, depending upon availability.

Visit the Interlibrary Loan page for more information.

Key Scholarly Databases

The Trent Library provides access to a wide variety of databases besides Omni. Often there are databases specifically designed for a subject or a type of resource. These databases provide options for more controlled and focused searching. They may also provide links to the full article, but if not, there's a Get It! Trent button to locate the full text. See the "Finding Articles" tutorial for details.

This list includes the most useful databases to search for Gender & Social Justice Studies. Which one works for you depends entirely on your topic and what you hope to find.

GenderWatch This link opens in a new window
- Access to academic journals, magazines, reports, and other documents that explore gender dynamics, roles, and experiences across various cultures and contexts.
Academic Search Elite This link opens in a new window
- Contains peer-reviewed journals, magazines, and newspapers across various academic disciplines.
Social Sciences Citation Index This link opens in a new window
- A multidisciplinary citation index that provides access to high-impact scholarly literature across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. It allows researchers to track citations, measure research influence, and identify key studies and emerging trends.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
- A collection of personal letters and diaries written by women from North America that provide insight into the personal experiences, social conditions, and historical contexts of women across different periods and backgrounds.
Women and Social Movements in the United States 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
- Documents the history of women's activism and contributions to social, political, and economic movements in the U.S. It includes primary sources, scholarly articles, and biographies, covering topics such as women's suffrage, abolition, labor rights, feminism, and civil rights from the colonial period through the 20th century.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
- A digital collection of key women’s magazines from the late 19th century to the 21st century. It provides access to issues covering a wide range of topics, including fashion, politics, health, and culture, offering insight into societal trends, gender roles, and women’s issues over time.

Other Useful Databases

History:

Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
- Indexes scholarly articles, books, and dissertations across various historical topics, providing abstracts and citations for research in global history, including social, political, and cultural developments from the 15th century to present. Coverage excludes Canada and the United States, please see America: History and Life.
Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index This link opens in a new window
- Indexes scholarly articles, book reviews, and essays on women, gender, and sexuality during the Middle Ages.
Iter Bibliography This link opens in a new window
- Bibliographic materials pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700). Citations for books, journal material, essays in books, entries in conference proceedings, festschriften, encyclopedias and exhibition catalogues.

Canadian Content:

Canadiana Online This link opens in a new window
- A digital archive providing access to a vast collection of Canadian heritage materials, including historical documents, photographs, maps, and more, serving as a comprehensive resource for researchers, educators, and the general public.
CPI.Q Canadian Periodicals (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window
- Gale OneFile Canadian Periodical Index provides access to a wide range of Canadian magazines, journals, and newspapers covering diverse topics such as current events, culture, business, health, and more.
Canadian Business and Current Affairs Database (CBCA) This link opens in a new window
- Canada's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic full-text reference and current events database, providing access to scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, reports, radio and television transcripts, news, dissertations, and more from a Canadian perspective spanning various subject areas such as business, economics, politics, arts, sports, and more.

Sociological:

Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
- Contains indexes and abstracts of scholarly literature in sociology and related social sciences. It covers topics such as social behavior, human interaction, social institutions, and theory, providing access to journal articles, books, conference papers, and dissertations.
Sociology Collection This link opens in a new window
- Sociological Abstracts in combination with other databases covering the international literature in sociology, social services, and related fields. Together, they provide abstracts, indexing and full text coverage of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, & working papers.

Legal:

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
- This legal research database provides access to collections of law journals, historical legal documents, government publications, case law, and international legal materials.
Nexis Uni Plus This link opens in a new window
- Access to news, business, and legal resources.

Literature:

Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
- Access to critical essays, author biographies, and literary works that cover a diverse range of genres, periods, and global literature.
Modern Language Association (MLA) International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
- Index of scholarly articles, books, and dissertations in the fields of literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. It provides researchers, students, and academics with extensive bibliographic information and critical resources for exploring and studying literary and linguistic topics.

Troubleshooting Searches

Too few articles:

Check for typos and spelling. Consider using both American and British spellings (eg. behaviour or behavior).
Remove long phrases.
Make sure you're using a database that is likely to include information on your topic.
Try using other synonyms and alternate words joined by the Boolean Operator 'OR' (e.g. aboriginal or indigenous or First Nations).
Check your Boolean logic. Are you using 'AND' when you should be using 'OR'?
If you have found at least one good article, look at the references of this article to find other related articles OR use the 'Find citing' or 'Find related' buttons when available in the databases.

Too many articles:

Add another concept to your searching using the Boolean operator 'AND'.
Add Limits (e.g. Peer Reviewed, Date of Publication, Language, Publication Type, etc.).
Check your Boolean logic. Are you using 'OR' when you should be using 'AND'?
When Keyword searching, try searching just in the Title field. This is not recommended for all searches, as you will eliminate relevant articles that don't have those keywords in the title, but it will likely find a few articles to get you started.
If you're searching in a database that covers all subjects (e.g. Academic Search Elite, Web of Knowledge), look for a database that is subject specific.