Research guides: Communication Arts: Scholarly criticism & analysis

What are scholarly, peer-reviewed articles?

Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles (sometimes also called "academic articles") have been reviewed by peers or experts in the author’s field of research/study. They ensure that an article's content is sound and of high quality.

To check if an article is scholarly or peer-reviewed,

Search the journal title in Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory. If the journal is listed as “referreed” in Ulrich’s it would have this icon: , to indicate a peer-reviewed journal.
Check the journal's website.
Look for "peer-reviewed" content type in databases.
Ask a librarian or your professor.

Theatre and performance databases

Drama Online
Available to students, faculty and staff at the University of Waterloo.
Depending on your method of access, you may be asked to authenticate as a member of the UWaterloo community.

MLA International Bibliography
Indexes books, articles, and websites relating to modern languages, literatures, folklore, linguistics, and film.
Coverage: 1926 - present
Project MUSE
Scholarly journals covering the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and more.
Coverage: varies

JSTOR
Provides access to back issues of journals in the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences, many of which date from the 1800s.
Coverage: varies (excludes current 3 to 5 years)
Art Full Text
Articles on art, art history, advertising art, painting, graphic design, architecture, and museum studies.
Coverage: Indexing/abstract from 1929. Full Text 1995 - present
Coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. In addition to articles, this database indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals.

Communications databases

Communication and Mass Media Complete
Articles, books, and conference proceedings in the communications field, including advertising and public relations, linguistics, and literature.
Coverage: 1900 - present
CMMC offers full text and cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for journals covering communication, mass media, linguistics, discourse, rhetoric, sociolinguistics, communication theory, language, logic, organizational communication and other closely related fields of study. This resource incorporates the content of CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association) and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Penn State) along with numerous other top journals in communication and media studies.
ABI/INFORM
Articles on business and management from U.S. and international journals and trade magazines, including company histories, competitive intelligence, and product development.
Coverage: 1971 - present
Includes scholarly journals, trade magazines, working papers, market research, and company profiles.
PsycINFO
Articles, dissertations and book chapters in psychology and behavioral health.
Coverage: 1840 - present
JSTOR
Provides access to back issues of journals in the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences, many of which date from the 1800s.
Coverage: varies (excludes current 3 to 5 years)
ACM Digital Library
Conference proceedings, books, articles, magazines, newsletters, and multimedia titles relating to computing and information technology.
Coverage: 1947 - present
ACM Digital Library contains bibliographic information on ACM publications since 1947 and includes full-text of documents where available. Works published by affiliated organizations are included on a selected basis.