Take notes!
- Literature Search Tracking TemplateUse this form to track your search phrase development, the number of results you get as you make changes, and how these changes influence your results
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Databases of Indigenous-focused research
These are open-access article databases that provide searchable listings of Indigenous-focused research.
*You may need to come back to our library website to search for the full-text version of the resources you find.
- iPortal Indigenous Studies PortalOnline database of academic articles, theses, and other resources for indigenous studies. Created by the University of Saskatchewan.
- Native Health Database"Health-related articles, reports, surveys, and other resource documents pertaining to the health and health care of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations." Created by the University of New Mexico
Indigenous Health Journals
These journals are mostly not listed in traditional academic journal article databases such as PubMed or CINAHL. This means that you will need to separately search each journal website (in addition to other database searches you might carry out) in order to be sure to include that journal in your search. You can double-check whether a journal is indexed in a database either by searching for the journal in the database (most have a list of journals they index), or by going to the journal website (typically the About page), and looking to see if they state where the journal is indexed.
- American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health ResearchOpen access, peer-reviewed journal, hosted by the Colorado School of Public Health
- Canadian Journal of Program Evaluationpen access, peer-reviewed, French/English billingual journal published three times a year by the Canadian Evaluation Society. Also includes a permanent section within each issue called "Roots and Relatives" which will "sacredly hold and protect traditional knowledge, respect and assert sovereignty, provide a nurturing space for Indigenous voices, and celebrate Indigenous innovations in evaluation. Roots and Relations is to be a welcoming place for Indigenous graduate students, curious and passionate Indigenous community members, Indigenous practitioners, and Indigenous policy makers, leaders, and scholars on Kukuna Ahkuy (Mother Earth) to share their important work."
- The International Journal of Indigenous Healthpeer-reviewed, open access research article journal hosted by the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
- Journal of American Indian & Alaska Native HealthPeer-reviewed, only one 2015 issue apparently was published
- Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing: Te Mauri - PimatisiwinPeer-reviewed, open access, international in scope, with one issue published annually in the spring
- Native Social Work Journalopen access, produced by the School of Native Human Services - Native Social Work Journal, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario. Last biennial issue was in 2014, may no longer be in production.
- Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Healthpeer reviewed, open access, "The Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health is dedicated to fostering respectful collaboration and the co-creation of knowledge within the field of Indigenous health. Grounded in traditional teachings and an Indigenous scholarly lens, the Journal aims to enhance our understanding of Indigenous peoples’ health and its many interconnected contributing factors such as the Land, culture, healthcare and education."
Library Research Article Databases
Below are databases the library subscribes to which are relevant to this discipline. To explore other options, see the full list of the library's databases here.
- ERIC (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowERIC provides access to the literature of education, including journal articles, reports, conference papers and other materials.
Subject Headings for Databases
*For help forming database search phrases, see the "Form a research question" tab on the left
CINAHL - an academic article database with a health sciences focus
You can search for your topic using CINAHL Subject Headings (sometimes not preferred terminology of specific communities) or combine these terms with other keywords when searching:
Native Americans [NOTE: "For native peoples of the United States and non-Arctic Alaska regions"]
Inuit [NOTE: "Group of culturally similar indigenous peoples of Arctic and near-Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland."
Eskimos [Note: "For genetic and physiological as well as cultural and social discussion of Eskimos."
PubMed - a database of academic articles with a medicine and biomedicine focus
You can search for your topic using Medical Subject headings (MeSH) (sometimes not preferred terminology of specific communities) or combine these terms with other keywords when searching:
"Alaskan Natives"[Mesh]
"American Native Continental Ancestry Group"[Mesh]
"American Indians or Alaska Natives"[Mesh] - NEW TERM - use for articles published in 2022 or later.
- for articles published 1990 to 2021, use "Indians, North American"[Mesh]
"Ethnopharmacology"[Mesh]
"Health Disparity, Minority and Vulnerable Populations"[Mesh]
"Health Services, Indigenous"[Mesh]
"Indians, Central American"[Mesh]
"Indians, North American"[Mesh] - OLD TERM - only used on articles published 1990 to 2021
- for articles published in 2022 or later, use "American Indians or Alaska Natives"[Mesh]
"Indians, South American"[Mesh]
"Inuits"[Mesh]
"United States Indian Health Service"[Mesh]
Interdisciplinary Indigenous Studies Journals
These journals are mostly not listed in traditional academic journal article databases such as PubMed or CINAHL. This means that you will need to separately search each journal website (in addition to other database searches you might carry out) in order to be sure to include that journal in your search. You can double-check whether a journal is indexed in a database either by searching for the journal in the database (most have a list of journals they index), or by going to the journal website (typically the About page), and looking to see if they state where the journal is indexed.
- American Indian Quarterlypaywalled, peer reviewed, "a forum for diverse voices and perspectives spanning a variety of academic disciplines. The common thread is AIQ’s commitment to publishing work that contributes to the development of American Indian studies as a field and to the sovereignty and continuance of American Indian nations and cultures. In addition to peer-reviewed articles, AIQ features reviews of books, films, and exhibits."
- Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & SocietyThis journal shares work purposefully engaged in the decolonization process, regardless of discipline or field, encouraging work that actively seeks undisciplinary connections that work both against and beyond the Western academy. (new issues ceased in 2018)
- First Peoples Child & Family ReviewThe First Peoples Child & Family Review is an open-access, interdisciplinary, and peer-reviewed journal honouring the voices and perspectives of First peoples and non-Indigenous allies and supporters.
- International Indigenous Policy Journal"IIPJ is a peer-reviewed, policy-relevant research journal addressing issues pertaining to Indigenous Peoples throughout the world."
- International Journal of Critical Indigenous StudiesAn international, open-access, double anonymous peer-reviewed, scholarly publication. As Critical Indigenous Studies is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field the journal's epistemological framework encompasses but is not restricted to Sociology, Law, Literature, Psychology, Education, Anthropology, History, Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Visual and Performing Arts, Cultural studies, Queer studies, Feminism, Human Geography, Environmentalism, Postcolonial studies and Race studies. The journal brings together emergent and ground breaking research in the field of Indigenous studies within the global community offering scope for critical international engagement and debate.
- Journal of Indigenous Researchopen access, "The mission of the KI is to centralize access to educational, health, psychological and environmental research, to disseminate research conducted in Indian Country, to provide a community accessible outlet for Indigenous research, to provide a comprehensive data base of Indigenous research available to the professional and scientific community and to assist in training of Native researchers. The Journal of Indigenous Research is designed to provide research data in a way that is understandable to the average person and will also specifically indicate an application of the material presented. These 1500-2000 word articles will be written in non-technical language, state some outcome of the research, explain the importance of the outcome for Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian, Maori people, and will be from the areas of the environment, public health, psychology, general health or education."
- Native American and Indigenous Studies JournalNAIS is a blind/peer-reviewed scholarly journal published two times a year by The University of Minnesota Press.
- Mai Journala New Zealand-based journal that publishes multidisciplinary peer-reviewed articles that critically analyse and address indigenous and Pacific issues in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand