Gleeson Library: Communication Studies: Research Guide

Journal articles and more

Communication Source
Developed from a merger of the EBSCO databases Communication and Mass Media Complete and Communication Abstracts (formerly published by Sage), this is the premier research database for Communication Studies. This comprehensive resource offers worldwide full-text content pertaining to communication, linguistics, rhetoric and discourse, speech-language pathology, media studies and related fields and includes many unique sources previously not available.

Communication Source features full text for more than 800 titles, including over 600 active full-text titles.

Indexing and abstracting is included for more than 1000 Core titles. Also featured is backfile coverage of top titles in Communication, reaching deep into the 20th century. Content is derived from academic journals, conference papers, conference proceedings, trade publications, magazines and periodicals. Content development for Communication Source is guided by expert advisors who are academic librarians and Communication bibliographers from leading international institutions.

On-Campus Link
ComAbstracts
The ComAbstracts database contains abstracts of articles and books published in the primary professional literature of the communication(s) field as well as bibliographic records.

The database is unique in its comprehensive coverage of scholarly books in communication and journalism. The full text of the ComAbstracts database can be searched; that is, records may be searched by word, phrase, or author. The search system supports full Boolean search logic (AND, OR, NOT, XOR), proximity searching, wildcard searching, and word conflation (which finds alternative forms of words based on common linguistic roots).

Synonyms are available for many clusters of terms and are included automatically in searches unless they are explicitly overriden in the search specification (for example, a search for 'YOUTH' will also match 'TEEN' and 'ADOLESCENT'). The database may also be searched using (1) a keyword system consisting of menus of prepared subject terms and search specifications or (2) using the Visual Communication Concept Explorer a next-generation visual interface build on statistical analysis of word relationships unique to the academic communication literature.

On-Campus Link
APA PsycInfo
APA PsycInfo is the American Psychological Association's renowned resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations. It is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health, and contains over 3 million citations and summaries dating as far back as the 1600s, with one of the highest DOI matching rates in the publishing industry. Ninety-nine percent of its content is peer-reviewed. Formerly called PsycINFO.

Included is information on the psychological aspects of related fields such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, technology, linguistics, anthropology, business, law and others. Journal coverage, which spans from the 1800s to the present, includes international material selected from around 2,500 periodicals in dozens of languages. APA PsycInfo is indexed with controlled vocabulary from APA's Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms.

On Campus Link
Scopus
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature: scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Delivering a comprehensive overview of the world's research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities, Scopus features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research.
You may see a screen prompting you to register or personalize your account. You are not required to do so and can click the 'Continue' button to access the site. Similarly, if you encounter a “Welcome to Scopus” screen asking you to create an account or sign in, click 'X' in the upper right to close the window.

Comprehensive: Scopus has twice as many titles and over 30% more publishers listed than any other abstract and index (A&I) database, with interdisciplinary content that covers the research spectrum. Timely updates from thousands of peer-reviewed journals, preliminary findings from millions of conference papers, and the thorough analysis in an expanding collection of books ensure you have the most up-to-date and highest quality interdisciplinary content available.

On-Campus Link
Project MUSE
Hundreds of full text journals in the humanities and social sciences.

Since 1995 the MUSE journal collections have supported a wide array of research needs at academic, public, special, and school libraries worldwide. MUSE is the trusted source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies, with over 120 publishers currently participating.

On-Campus Link

Reference Sources

Encyclopedia of Communication and Information
Publication Date: 2002
Provides a comprehensive overview of universal modes of communication, the media used to communicate, theories of communication and their implications, careers in communications and information, and biographies of notable figures in the field. Organized for the general reader and designed to complement social studies, communications, and information systems curricula.
Encyclopedia of Health Communication
Publication Date: 2014
Provides comprehensive coverage of health communication including such topics as theories and research traditions; evaluation and assessment; cultural complexities; high risk and special populations; message design and campaigns; provider/patient interaction issues; media issues; and more.

Oxford Bibliographies: Communication
An annotated bibliography of the best scholarship in the discipline.

On Campus Link
Gale eBooks
A great place to begin your research, Gale eBooks offers thousands of authoritative articles published in academic encyclopedias, and written by subject experts. Gale eBooks provides information you can not only trust, but cite in a paper as well. Formerly called GVRL: Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Communication Yearbook
Call Number: P87 .C5974
Annual publication with state-of-the-art reviews of research. Useful to determine key issues in contemporary communications research. Available only in print.

Selected Web Resources

International Communication Association
ICA is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication.
National Communication Association
The National Communication Association advances Communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry.
Western States Communication Association
Western States Communication Association is an educational association of scholars, teachers, and students of communication.
Eastern Communication Association
The Eastern Communication Association (ECA) is a professional organization of scholars, teachers, and students of Communication Studies. The ECA was initially established in 1910 and continues as the oldest professional communication association in the United States
Central States Communication Association
The mission of Central States Communication Association (CSCA) is to unite and educate people with both an affinity to the central region of the United States and a scholarly interest in all areas of communication for promotion of their mutual goals and advancement of their field.
Southern States Communication Association
Our purpose is to promote the study, criticism, research, teaching, and application of the artistic, humanistic, and scientific principles of communication. SSCA, a not-for-profit organization, exists for educational, scientific, and literary purposes only.

Communication Studies

Journal articles and more

Reference Sources

Selected Web Resources

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