Welcome
This guide is intended to help you do research for your Communication Studies class. If you need additional assistance ask us at (508) 531-1394.
Additional Help
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Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery ServiceBSU faculty, librarians, administrators, students and staff may use Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Services (ILL/DDS) to request materials not found in the Maxwell Library collections.
Online Databases
Some tips for searching these databases:
- Some, but not all, of the records will have the full-text of the article attached. Click "Full Text Finder" to find out if we have the article available in another database.
- These databases require a BSU login.
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Communications and Mass Media Collection This link opens in a new windowBrings together information found in more than 400 journals. Nearly 3 million articles on all aspects of the communications field, including advertising, public relations, linguistics, and literature.
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Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowIncorporates the content of CommSearch and Mass Media Articles Index. More than 440 full-text journals, cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for 670 journals, and 5,500 author profiles.
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Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowMulti-disciplinary full-text database with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Indexes and abstracts more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, and conference proceedings. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,400 journals.
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Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowBusiness Source Complete covers business, management, finance, accounting, international business, and economics topics with premium full-text content and peer-reviewed business journals.
How do I obtain an article if I have the citation?
Enter the title of the article in the Google Scholar box to find out if it is available at Maxwell Library.
Find Books
Library Hours
Mon - Fri.: 7:30 am - 11:45 pm
Sat.: 8:30 am – 4:00 pm
Sun.: 12pm – 11:45pm
What is a Peer Reviewed Journal?
Scholarly, or peer-reviewed journals contain articles that are written for scholars by scholars. Articles are generally based on original research conducted by the authors, and which go through the process of peer review - other scholars in the same field read and comment on the article and determine if it is worthy of publication. It is a lengthy process which can take up to several years. Some articles are never published. To identify a scholarly article in the Social Sciences look for these clues:
- Is there an abstract?
- Can you find an author affiliation?
- Does the body of the article have headings such as "Introduction", "Methods", "Results", "Discussion", and "Conclusions" ?
- Are there References at the end?
- Do you see charts, graphs, and tables, but few (if any) illustrations?