Databases are great sources for finding information for your research paper. In databases, you will find peer-reviewed or scholarly articles, news articles, videos, and more for your research. Databases pull their information from a variety of Journals and other sources and compile it so that it is more easily found by the researcher. It is important to note that not any one database contains all the information a researcher needs, so be sure to check across several databases when searching for information.
An Electronic Journal (or E-journal) is a traditional journal that is in an electronic format; either because it was originally created that way, or because someone took a print journal article and scanned it to make it available electronically.
A Database is what is created when a large number of electronic journals are put in one place and a search interface (usually a search box) is added to help find what you need. Both databases and electronic journals can be subject specific. When you have a database that only has the title or abstract, but not the full text, it is usually referred to as an Index.
Below is a list of databases that are specific to Anthropology. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list but rather a starting point. It is highly recommend that researchers start with either AnthroSource or Anthropology Plus.
Social Science databases are also good general sources to look at when searching for articles. While they may not contain as many subject specific articles, they may contain articles that do pertain to anthropology that may not appear in the other databases. However, the real importance of general social science databases are that they contain articles on topics or subjects that overlap with the field of anthropology. Remember anthropology is a highly interdisciplinary field of study, so the use of generalized databases is also very important when conducting research.
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