Enter your university or local library and ask the reference librarian to point you in the direction of the research-based journal articles. If you don't have access to your local library, search for it online and request access by calling or e-mailing the person listed on the "Contact Us" page.
Search the journals and pick one to read. Find the journal's website and visit it to see the type of articles the journal publishes on a regular basis. If you notice that the articles contain an assortment of graphs, charts, cited sources, footnotes and peer-reviews, it's probable you are on the right track.
Read a full article to verify whether the article is based on empirical research. Identify empirical research articles by recognizing any of the following sections in a document: abstract, hypothesis, methodology, conclusion and a page for works cited. These are strong indications that the article is authentic.
Use keywords such as "study," "statistical," "data," "surveys," "research" and "quantitative" when searching for empirical research articles on a library's website.