example of a research database

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Academic Databases: A Guide for Researchers

Academic research databases are essential sources of information for researchers, academics, and scholars. These databases are academic search engines that help academics stay updated on the latest developments in their field. Scholarly databases support their own work with credible sources and contribute to the overall progress of knowledge and literature in different subjects. Let’s understand more about academic databases.   

Table of Contents

What is an Academic Database?    

An academic database is a comprehensive repository of information that includes various types of content, such as articles, images, market trend reports, and scientific papers. Its primary function is to help users find valuable journal articles by using relevant keywords or a specific topic name.    

By doing so, researchers and students can access pertinent information for their essays or studies. Many times, these articles are accessible online, making academic databases a convenient and efficient tool for retrieving essential academic materials. [1] 

Some popular academic research databases include Scopus for various research, JSTOR for humanities and social sciences, PubMed for medical research, and IEEE Xplore for engineering and technology.   

Types of Academic Databases    

Different kinds of academic databases are designed to meet specific academic needs or disciplines. Following are some key scholarly databases:   

• Open Access Databases: These scholarly databases offer unrestricted access to research articles and publications. Unlike some traditional journals that require payment for access, Open Access Databases allow anyone to read and download scholarly content without any cost. Examples include the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Public Library of Science (PLOS), and BioMed Central (BMC). [2]  
• Full-Text Databases: Unlike databases that are limited in scope and only provide summaries, Full-Text Databases allow users to read and download the whole text of articles, papers, and other scholarly materials. Examples include JSTOR, IEEE Xplore, and ScienceDirect. [3]
• Subject-specific databases: Subject-specific databases stay focused and are specifically designed to cater to scholars and researchers from a particular field of study. Examples of Subject-specific Databases include PubMed for medical research, PsycINFO for engineering and technology, and ERIC for Education. [4]  
• Multidisciplinary Databases: Unlike Subject-specific Databases, as the name suggests, Multidisciplinary Databases don’t limit themselves to a single discipline but cover a wide range of subjects. They go beyond specific fields and offer a diverse collection of scholarly content on various fields. Examples include ProQuest Central, Scopus, and Web of Science. [4]  
• Abstracting and Indexing databases: Abstracting and Indexing Databases limit themselves to summaries (abstracts) and details like authors and topics. They do not offer complete content like full-text articles. Examples include Web of Science (multidisciplinary), ProQuest (multidisciplinary), and INSPEC (physics, engineering). [4][5]  
• Citation Databases: The popularity of an academic work can be measured with Citation Databases. These academic databases show how often a scholarly article has been cited by other researchers, helping assess its impact and influence. Examples include Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. [6]  

Benefits of Using Academic Databases    

Using academic databases offers several benefits for researchers, students, and academics. [7] 

• Access to Reliable Information: Academic databases offer access to peer-reviewed articles, databases, and scholarly content, ensuring the reliability and credibility of the information.   
• Comprehensive and Up-to-date: These academic search engines include information on a wide range of subjects and have the latest and the most extensive collection of research articles, papers, and journals.   
• Efficient Research: Academic databases streamline the research process through targeted and specific searches using keywords, research topics, or authors. Compared with traditional methods of gathering information, academic research databases save time and money.   
• Citation and Referencing: It becomes relatively easy for scholars to find reliable academic sources and appropriately cite them, building on and adding to the credibility of their research work.   
• Interdisciplinary Exploration: Instead of a unidimensional approach to research, multidisciplinary databases allow the discovery of different perspectives and findings from various fields. This would be a challenge in the traditional or ‘offline’ way of research.   
• Research Collaboration: Research databases facilitate and encourage collaboration by providing a centralized platform for researchers to share their work and discover relevant studies.   
• Time and Cost Savings: Online academic databases eliminate the need for physical library visits, which in turn saves time and costs associated with obtaining printed research and academic materials.   

R Discovery for Researchers    

R Discovery, an AI-powered academic database, makes it easier for researchers to find relevant scholarly articles. Using advanced algorithms, it scans through its robust and growing academic database sourced from major databases like Microsoft Academic, PubMed, PubMed Central, and Crossref to recommend top articles in your field. The tool aims to save time and effort, providing access to over 250 million research articles, including more than 40 million open-access articles, with 14 million authors, 9 million topics, and 32,000 journals.   

References:    

• Academic Databases – StudyHub   
• Open Access from Publishers and Databases – Library Technology Launchpad   
• Searching Online Databases – Tennessee State University   
• Types of Databases – Database Help – Murdoch University   
• Resources for Social Work – Liverpool John Moores University   
• Full-Text vs. Citation Databases – LIS-Educate.com   
• The Knowledge House For Research: Academic Databases Guide – Mind The Graph  

R Discovery is a literature search and research reading platform that accelerates your research discovery journey by keeping you updated on the latest, most relevant scholarly content. With 250M+ research articles sourced from trusted aggregators like CrossRef, Unpaywall, PubMed, PubMed Central, Open Alex and top publishing houses like Springer Nature, JAMA, IOP, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, BMJ, Karger, SAGE, Emerald Publishing and more, R Discovery puts a world of research at your fingertips.  

