Communication Studies Research

The following library and Internet resources are geared toward the research needs of the CSUN Communication Studies major.

Resources Overview

Choosing the best resources to use for research involves several factors, including assignment requirements, currency of the research topic, and the depth of coverage needed.
Why not use Wikipedia? View this video (Flash) from the Rutgers University Libraries on why Wikipedia is not the best source to use for research assignments.
Periodicals (magazines, newspapers, trade publications, and scholarly or peer-reviewed journals) are excellent sources of current and/or specific information for research projects. Often, they are considered primary sources for research.

Background Information

Titles listed below with a "Location: Ref Rm" are shelved in the Reference Room of the Oviatt Library, main floor.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias | Directories | Research Guides | Statistics

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Barnouw, Erik et al. (Eds.). (1989). International encyclopedia of communications. New York: Oxford University Press. Location: Ref Rm P87.5 .I5 1989

Britannica Online -- Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus, plus other reference tools.

Darity, Jr., William A., ed. International encyclopedia of the social sciences. Detroit, Mich.: Macmillan Reference USA, c2008.

Danesi, Marcel. (2000) Encyclopedic dictionary of semiotics, media, and communications. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Location: Ref Rm P87.5 .D36 2000

DeVito, Joseph A. (1986). The communication handbook : a dictionary. New York: Harper & Row. Location: Ref Rm P87.5 .D46 1986

Gale Virtual Reference Library-- over 100 encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources.

Gardner, Robert. (1997). From talking drums to the Internet : an encyclopedia of communications technology. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. Location: Ref Rm P96.T42 G374 1997

International encyclopedia of organization studies (2008). Stewart Clegg, James R. Bailey, eds. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Johnston, Donald H. (Ed.). (2003). Encyclopedia of international media and communications. San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press. Location: Ref Rm P87.5 .E532 2003

O'Sullivan, Tim. (1983). Key concepts in communication. New York: Methuen. Location: Floor3(ref) P90 .K457 1983

Oxford English Dictionary -- includes definitions and etymologies for most of the words in the English language.

Schement, Jorge Reina (Ed.). (2002). Encyclopedia of communication and information. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, c2002.

Watson, James. Dictionary of media and communication studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Location: Ref Rm P87.5 .W38 2006

Weiner, Richard. (1996). Webster's New World dictionary of media and communications. New York : Macmillan. Location: Floor3 P87.5 .W45 1996

Directories

Encyclopedia of associations. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1961- present. Location: Ref Rm AS22 .E5

Garner, Ana C. (1988). The Iowa guide: scholarly journals in mass communication and related fields, 10th ed. Iowa City, IA: Iowa Center for Communication Study, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa. Location: Floor3 (Ref) PN4700 .G3 1988

National Communication Association. (1998). National Communication Association directory. Annandale, VA: The Association. Location: Ref Rm PN4073 .N2534

Research Guides and Handbooks

Handbooks and research guides on specific communications topics may be located in the Oviatt Library by performing a keyword search in the Library Catalog and using keywords such as "handbook*," "research," "method*," "measure*," etc. along with communications-related keywords.
- For example: interpersonal communication and handbook*

Berger, Charles R. & Chaffee, Steven H. (Eds.). (1987). Handbook of communication science. Beverly Hills: Sage publications. Location: Floor3 P90 .H294 1987

Berger, Arthur Asa. (2000). Media and communication research methods: an introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Location: Floor3 P91.3 .B385 2000

Block, Eleanor S. and James K. Bracken. (1991). Communication and the mass media: a guide to the reference literature. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. Location: Floor3(ref) P90 .B54 1991

Communication Studies Committee. (2007). Library Resources for Communication Studies: Subject Guides. Chicago, IL: Education and Behavioral Sciences Section, Association of College & Research Libraries.

Covers core information resources including, associations and organizations, conferences, listservs, journal indexes and abstracts, lists of libraries with special collections, and research guides for key areas in communication studies. Check the Library Catalog or Databases A-Z to see if CSUN has the resource.

