General / Multi-subject Databases
The databases on this page will help you identify scholarly, popular, and news articles, as well as other research, on topics for this class.
Finding the full text of an article 
To find these and other databases to which Northwestern University Library subscribes, you can also go to the library homepage and choose Databases A to Z.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowThis multidisciplinary database provides access to articles from journals, magazines, and reference sources across all subject areas. Coverage is primarily from 1980 to the present, with some older content.
- International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) This link opens in a new windowThe International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) provides citations in social science and interdisciplinary research, with broad coverage of international material and incorporates over 100 languages and countries. Subject areas include sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, ethnography, demography, education and more. 1951-Present. Individual publication coverage varies by title.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowDigitized, full-text versions of core scholarly journals across disciplines.While coverage of these journals goes back to the first issue, for most journals the most recent issues will be for 3-5 years ago.
Additional Databases
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowHistorical Abstracts covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. The database indexes academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955.
- Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies This link opens in a new windowMiddle Eastern & Central Asian Studies is a bibliographic index of research, policy and scholarly discourse on the countries and peoples of the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. Coverage spans from 1900 and earlier to present.
- Economist Historical Archive This link opens in a new windowThe Economist Historical Archive provides access to the full text of The Economist, the weekly British paper essential to knowledge in politics, current affairs and business and trade worldwide. The archive covers 1843-2020.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowCompiled by the Modern Language Association, the MLA International Bibliography lists articles and books in the fields of literature, language, and linguistics in the modern languages, as well as folklore, film studies, literary theory & criticism, dramatic arts, and historical aspects of printing and publishing.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowIndex focusing on public affairs, public and social policies and international relations. Provides references to journal articles, books, government documents, statistics, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, and more. Covers 1914 to present.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowSociological Abstracts provides citations and abstracts to international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Content coverage includes culture and social structure, history and theory of sociology, race and ethnicity, social change and economic development, and more. 1952-Present. Individual publication coverage varies by title.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new windowCitations with abstracts from more than 1,100 journals in political science and related disciplines. Coverage is international in scope, combining the former Political Science Abstracts and ABC POL SCI databases.
Google Scholar (Instructions for accessing NU content)
Note the screen shots below to help you set up your Google Scholar to access NU Library full text content.
