• Journal articles offer detailed looks at very specific topics. 
• Journal databases (or indexes) allow you to search across hundreds of journals.
• These databases include journals beyond those held at Illinois. While many articles are available online or available in print in our libraries, those that are not can be requested through InterLibrary Loan (see "Getting full text" tab.)
• Articles can be scholarly or popular. For how to tell the difference, select the "Is it Scholarly" tab.
• How do you read an article citation to understand what you're looking for? Select the "Reading citations" tab.

See the other tabs listed under this one for more information about finding journal articles.

1. Use the "Music-specific databases" tab of this guide to learn about databases just for finding music articles.

2. If you have no idea where to start looking for articles and other materials:

The Music and Performing Arts Easy Search tool (the navy box on the MPAL homepage) is really useful. Use keywords to search the Library catalog and many of our online databases to see which ones have the most results. More about how to use Easy Search.

3. If you already have a citation for a specific article:

Use the Journal & Article Locator to find the full-text. After entering the journal name, issue, author, article title, you will be directed to specific database(s) that contain the article you are looking for.

* If you know the name of the journal you want, search for the title of the journal in:

1. Library catalog (use Title search) 
2. Online Journals & Databases (Under the "Title" tab) OR

* If you want a list by subject of all of the databases the Library subscribes to, please use the A-Z Databases list.

Feel free to ask library staff if you have any questions or need any help navigating the SFX tool or Easy Search.

Musicology

• Journal of the American Musicological Society
• Music and Letters
• Musical Quarterly

World Music

• Ethnomusicology
• British Journal of Ethnomusicology
• Yearbook of Traditional Music
• World of Music

Popular Music/Culture

• Popular Music
• Popular Music and Society
• Journal of Popular Culture