Research Guides: Religion in the World: REL 0863 / ASST 0863: Doing Research After Your Visit

ATLA Religion Database

Why Search ATLA?

The ATLA Religion Database covers a wide range of religious traditions, controversies, and issues. You will find not only peer-reviewed articles from major religion journals, but also more popular content that provides a window on current news and opinions. Western religions are covered more closely than other traditions, but you will find important coverage of most religions. "Religion" in ATLA encompasses concerns beyond theology and doctrine to include issues like environmentalism, human rights, war and peace, religious freedom, ethics, and culture.

ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials This link opens in a new window
Click here to leave the research guide and search in ATLA.

Other Databases to Try

If you weren't able to find what you needed in ATLA, here are a few additional suggestions.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A general database that covers all the major disciplines. Provides lots of coverage on religion and related topics.
ProQuest Arts & Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
A large collection of sources in the arts and humanities.

How to Identify Scholarly Journals

Anatomy of a Scholarly Journal Article

Interactive tutorial

Following is a checklist of some typical qualities of a scholarly journal article:

Is there an abstract or summary at the beginning of the article?
Does the article include a bibliography?
Are there in-text citations (e.g., parenthetical references, endnotes, or footnotes)?
Does the author use specialized language, relevant to the subject area?
What is the author's affiliation or credentials (e.g., is it with a college, university, or research organization)?
Who is the audience of the article? Is it written for fellow scholars in the field, for practitioners, or for a general/popular audience?
How many pages is the article? Is it substantial in length?
What kind of images does it contain? Scholarly journals tend to have few, if any images, but often contain charts, graphs, or data tables.
Does the journal title refer to an academic discipline or specialized field of study? Often the title will include words such as journal, research, or review.