Kinesiology & Physical Education

The most current research in kinesiology and physical education is often found in journal articles. The U of L Library subscribes to many databases that allow you to search for journal articles on your research topic. Some of the most important databases in the field of kinesiology are listed on the right. Read the description of each database to determine which ones are most likely to include articles on your topic.

Databases usually provide article citation information and abstracts—summaries of what each article is about. Often, the full text of the article is available within the database or through a link. If the full text of an article isn't available through the U of L Library, you may request it via an interlibrary loan.

For tips on how to search databases, check out our instructional videos.

The databases listed below, particularly SPORTDiscus, are core kinesiology resources. They are the best sources of scholarly articles on kinesiology and physical education research.

For a more comprehensive list, see our Kinesiology Resources page. Keep in mind that many research topics are multidisciplinary, so you may wish to search databases from other subject areas as needed.

When searching for articles to use in your research, keep in mind that not all articles are scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. Magazines such as Sports Illustrated can be good sources of information on topics related to popular culture and current events; however, be aware that articles in magazines are authored by journalists rather than academics, and thus may not be appropriate for research papers.

To determine whether or not an article is peer reviewed, search the title of the journal in which it is published in Ulrichsweb. Peer reviewed journals will have the black "refereed" symbol () displayed next to them.

For more help with identifying reliable, scholarly sources of information, visit our Evaluating Sources guide.