Encyclopedia of Evaluation (2005). Sandra Mathison, ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics (2007). Neil J. Salkind, ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Publications.

Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods (2008). Paul J. Lavrakas, ed. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage.

Engle, M., Blumenthal, A. and Cosgrave, T. (2004). How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography. Ithaca, NY: Olin & Uris Libraries, Cornell University.

Harner, James L. (2000). On compiling an annotated bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association of America. Location: Ref Rm Z1001 .H33 2000

Library Instruction Committee. (2005). Creating an Annotated Bibliography. Northridge, CA: Oviatt Library, California State University Northridge.

Rubin, Rebecca B. (2000). Communication research: strategies and sources. Belmont, CA : Wadsworth Thomson Learning. Location: Floor3 P91.3 .R83 1999

Rubin, Rebecca B. & Philip Palmgreen, et al. (Eds.). (2004) Communication research measures: a sourcebook. Mahwah, N.J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Location: Ref Rm P91.3 .C62 2004

Provides various questionnaires, tests, scales, and measures in communications. See also Library Resources for Individual and Group Assessment for more information about locating information about and/or actual tests.

The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (2008). Lisa M. Given, ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

The Sage encyclopedia of social science research methods (2004). Michael S. Lewis-Beck, Alan Bryman, Tim Futing Liao, eds. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Smith, Mary John. (1988). Contemporary communication research methods. Belmont, Calif. : Wadsworth Pub. Co. Location: Floor3 P91 .S55 1988

The Writing Center (2004) Annotated Bibliographies. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Statistics

American Factfinder (Population, housing, economic, and geographic data.)
Public Opinion Polls and Surveys
Statistical Data Sources

Periodical Indexes/Databases

Databases Overview:

Periodicals (magazines, newspapers, trade publications, and scholarly journals) are excellent sources of current and/or specific information for research projects. Often, they are considered primary sources for research.
It's a good idea to formulate a search strategy before using a periodical database.
The following databases use Boolean Logic (AND, OR, NOT) and truncation/wildcards symbols (*, ?, etc.) for combining keywords and phrases to locate articles on specific topics.
For a complete list of available databases, see Databases A-Z.
FYI, you can also connect to the Library's databases and full-text periodicals from off campus

Good Places to Start:

Communication and Mass Media Complete (EBSCOhost): Indexes and abstracts over 600 journals and trade publications; includes full text for over 240 journals. CMMC incorporates the content of CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association) and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Penn State). Subjects covered include communication studies, journalism, mass media, speech, linguistics, communicative disorders, deaf studies, advertising, and related areas of interest to practitioners and educators in these fields. Dates of coverage vary by journal. A list of journal titles covered by CMMC is available.
Communication Studies Multisearch: Allows you to search up to 10 Library databases related to communication studies using a common interface. Includes many databases that access scholarly journal articles, which will be indicated by in the results list.
Gale Power Search: Simultaneously access 11 Gale databases to locate magazine articles, trade publications, academic journal articles, news, reference books, Web sites, and multimedia resources. Includes "Viewpoint" (pro/con) essays and topic overviews on controversial issues from Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center in the "Books" results.
JStor: JStor provides electronic access to the full text of back issues of core journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. Includes 12 classical studies journals, which is good for classical rhetoric research, and other journals of interest to communication studies researchers.
Project MUSE: Project Muse includes full-text scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences, including journals in film, theatre, and performing arts; classics, language, and music. A list of the journals covered by Project MUSE is available.
Sage Journals Online: Full text access to journals in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences, including almost 20 communication and media studies journals.

