{"id":20375,"date":"2026-07-07T16:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/?p=20375"},"modified":"2026-07-07T16:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:23:10","slug":"articles-journals-databases-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/articles-journals-databases-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Articles, Journals, Databases: What&#8217;s the difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Article<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An article is a single scholarly work written by one or more authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Articles usually include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Title<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Author(s)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Abstract<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduction<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Methods<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Results<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discussion<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>References<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A research study on climate change<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A literature review about online learning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A case study in nursing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Journal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A journal is a publication that releases issues regularly (monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A journal is similar to a magazine, and the articles are the individual stories inside it. Each journal issue contains multiple articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_hathitrust_hathifiles_uc1_b223445&amp;context=PC&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;adaptor=Primo%20Central&amp;tab=Everything&amp;query=any%2Ccontains%2CPsychology&amp;facet=rtype%2Cinclude%2Cjournals&amp;offset=0\">Journal of comparative\u00a0<\/a><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_hathitrust_hathifiles_uc1_b223445&amp;context=PC&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;adaptor=Primo%20Central&amp;tab=Everything&amp;query=any%2Ccontains%2CPsychology&amp;facet=rtype%2Cinclude%2Cjournals&amp;offset=0\"><em>psychology<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_nlcr_dnnt_74d442a0_4081_11ed_9a19_005056825209&amp;context=PC&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;adaptor=Primo%20Central&amp;tab=Everything&amp;query=any%2Ccontains%2Cenvironment&amp;facet=rtype%2Cinclude%2Cjournals&amp;offset=0\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_nlcr_dnnt_74d442a0_4081_11ed_9a19_005056825209&amp;context=PC&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;adaptor=Primo%20Central&amp;tab=Everything&amp;query=any%2Ccontains%2Cenvironment&amp;facet=rtype%2Cinclude%2Cjournals&amp;offset=0\">Plant, soil and\u00a0environment<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/fulldisplay?docid=alma99656702102827&amp;context=L&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&amp;tab=Everything&amp;query=any,contains,american%20historical%20review&amp;offset=0\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/fulldisplay?docid=alma99656702102827&amp;context=L&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&amp;tab=Everything&amp;query=any,contains,american%20historical%20review&amp;offset=0\">American Historical Review<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Database<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A database is like a search engine or library catalog that helps you locate articles, journals, books, and other resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Databases can provide full-text articles, abstracts\/summaries, and may include thousands of journals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/dbfulldisplay?docid=alma99977728202827&amp;context=L&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&amp;tab=jsearch_slot&amp;query=any,contains,&amp;offset=0&amp;databases=letter,en,J\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/dbfulldisplay?docid=alma99977728202827&amp;context=L&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&amp;tab=jsearch_slot&amp;query=any,contains,&amp;offset=0&amp;databases=letter,en,J\">JSTOR<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/fulldisplay?docid=alma991040627302827&amp;context=L&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&amp;tab=Everything&amp;query=any,contains,Academic%20Search%20Complete&amp;offset=0\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/fulldisplay?docid=alma991040627302827&amp;context=L&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&amp;tab=Everything&amp;query=any,contains,Academic%20Search%20Complete&amp;offset=0\">Academic Search Complete<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/dbfulldisplay?docid=alma99778199402827&amp;context=L&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&amp;tab=jsearch_slot&amp;query=any,contains,&amp;offset=0&amp;databases=letter,en,P\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/dbfulldisplay?docid=alma99778199402827&amp;context=L&amp;vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;lang=en&amp;adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&amp;tab=jsearch_slot&amp;query=any,contains,&amp;offset=0&amp;databases=letter,en,P\">PubMed<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">OneSearch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/search?vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;tab=Everything&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;mode=basic&amp;displayMode=full&amp;bulkSize=10&amp;highlight=true&amp;dum=true&amp;query=any,contains,&amp;displayField=all&amp;pcAvailabiltyMode=true\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/sbctc-whatcomctc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/discovery\/search?vid=01STATEWA_WHATCC:WHATCOM&amp;tab=Everything&amp;search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&amp;mode=basic&amp;displayMode=full&amp;bulkSize=10&amp;highlight=true&amp;dum=true&amp;query=any,contains,&amp;displayField=all&amp;pcAvailabiltyMode=true\">OneSearch <\/a>holds all the databases at the WCC library, allowing you to search the results of every database in one place, without having to go into each individual database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also searches the library\u2019s physical resources, along with a selection of eBooks and articles from trusted web sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The results list will contain a wide variety of books, eBooks, videos, images, and articles from newspapers, magazines, and scholarly peer-reviewed journals that you can access with the click of a button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Websites and general Google results are not included in OneSearch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The difference between an academic article, a journal, a database, and OneSearch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[348],"tags":[468,357,464,488],"class_list":["post-20375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-guides","tag-article","tag-databases","tag-journal","tag-onesearch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20375"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20379,"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20375\/revisions\/20379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/librarywp.whatcom.edu\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}