Try R Discovery Prime FREE for 1 week or upgrade at just US$72 a year to access premium features that let you listen to research on the go, read in your language, collaborate with peers, auto sync with reference managers, and much more. Choose a simpler, smarter way to find and read research – Download the app and start your free 7-day trial today !  

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24 Best Databases For Research: A Comprehensive List For Students

From academic journals to professional publications, this list covers the best databases for research. Start your search for valuable information.

Apr 5, 2024

Research is the driving force behind the innovation and progress that defines every field of study. In the digital age, this pursuit has been significantly diversified, with multiple avenues available for exploration. The most reliable sources of information are databases designed to deliver accurate and updated information on a wide range of subjects. In this blog, we delve into the world of database research and bring to light the best databases for research, delving into the difference between primary vs secondary sources .

Table of Contents

How to evaluate a research database, benefits of using academic and professional databases for research, how to find peer-reviewed articles, common research mistakes to avoid, supercharge your researching ability with otio — try otio for free today.

Research databases are like treasure troves, offering a wealth of scholarly materials such as journal articles, conference papers, books, and more. Each database is meticulously curated and organized, making them invaluable tools for researchers. These databases are segmented to facilitate research across specific disciplines by focusing on distinct fields or fostering research that transcends multiple domains. 

They are akin to libraries designed to cater to the nuanced demands of the academic community, providing a structured digital environment where researchers can delve into a curated assortment of resources that are both focused and wide-ranging.

Criteria for Evaluating Research Databases

Coverage and scope.

When determining the credibility and reliability of research databases, one must first assess their coverage and scope. A database's value is contingent on its ability to index a broad array of scholarly literature—from peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings to academic books and other relevant sources. The broader the scope and coverage, the more likely researchers are to find a comprehensive array of material that aligns with their field of interest.

Content Quality

Another essential factor in evaluating a research database is the quality of its content. Key considerations include the reputation of the journals and publishers contained in the database, the stringency of the peer-review process, and the credibility of the authors and institutions involved. Quality control is essential when ensuring that the content within a research database is trustworthy and academically sound.

Search Features and Functionality

The search features and functionality of a database are vital for researchers who rely on it to find relevant information. The capacity to refine search queries using filters for publication date, document type, or subject category is crucial. The user interface, accessibility of search results, and general ease of navigation are pivotal features that contribute to the overall usability and effectiveness of a research database.

Peer Review

A significant mark of a reputable research database is its inclusion of peer-reviewed journals and publications. Articles that have undergone rigorous scrutiny by domain experts are inherently more trustworthy and credible. Prioritizing peer-reviewed content ensures that researchers have access to information that is both authoritative and accurate, ultimately enhancing the quality of their research endeavors.

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Reliable Resources

When conducting research, it is crucial to use reliable resources that provide accurate and trustworthy information. Research databases are excellent sources of information because they contain articles, studies, and other resources written by professionals within specific fields. These sources undergo a rigorous editorial process and are peer-reviewed, ensuring their accuracy and reliability. 

This level of quality is far superior to information found through regular search engines, where results can be manipulated and sources can lack credibility. By utilizing research databases, researchers can access materials that are not only verified but also written by experts in the field. This ensures that the information is current, accurate, and trustworthy, helping researchers find the support they need for their work.

One of the key benefits of using research databases is the availability of accurate citations. Research databases include citations for any information sourced from other works, providing a clear trail of references that can be useful for further research. These sources usually come with a citation that can be directly used to reference the material in a research paper or presentation. 

This feature helps save time by providing an accurate citation for the source used in research work and ensures that authors give credit to the original work. By including citations, research databases facilitate the proper acknowledgment of sources and give authors confidence in the accuracy and authenticity of their work.

Accessibility

Research databases offer easy access to a range of peer-reviewed, scholarly sources, making it simple for professionals to find reliable materials for their research. These databases often contain a wide variety of content, including academic journals, articles, reports, and more, allowing researchers to explore a wealth of resources relevant to their field of study. 

Peer-reviewed sources are valued in academic and professional circles because they undergo a rigorous evaluation process by experts in the same field. This evaluation ensures the accuracy, credibility, and quality of the content, making it a valuable resource for researchers. Access to these resources is essential for researchers to stay informed about the latest developments, trends, and findings within their area of interest.

