Communication Studies
Library Research Guide
Databases
To get to databases, go to the Libraries’ home page and click on databases below the Search It box. Databases will find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles (and in some cases other materials like book chapters, dissertations, conference presentations, pamphlets, etc.)
Recommended Databases For Communication Studies:
- Communication & Mass Media CompleteOur main Communications database. Includes a Communication Thesaurus and comprehensive reference browsing.
- ProQuest Research LibraryA broad, general database, but one that includes many communications journals. Experiment with limiting your search by putting "communication*" in the publication title as part of your search:
Other Useful Databases:
- PsycInfo (APA)Search psychology topics. Provides many useful search limits and a thesaurus that allows you to search for synonyms and related terms, as well as a limit for type of research methodology.
- SAGE Research MethodsA reference resource that will help you understand methods and create research projects. It includes over 600 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the “Little Green Book” and “Little Blue Book” series. Journal articles and videos are also included.
- ProQuest Dissertations and Theses GlobalFind full-text copies of most dissertations written after 1996, and many earlier. If the full-text is not available, you may request it through Interlibrary Loan.
- K-State Research Exchange (K-REx)
Publication Dates Covered: 2004 - present Free Resource
The institutional repository for Kansas State University provides permanent access to scholarly materials created by our faculty and students, including dissertations, theses, and master’s reports. In support of the principles of Open Access, materials in K-REx are freely available to all and comply with publisher agreements and copyright law.
How to Search
Most databases, although they look different, search in similar ways. You can search the databases in many ways to find relevant research, including:
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If the database has a thesaurus, use it to help you find appropriate subject terms.
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Use a keyword search for the specific subject you are interested in (race, postmodernism, leadership, etc...).
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Use OR when you want to find either of the search terms, AND when you want both.
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Try truncating keywords using asterisks: ethnograph* to get ethnography or ethnographic.
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Put phrases in quotes: “case study” “feminist theory”
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Use limits to help find the specific kind of article you want. Most databases allow you to limit to scholarly or peer-reviewed articles.
Here is an example of a search using Communications & Mass Media Complete.
- The first line is: "feminist theory" or "feminist critique".
- The quotation marks mean that it will search for the words together as a phrase.
- The OR means that the records you find will have either of those phrases.
- The second line is "politic*".
- The asterisk allows it to be a longer word, so we will get politics, political, politicians, etc.
- The "AND" on the left means that we need something from the first line AND something from the second line
Getting the Articles
Many of the articles you find will be available online.
If you don’t see the full text on the database you are searching, use the Get It button to see if the full text of the article is available through another source.
If you find a citation to something that we don’t own, most of the time we can borrow it from another library. Please allow yourself enough time to do this! Interlibrary Loan usually gets materials very quickly, but it can take 1-2 business days for articles and 3-10 business days for books (or longer if you are off campus).
Click on “Not Available? Request from Interlibrary Loan” from the Get It menu or “Interlibrary Loan” on the library home page. For more information, see our Interlibrary Services page.