Also Useful:

ABI/INFORM and ProQuest Business Databases: Access to almost 3000 full- text business journals, many full text newspapers/newsletters and company reports, from 1971 to present. Good for articles on organizational communication, public relations, media business, and related areas.
Academic Search Elite (EBSCOHost): Provides full text for nearly 1,850 periodicals, including more than 1,250 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to the full text, indexing and abstracts are provided for all 3,237 periodicals in the collection. This database offers information in nearly every area of academic study, including communication studies. Allows limiting search results to peer-reviewed scholarly journals.
L'Annee Philologique: Indexes 1,500 periodicals, books, and conferences in classical studies, covering the Greco-Roman world from 500 BCE to 800 CE, and is a good source for references to resources in classical rhetoric. Some references include abstracts. The online index is dated from 1969 to present. The Oviatt Library also has the print edition of L'Annee Philologique, 1924 to present. References are classified in a two-part system: Ancient authors and texts, and subjects and disciplines. A Help page explains how to search the database. Additional help can be found using this guide.

Arts and Humanities Citation Index (FirstSearch2): Indexes about 1,300 journals from 1980 to present in the arts and humanities, including core journals in speech, language, rhetoric, and performing arts. Identifies the cited references listed in the authors' bibliographies.
Computer Database (Gale): Indexes 659 computer journals with full text articles for about half, 1980-present. Use this database to find computer-related product introductions, news, reviews, and research in areas such as hardware, software, electronics, engineering, communications, Internet, virtual reality, multimedia, and the application of technology.
Congressional Research Service Reports: Research and analysis on public policy issues prepared for the U.S. Congress by nationally recognized experts. "CRS is committed to providing the Congress, throughout the legislative process, comprehensive and reliable analysis, research and information services that are timely, objective, nonpartisan, and confidential, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature."
CQ Researcher: CQ Researcher full-text reports offer in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. Each 12,000-word report is a unique work, investigated and written by a seasoned journalist, including sections on background and chronology; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources. Note: Since the reports are written by journalists, it is not considered a scholarly journal. Coverage is from 1991 to the present.
CQ Weekly: Online weekly magazine provides in-depth reports on issues before the U.S. Congress, plus a complete summary of the previous week's news, including the status of bills in play, behind-the-scenes maneuvering, committee and floor activity, debates and all roll-call votes. Good source of current events and social issues. Coverage is from 1983 to present.
eHRAF World Cultures: eHRAF World Cultures is produced by Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (HRAF) at Yale University. eHRAF is a cross-cultural database that contains over 350,000 pages of information on all aspects of cultural and social life for about 100 cultures. The annually-growing eHRAF database is unique in that the information is organized into cultures and ethnic groups and the full-text sources are subject-indexed at the paragraph level. There are over 300 cultures included in the print and microfiche copies of the Human Relations Area Files. The cultures covered in the microfiche collection as well as on the web are described at Human Relations Area Files--Cultures Covered. CSUN's microfiche collection is located on the 4th floor, East wing. There is a white binder at the Reference Desk in the Oviatt Library which lists the cultures available in microfiche or on the web.
ERIC (EBSCOHost): The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a digital library of education-related resources. It indexes and abstracts over 750 journal titles in education and related fields, including communication studies, and has recently begun to add full text articles. In addition, thousands of research reports and other non-journal documents ("ERIC Documents") such as conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books, curriculum guides, lesson plans, and test evaluation instruments are included. ERIC is also an excellent source for locating communication association conference papers. More than 107,000 of the ERIC Documents issued 1993-present are available online in full text for free. In addition, the CSUN Library owns most ERIC documents on microfiche from 1966-2004.
Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest): Full text articles from more than 270 ethnic, minority and native press publications, including newspapers, magazines and journals, 1960 to present.
Film & Television Literature Index (EBSCOHost): Indexes over 350 U.S. and international film and television periodicals, including popular magazines, scholarly journals, and trade publications. In addition, selected content is chosen from thousands of additional publications that contain relevant content. Dates of coverage vary.
