You'll have to find the specialty indexes which relate to the types of academic Journals you are interested in. Look at the list of Journals the library carries. Find out which Index catalogs this Journal. You'll want to ask a reference librarian for suggestions on which indexes to search. Show her your research outline and the Library of Congress Subject Headings Index topics you found.
Academic articles contain new research and back up all their facts with citations.
They review all the major research in their field, documenting the building blocks for their original ideas. A good article is like finding gold. Plan on making at least one, and better yet two, trips to the University of Washington library. The UW has far more academic journals than anywhere else. You don't need a UW library card to use the library.