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PubMed is a free search engine operated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focusing primarily on biomedical literature. It includes millions of citations and abstracts from biomedical literature, comprising life science journals, online books, and articles.

JSTOR is a digital library that offers access to thousands of academic journals, books, and primary sources across various disciplines, such as humanities, social sciences, and sciences. It is valuable for historical research due to its full-text access to older journal issues.

Scopus is a comprehensive abstract and citation database that covers a wide range of disciplines. It includes peer-reviewed literature like journals, conference proceedings, and patents. Scopus provides advanced search and analysis tools for researchers.

4. Web of Science

Developed by Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science is a multidisciplinary citation database covering scholarly literature from various fields. It indexes high-impact journals and offers citation metrics to assess research impact and track scholarly trends.

5. Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes scholarly literature across different disciplines. It includes articles, theses, books, and conference papers sourced from academic publishers, professional societies, universities, and more.

6. IEEE Xplore

IEEE Xplore is a digital library that offers access to research literature in engineering, technology, and related fields. It features journals, conference proceedings, standards, and eBooks published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and its partners.

7. PsycINFO

PsycINFO is a bibliographic database maintained by the American Psychological Association (APA). It covers psychology and related disciplines, including psychiatry, sociology, education, and anthropology. PsycINFO indexes journal articles, books, chapters, and dissertations.

8. ScienceDirect

ScienceDirect is an online platform operated by Elsevier, providing access to a vast collection of scientific and technical research literature. It hosts journals, books, and reference works across various fields like physical sciences, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences.

9. SpringerLink

SpringerLink is a digital platform offering access to scientific, technical, and medical content published by Springer Nature. It includes journals, books, conference proceedings, and reference works in numerous disciplines, including natural sciences, computer science, and medicine.

10. BioMed Central

BioMed Central (BMC) is a publisher of open-access, peer-reviewed journals in the fields of biology, medicine, and biomedicine. It offers free access to research articles, reviews, and other content, promoting transparency and accessibility in scientific publishing.

11. PubMed Central

PubMed Central (PMC) is a free digital repository maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). It archives full-text scholarly articles from biomedical and life science journals, ensuring long-term preservation and accessibility to research literature.

Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is an online digital library of education research and information. It provides access to articles, research reports, conference papers, and other resources related to various aspects of education, including teaching, learning, and policy.

13. ProQuest

ProQuest is a multidisciplinary research database that offers access to scholarly journals, newspapers, dissertations, and other publications. It covers a wide range of subjects, including arts, business, health, science, and social sciences, providing valuable resources for researchers.

14. EconLit

EconLit is a database maintained by the American Economic Association, focusing on economics literature. It includes journal articles, books, working papers, and more, covering topics such as economic theory, labor economics, international economics, and economic development.

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) is a comprehensive database of nursing and allied health literature. It includes journal articles, books, dissertations, standards, and more, helping healthcare professionals access relevant research in their fields.

16. PsycARTICLES

PsycARTICLES is a database offering full-text articles from journals published by the APA and allied organizations. It covers a wide range of psychology topics, providing access to research articles, reviews, and other content for professionals and researchers in the field.

17. EconBiz

EconBiz is a research tool for economics and business studies, offering access to academic literature, journals, working papers, and other resources in the field. It covers topics such as economic policy, finance, management, and more, providing valuable information for researchers.

18. IEEE Computer Society Digital Library

The IEEE Computer Society Digital Library is a platform providing access to research literature related to computer science and technology. It includes journals, conference proceedings, and standards published by the IEEE Computer Society, offering valuable resources for researchers in the field.

19. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems

IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems is a journal focusing on the emerging areas of neural networks and learning systems. It covers research articles, reviews, and applications related to neural networks, deep learning, machine learning, and other related topics.

20. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence

IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence is a journal that publishes research articles, reviews, and applications related to pattern analysis, machine learning, computer vision, and related topics. It offers valuable resources for researchers working in these areas.

21. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology

IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology is a journal focusing on research articles, reviews, and applications related to control systems technology. It covers topics such as adaptive control, process control, robotics, and more, providing valuable resources for researchers in the field.

22. Agricola

Agricola is a database maintained by the National Agricultural Library, offering access to agricultural literature and resources. It includes journal articles, books, theses, patents, and more, covering topics such as agriculture, forestry, food, and nutrition, providing valuable information for researchers in the field.

23. Business Source Complete

Business Source Complete is a comprehensive business research database offering access to scholarly journals, trade publications, industry reports, and more. It covers various business disciplines, including marketing, management, finance, and economics, providing valuable resources for researchers and professionals in the field.

24. Sociological Abstracts

Sociological Abstracts is a database providing access to literature in the field of sociology and related disciplines. It includes journal articles, books, conference papers, and other resources, covering topics such as social behavior , culture, social structure, and more, offering valuable information for researchers in the field. Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner — try Otio for free today!