GenderWatch (ProQuest): Contains unique and diverse publications that focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas. With archival material dating back to 1970, GenderWatch is a repository of an important historical perspective on the evolution of both the women's movement and major changes in gender roles.
General OneFile (Gale): From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Access over 9,000 scholarly journals, and general interest news magazines and newspapers - over half contain full text and images. Search specific keywords using the Advanced Search or browse subjects using the Subject Guide. Coverage is from 1980 to the present. Allows limiting search results to scholarly journals ("peer-reviewed publications").
International Political Science Abstracts (EBSCOHost): Includes current indexing and abstracts of the nearly 900 journals in political science, from 1989 to the present.
LexisNexis Academic: LexisNexis Academic is a full-text database containing news, legal, biographical, and business information from over 12,000 publications. Click on Easy Search (default) or Power Search from the General toolbar, or News from the toolbar to search newspapers and other sources. Easy Search does not use Boolean (AND, OR, NOT) operators and searches large groups of the most popular sources. The Power Search or News options allow Boolean logic, searching within specific parts of a document (headline, byline, lead paragraph, etc.), and the ability to search more specific sources. In addition to sources such as "Major U.S. and World Publications," "Major World Publications (non-English)," "blogs," "TV and radio broadcast transcripts" (news broadcasts, political campaigns), and legal or business information in Easy Search, the Power Search or News options include "U.S. Newspapers and Wires," "magazine stories,'" and topical news sources (business, legal, university, and healthcare) among others. For tips on searching for editorials in LexisNexis Academic, see News Search: Find An Editorial Or Opinion Piece. Click Legal to search law reviews, federal and state laws and court cases; click Business to search company information and other related sources; and click People for biographical information. Dates of coverage in LexisNexis vary by publication. NOTE: Due to publisher restrictions, Lexis Nexis Academic users may only access the latest 6 months of the Los Angeles Times. Use Proquest Newspapers for complete coverage of the Los Angeles Times online.
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (EBSCOHost): Issues such as freedom of speech, censorship, Internet filtering, and technology's effect on communication are covered in the library and information science journals, which are indexed and abstracted in LISTA.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (CSA): LLBA covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Complete coverage is also given to various fields of linguistics including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. In addition, major areas of coverage include interpersonal behavior and communication, nonverbal communication, semiotics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. Over 1,200 periodicals and serials are covered since 1973.
MLA International Bibliography (Gale): MLA International Bibliography, which is a publication of the Modern Language Association of America, covers literatures, languages, linguistics, and folklore. From 1926 to present, it provides author and subject indexing to over 4,000 journals, as well as books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies.
ProQuest Newspapers: Full text for 500+ U.S. and international news sources. Includes coverage of 150+ major U.S. newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune, plus hundreds of other news sources and news wires. Click the More Search Options link from the main search screen to reveal choices for limiting by Document Type, such as editorial, speech, and review.
PsycARTICLES (EBSCOHost): PsycARTICLES, from the American Psychological Association (APA), is a definitive source of full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology. The PsycARTICLES database covers general psychology as well as specialized, applied, clinical and theoretical research. The database contains more than 100,000 articles from 59 journals - 48 published by the American Psychological Association (APA) and 11 from allied organizations. It includes all journal articles, letters to the editor, and errata from each journal. Coverage spans 1894 to present, and most APA journals are available from Volume 1, Issue 1.
PsycINFO (EBSCOHost): PsycINFO or Psychological Abstracts, from the American Psychological Association (APA), contains nearly 2.3 million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, all in psychology and related disciplines, dating as far back as the 1800s. Ninety-seven percent of the covered material is peer-reviewed. Journal coverage, which spans 1887 to present, includes international material selected from approximately 2,050 periodicals in more than 25 languages.
Sociological Abstracts (CSA): Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences from 1963 to present. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,700 serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Records added after 1974 contain in-depth and non-evaluative abstracts of journal articles.

