When doing academic research, it is important to have some familiarity with publishers and the types of works they produce. Academic or scholarly works such as books (sometimes referred to as monographs), book series, encyclopedias and other reference sources, might be published by university presses, a professional association, or commercial publishers. The following are examples of academic publishers:
University Presses
University Presses
- University of Chicago Press
- Oxford University Press
- Truman State University Press
- Cambridge University Press
- Elsevier
- Emerald
- Palgrave MacMillan
- Routledge
- Sage Publications
- Bantam Books
- Ballantine Books
- HarperCollins
- Penguin Random House
- Simon & Schuster
SocIndex with Full Text 
A comprehensive sociology research database with more than 1.9 million records and the full text for over 400 journals dating back to 1908. Also contains full text for more than 700 books and monographs and more than 6000 conference papers. Journals related to Criminology & Criminal Justice, Education, Gender Studies/GLBT Studies, History, and Education are also found in this database. For some journals, there may be a 12 month delay in provision of full text content.
Public Affairs Index
JSTOR 
An archive of more than 1200 core scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Fulltext back to their date of first publication to within the current 2-5 years.
A comprehensive sociology research database with more than 1.9 million records and the full text for over 400 journals dating back to 1908. Also contains full text for more than 700 books and monographs and more than 6000 conference papers. Journals related to Criminology & Criminal Justice, Education, Gender Studies/GLBT Studies, History, and Education are also found in this database. For some journals, there may be a 12 month delay in provision of full text content.
Public Affairs Index
A bibliographic database covering all aspects of global contemporary public policy issues ranging from public health, the environment, housing, human and civil rights, to international conflict and natural disasters. It draws on a diverse array of scholarly publications, conference papers, government documents and current reference works to provide up-to-date information on the broad range of topics of concern to the world today.
JSTOR
An archive of more than 1200 core scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Fulltext back to their date of first publication to within the current 2-5 years.
When you first access SocINDEX, it is best to select Advanced Search, as you can immediately apply various limits to your search. The most useful/important limits would be:
Here is a keyword search example from SocINDEX. (NOTE: Even though I use several keywords/concepts, it is still a fairly broad search in that I am not searching on one specific religion or religious practice; your own searches will probably be a little more specific).
relilgious
AND (practice* OR ritual*)
AND United States
??? What does the little asterisk * do? It will search for plurals and variant endings of the term.
Results: With my three limits (scholarly/peer-reviewed, full-text, and periodical), I retrieved 963 articles. This is still quite a few and it might be a good idea to either add another variable, such as AND gender. Or replace one of my terms with something more specific, such as Catholic* in place of religious.
Here are two citations from my results:
Wellman Jr., James et al. "'God is Like a Drug.' Explaining Interaction Ritual Chains
in American Megachurches."
Sociological Forum. 29.3 (2014): 650-672. SocINDEX doi: 10.1111/socf.12108
Draper, Scott. "Effervescence and Solidarity in Religious Organizations." Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion. 53.2 (2014): 229-248.
SocINDEX doi: 10.1111/jssr.12109
- scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals
- publication type (periodical)
- full text.
Here is a keyword search example from SocINDEX. (NOTE: Even though I use several keywords/concepts, it is still a fairly broad search in that I am not searching on one specific religion or religious practice; your own searches will probably be a little more specific).
relilgious
AND (practice* OR ritual*)
AND United States
??? What does the little asterisk * do? It will search for plurals and variant endings of the term.
Results: With my three limits (scholarly/peer-reviewed, full-text, and periodical), I retrieved 963 articles. This is still quite a few and it might be a good idea to either add another variable, such as AND gender. Or replace one of my terms with something more specific, such as Catholic* in place of religious.
Here are two citations from my results:
Wellman Jr., James et al. "'God is Like a Drug.' Explaining Interaction Ritual Chains
in American Megachurches."
Sociological Forum. 29.3 (2014): 650-672. SocINDEX doi: 10.1111/socf.12108Draper, Scott. "Effervescence and Solidarity in Religious Organizations." Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion. 53.2 (2014): 229-248.
SocINDEX doi: 10.1111/jssr.12109
Searching in a database such as SocINDEX or others listed above will, of course, retrieve many more results than searching in a specific journal. If you find you are getting too many results, or they do not seem relevant to your topic, try searching in a specific journal.
The following are peer-reviewed journals that publish sociological articles related to social institutions. You can access all of these journals through the database links provided. You can search within any of these journals for articles on your topic once you access them through the database. If there is more than one database listed, they likely provide different coverage dates. Also, the most recent issue of a publication might not contain the full text of an article (there may only be a citation and a summary (abstract) provided. However, you always have the option of requesting the article through Interlibrary Loan. In most cases, you can complete an interlibrary loan request while still viewing the citation.
Economy
Gender
Healthcare
The following are peer-reviewed journals that publish sociological articles related to social institutions. You can access all of these journals through the database links provided. You can search within any of these journals for articles on your topic once you access them through the database. If there is more than one database listed, they likely provide different coverage dates. Also, the most recent issue of a publication might not contain the full text of an article (there may only be a citation and a summary (abstract) provided. However, you always have the option of requesting the article through Interlibrary Loan. In most cases, you can complete an interlibrary loan request while still viewing the citation.
Economy
- Economy & Society
JSTOR
Academic OneFile
- International Journal of Social Economics
Academic OneFile
Criminal Justice Database
- Journal of Cultural Economy
SocINDEX
- History of the Family
SocIndex - Journal of Comparative Family Studies
SocINDEX - Journal of Divorce & Remarriage
SocINDEX
Taylor & Francis
Available in print in Pickler Memorial Library (1990-present)
- Journal of Family Studies
SocINDEX
- Journal of Marriage and Family
SocINDEX
Gender
- Gender & Society
JSTOR
Academic OneFile
- Gender Issues
Academic Search Complete
- Journal of Men's Studies
Academic OneFile
- Studies in Gender & Sexuality
SocINDEX
Healthcare
- Sociology of Health & Illness
SocINDEX
- Health Sociology Review
SocINDEX
- Journal of Health & Social Behavior
SocINDEX
- Media, Culture, & Society
Sage Journals [citations and abstracts only]
- Journal of Political & Military Sociology
SocINDEX
- Paradoks: The Journal of Economics, Sociology & Politics
Academic Search Complete
- Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
SocINDEX
JSTOR
Wiley-Blackwell Journals
- Sociology of Religion
SocINDEX
- Review of Religious Research
JSTOR
Lisa Vincent
Research & Instruction
glaubitz@truman.edu
Tel: (660) 785- 7412