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Periodical articles are excellent sources for detailed analysis or up-to-date information on a topic. These articles are from materials that are published "periodically" or sequentially in daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual or even irregular intervals. They are found in newspapers, magazines, journals, yearbooks, and other sources. Periodicals are available in several formats: bound paper volumes (like books), microfiche or microfilm, and as electronic text.
The CU Library Catalog includes records for all of the periodicals that are received by
the Cornell University Library. These materials can be searched in the catalog by their
title. (That is the title of the journal or magazine or newspaper, not the title of an
article.) The CU Library Catalog does not include information on the articles within
those periodicals. To find periodical articles, use relevant subject databases and periodical indexes and abstracts.
(See below.)
Periodical indexes and abstracts are reference resources that identify and locate
articles in periodical publications. They are often subject-oriented and list author,
title, name of periodical, volume, pages and date of publication in entries called
bibliographic citations. For information about bibliographic format and how to cite
resources that you use in your research, go to Citing your sources. Abstracts are specialized indexes that also include summaries of the content of the
articles with their citations. Periodical indexes and abstracts also come in several formats: traditional and
historical bound paper volumes, stand alone CD-ROM computer workstations, and as Networked Resources available in the Library Gateway.
To find databases by subject, use Find it! or ask a librarian for assistance.
Additional information about searching for periodicals can be found in Finding Periodicals and Periodical Articles.
Go to the next research step, Using the
Web to find Internet resources
Return to Research strategy: a tutorial