Locating Periodicals

How to Locate Articles Online or in the Library
To see a list of the journals specific to communication studies that the Oviatt Library subscribes to, from the Library Catalog's Basic search page, select keyword and enter communication periodicals in the Search for: box. From the Limit to: pulldown menu, change "entire collection" to "Periodicals/Serials," and then click Submit Search. Note: any periodical title proceeded by the phrase [electronic resource] or [online] means that it is available via the Internet.
To see a list of the electronic journals in communication studies and related disciplines, browse the lists of titles on the CSUN List of Electronic Periodicals.

Books

Books may be searched in the Library Catalog by author, title, Library of Congress Subject Heading or keyword. For books not held by the Oviatt Library, request an Interlibrary Loan or search WorldCat to see if other local libraries have the books you need.
The Library Catalog lists relevant Library of Congress Subject Headings and links to books under headings such as, Communication, "Communication in . . ." , Semiotics, and Rhetoric, for example.

*Communication is also used as a subheading under a particular group, e.g., Women-communication, African Americans-communication, Aged-communication, etc.
**Encyclopedias or dictionaries or handbooks or directories or methodology, etc. are subheadings that can be used along with a particular subject heading to find books by type of resource, e.g., communication dictionaries. You can also enter these terms as keywords and use Boolean Logic (AND, OR, NOT) and truncation/wildcards symbols (*, ?, etc.), e.g., small group* and methodolog*.
Book reviews can be found in a variety of resources.

Theses and Dissertations

Masters Theses written by students in the CSUN Department of Communication Studies are listed by author, title, and the general subject, Dissertations Academic CSUN Communication Stuides in the Library Catalog. All CSUN Communication Studies theses have the basic call number PN4086 .Z95 and are shelved on the 3rd floor of the Oviatt Library.
Dissertations and Theses (Proquest) Full text collection of masters' theses and dissertations (does not include CSUN) in the Humanities and Social Sciences, covering more than 1 million dissertations and theses, from 1637-present.
Dissertations Abstracts International (Firstsearch2) Provides indexing to doctoral dissertations accepted by over 500 institutions. Citations dated from 1861 to present are searchable (author, title, abstract keyword, and institution); abstracts are included from 1980 to present. Dissertations and theses located in DAI may be requested through Interlibrary Loan; if not available, or if preferred, one may order copies directly from UMI Dissertation Express for a fee.

Legal Research

In addition to using Lexis Nexis Academic, for help with locating primary sources of court cases, laws, and regulations, as well as secondary sources of information on legal terms and explanations of the law, see the following:

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, 2d edition (Provides current information on more than 5,000 legal topics; cites relevant cases and statutes. Includes definitions of legal terms and more.)
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
FindLaw Cases and Codes (Search U.S. and State constitutions, statutes, cases and more.)
FindLaw U.S. Constitution: First Amendment (From the Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation.)
FindLaw Legal Dictionary (Definitions of legal terms and legal usage from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, 1996.)
Government Information: Federal, State, Local, International
GPO Access (Government Printing Office) (Includes recent primary sources of information from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal government. )
U.S. Law Research Guide (How to research U.S. law in the Oviatt Library and online.)

Internet

In addition to the databases and Web sites listed above, the Internet can be a valuable source of information. However, remember to think critically about the authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage of the information you find.

Internet Search Engines - (links to favorite search engines of CSUN librarians)
SearchEngineWatch - (comprehensive directory of search engines by type)
Evaluating Web Pages - (criteria used to critically evaluate web pages)

Citing Your Sources

MLA, APA, & Other Citation Style Guides
Citation Machine - (Provides an interactive tool to help create reference citations for research papers. Includes various print and electronic resources. Note web site disclaimer before using.)
EndNote Web - (Service to manage citations and produce a works cited or references list. Import or manually enter citations from a variety of sources and choose from several citation styles to create a works cited/references list, including APA and MLA. EBSCOHost databases, including Communication and Mass Media Complete, allow the direct import of saved citations into EndNote Web. Detailed instructions for setting up and using EndNote Web are available.)

Avoiding Plagiarism

Why Cite? Avoiding Plagiarism
Interactive Tutorial on How to Avoid Plagiarism (Flash) from Rutgers University
Vaughn Memorial Library Tutorials: Plagiarism (Flash) from Acadia University

Prepared by Katherine Dabbour, Communication Studies and Journalism Librarian

18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge CA 91330 (818) 677-2285

Last updated: 06-Oct-2009
Library Webmaster

|
http://library.csun.edu/kdabbour/comsresearch.html

[CSUN Home Page] [Library Home]