Many databases give you the option to limit your search to more scholarly sources. A refereed source is one in which information is published only after it's been reviewed by several other experts in that subject area. Some databases are electronic versions of dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, directories, and so on. For information about a particular database, check the description provided on our alphabetical list of databases page. In many cases, only a percentage of the magazines and journals are covered in their entirety.
Many databases are also selective in the articles they reproduce from a magazine or journal.
They may only provide the feature articles and may omit less important articles or columns. Most full-text databases have a list of all of the periodicals that they cover. You can find these lists on our Electronic Journal Lists page. Unfortunately, the library only receives a small percentage of the publications covered by any database.