How do articles get peer reviewed? What role does peer review play in scholarly research and publication?
Databases
Social Sciences Full TextSocial Sciences Full Text provides access to hundreds of English language journals in the social sciences. About two-thirds of the journals are peer-reviewed. Date coverage: 1983 - present.
Social Science Premium Collection“This collection provides access to databases covering international literature in social sciences, including politics, public policy, sociology, social work, anthropology, criminology, linguistics, library science, and education. Featured databases include IBSS, Sociological Abstracts and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Together, they provide abstracts, indexing and full-text coverage of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, and more.”
PAIS IndexThe PAIS International database covers current public policy issues and areas of potential legislation. Cited articles, books and documents can date back to 1910 and are listed in the original language. While some full text is included, the index primarily links to full text articles available through existing BU subscriptions. Date coverage: Approximately 1910 - present.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (WPSA)Indexes and abstracts international relations, political science, and foreign affairs literature. May include references to dissertations, books, or scholarly articles. Some full text included; links provided to BU content. Date coverage: 1975 - present.
EconLitEconLit contains citations and selected abstracts of international literature in the field of economics. It is produced by the American Economic Association and corresponds to the print Journal of Economic Literature and the Index of Economic Articles. It covers journal articles, dissertations and books, as well as chapters and articles in books and conference proceedings. Date coverage: 1969 - present.
Sociological AbstractsSociological Abstracts indexes and abstracts the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews. It also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Forty percent of the content is published outside of North America. Date coverage: 1952 - present.
Criminal Justice AbstractsCriminal Justice Abstracts indexes and abstracts international journal articles and as well as books on criminal justice and criminology. Date coverage: 1968 - present.
Criminal Justice DatabaseProQuest Criminal Justice indexes and abstracts U.S. and international scholarly journals and trade journals on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. Date coverage: 1981 - present.
Business Source CompleteProvides bibliographic and full text content, including indexing and abstracts for scholarly business journals back to 1886 and full text journal articles in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, finance and economics. The database full text content includes investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses. Sources covered by this database include Economist Intelligence Unit country reports.
Environment & Architecture
Environment CompleteEnvironment Complete is a comprehensive database focused on all aspects of environmental science including conservation, biodiversity, climate, pollution, agriculture and aquaculture, environmental law and policy, urban planning, environmental engineering, and more. Date coverage: 1940 - present with selected full text from 1975 - present.
GreenFILEGreenFILE searches journal articles, government documents, and ebooks relating to human impact on the environment. It covers interdisciplinary topics such as environmental policy, environmental engineering, pollution, conservation, and other areas in which human activities and nature coincide. GreenFILE also contains a cited references feature that allows the user to see what material the author has cited in their publication, and what later publications cite it. Date coverage: varies by publication.
Avery Index to Architectural PeriodicalsAvery Index to Architectural Periodicals indexes American state and regional periodicals, professional association publications, and the major journals on architecture and design of Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. Subject areas are architecture and design, archaeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation. Includes obituary citations. Date coverage: 1934 – present
History
America: History & Life (AHL)Covers the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada from prehistory to present times; indexes journal articles, book titles and chapters, reviews from numerous multilingual sources; all abstracts in English. Date coverage: 1949-present
Multidisciplinary Databases
BU Libraries Search (BULS)BU Libraries Search provides a single place to search for a wide variety of academic material provided by the library. The material covered by the search includes books, journals, scores, video and audio recordings, and other physical items held by the library. The search also covers ebooks and ejournals owned by the library, as well as online material provided by the library from a variety of sources.
Project MuseProject Muse provides digital access to scholarly journals and books in the humanities and social sciences. The scholarly content comes from non-profit scholarly publishers, including university presses and societies. The full text resources include journal articles, book reviews and book chapters.
JSTORThis database provides full text access to the back issues of core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Book reviews are included as well as journal articles. Abstracts are available for some of the articles. Date coverage: earliest issues of each journal up to the most current five years for most publications and to the present for some.
ScienceDirectScienceDirect is a general science database that searches journal articles and book chapters in all areas of science, technology, and health. ScienceDirect also provides full text access to a number of major reference works, allows the user to create email alerts for specific journal titles, book series, or research topics, and provides access to a limited number of "pre-pub" articles (articles accepted for publication but not yet officially released). Date coverage: varies by publication.
Web of ScienceWeb of Science is one of the core general science databases covering all aspects of scientific literature. It also has a number of tools that make it a unique resource for finding scholarly literature. Item records come with links both to the works cited by the paper in question and the future works that cite that paper. Web of Science also allows the user to set up email alerts for specific authors or topics, provides researcher profiles, and allows the user to search conference proceedings.
Featured Journals in City Planning & Urban Affairs