Guide to Finding Editorials
Why use editorials?
Editorials provide you with specific opinions or viewpoints on a given issue. As a rule,
editorials focus on current, controversial topics. As you begin to search for information keep in
mind the dates when your topic was of particular interest. You are most likely to get the best
results in your search for topics of national, rather than local or regional, interest.
Finding editorials in electronic databases
To enter the databases:
- From the
Undergraduate Library
home page, hover over the
Find option near the top of the page and select
Articles from the list that pops up.
- The databases included in the
Starting Points (General Databases) and
Newspapers links will provide good starting points for finding editorials.
General search tips:
- Avoid using the terms pro and con in your search, unless the issue frequently uses pro- or con-
to identify supporters of the position (i.e. pro-life, pro-choice, anti-abortion).
- Read the abstracts of the editorials, when available, as these will provide you with a brief
summary of the writer's viewpoint.
Recommended databases for locating editorials:
Academic OneFile
(InfoTrac)
- Select
Advanced Search in the orange bar at the top of the page.
- Type in your keywords search box.
- In the limit secrtion of the page:
Select
Editorials from the
By document type options.
- To view individual editorials click on the
Text or
PDF link for a citation.
Academic Search Premier
(EBSCOHost)
- Type your search terms in the search box(es).
- Go to the
Limit your results section of the page and in the
Document Type category select
Editorial.
- To view individual editorials click on the
HTML Full Text or
PDF Full Text links.
If neither of these links is included, an editorial is not full-text in this database and you
will need to click on the
Discover link.
LexisNexis Academic
- Select the
News option on the left.
- Click
All News.
- Enter your search term(s).
- In the
Article Type box select
Editorials and Opinions.
- Click
Search.
-
Please note:
All results retrieved in this database will be full text. Click on the newspaper name to view
the accompanying editorial.
Sources for Editorials/Essays in General Magazines in the Undergraduate Library
The titles below are a located in the Undergraduate Library Periodicals section. Titles are
shelved alphabetically.
Note:
Browsing for two articles on a particular issue is not recommended; this list is simply to
give you an idea of available sources.
- Atlantic Monthly
- Business Week
- Christianity Today
- Environment
- Forbes
- In These Times
- Mother Jones
- Nation
- New Republic
- New Yorker
- Newsweek
- Policy Review
- Progressive
- Public Interest
- Reason
- Science
- U.S. News & World Report
- Utne Reader
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