An abstract is an introductory field of text before the main body of the text in a scholarly journal article. What the abstract does is to explain what the article is about, its main theme, and its conclusions. In short, the abstract can be considered a summary.
In searching for articles, we recommend that students use the drop down menu by the search box to limit their search to the abstract. This will usually ensure that the article will mostly or in part be about the subject they are researching.
To access Lewis University Library databases, enter your Lewis University username and password.
This is the same login information you use for Blackboard and the MyCampus portal.
Find articles in journal databases
To get to the Lewis University Library sociology databases, go to the Lewis University Library webpage, and click one of the following vendor databases listed in the far left column--EBSCO, JStor, or ProQuest. Each of these have various subject databases related to Ethnic and Cultural Studies.
This is a Google search limited to only educational websites. Please be aware that you will not be able to find the full text for all results.
Peer review is a process by which scholarly publications try to ensure "quality control," that what they publish is accurate and meets the standards of research and writing in their field.
When a scholar submits a book to a university press, or an article to a scholarly journal, the editor will send it out to two (usually) reputable scholars in the author's field to evaluate whether it meets the standards of historical research and whether it contributes anything new to the field. These are the peer-reviewers--because they are considered the author's peers (or equals) in the field--and if they approve of the manuscript, the published work will be considered "peer-reviewed."
We recommend that the articles you find be peer-reviewed, and therefore check the peer-review box when you do your article research. University press books are normally considered to be peer-reviewed.