• How To Tell If An Article Is Peer Reviewed • Reliable Sources For Research • Literature Search • How To Summarize A Research Article • Summarize Research Paper Ai • Using Ai For Research • How To Use Chat Gpt For Research • How To Search For Research Articles

Peer-reviewed articles are the cornerstone of credible research. The internet is flooded with articles, journals, and books, some of which lack credibility . Peer-reviewed articles have undergone scrutiny by industry experts and scholars, making them trustworthy sources for research.

Factors to Consider When Finding Peer-Reviewed Articles 

Check the author.

Peer-reviewed articles are crafted by experts in a specific field, ensuring that the research is credible. This rigid evaluation process requires authors to have industry expertise relevant to their research. When assessing an article, verify the author's credentials to guarantee their expertise.

Choose a Database

Select a reputable academic database or search engine that indexes peer-reviewed literature in your area of interest. This ensures that your research findings are credible and reliable.

Define Your Search Query

Clearly define your research topic or question to guide your search. Identify relevant keywords, phrases, and concepts, and consider utilizing Boolean operators to combine or exclude search terms for more precise results.

Use Advanced Search Features

Leverage advanced search features provided by the database to refine your search results. Filters for publication date, document type, author affiliation, and journal title can help narrow down the most relevant articles for your research.

Select Peer-Reviewed or Scholarly Journals

Look for options to restrict your search results to peer-reviewed or scholarly journals. This filter guarantees that the articles you find have undergone a rigorous review process by industry experts.

Check Journal Information

Ensure that the journal publishing the article is peer-reviewed or scholarly. Review the journal’s editorial board, review process, and publication standards on the publisher’s website to verify its credibility.

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Otio streamlines the research process and accelerates the transition from reading lists to first drafts. Researchers can benefit from Otio’s AI-generated notes on all bookmarks, a chat feature for individual links or entire knowledge bases, and AI-assisted writing, making the research and writing experience seamless and efficient.

Sticking to One Source

When conducting research, it's important to explore various angles and perspectives on your topic. Relying on a single source may limit the depth and breadth of information you can gather and present in your work.

Not Documenting Every Fact

Failing to document each piece of information as you conduct your research can lead to a lot of extra work when it comes time to write your paper or article. Be sure to keep thorough notes and properly attribute all information to its original source.

Using Outdated Materials

Academic disciplines are constantly evolving, and new research may have surfaced since older articles were published. Ensure your research is current by incorporating the latest studies and findings in your work.

Relying Solely on Open Access Journals

While Open Access journals provide a wealth of free articles, don't discount paid content . Exploring a variety of sources, both free and paid, can enrich your research and provide a more comprehensive understanding of your topic.

Digging Too Deep or Not Deep Enough

Finding the right balance in the depth of your research is crucial. Conducting searches that are too broad may yield vague results, while overly specific searches could lead to irrelevant information. Aim for a concise yet thorough exploration of your research question.

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Efficient Knowledge Collection and Note-Taking 

This platform helps users to collect from a wide range of data sources, including bookmarks, tweets, extensive books, and YouTube videos. Users can extract key takeaways with detailed AI-generated notes and source-grounded Q&A chat. Otio helps create draft outputs using collected sources, assisting users in progressing from reading lists to first drafts more efficiently. 

Streamlining Research and Writing Processes with Otio's AI Assistance

Otio also aids in faster research paper and essay writing. Key features that researchers love include AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (YouTube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), individual link or entire knowledge base chat like ChatGPT, and AI-assisted writing. 

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The Knowledge House For Research: Academic Databases Guide

Explore academic databases and craft insightful content with credible sources. Learn about the types, benefits, and top databases.

In the age of information, academic databases have emerged as essential hubs of knowledge. These digital storages have transformed the way researchers, students, and academics access and interact with information. 

This article delves into the world of academic databases , exploring their significance , types , and the benefits they bring to the realms of learning and research . So, let us get started.

What Is An Academic Database? 

An academic database, also known as a scholarly database, is a digital repository or collection of academic resources, research articles, papers, journals, books, conference proceedings, and other scholarly materials that are related to various academic disciplines. These databases serve as centralized platforms for researchers, students, and professionals to access high-quality, peer-reviewed information and conduct academic research.

Popular examples of academic databases include PubMed for medical research, IEEE Xplore for engineering and technology, JSTOR for humanities and social sciences, and Scopus for multidisciplinary research.

Types Of Academic Databases

Academic databases come in various types, each catering to specific academic disciplines or purposes. Here are some common types of academic databases, along with brief explanations for each

Multidisciplinary Databases

These databases cover a wide range of academic fields and include content from various disciplines. They are suitable for general research and exploration across different subject areas.

• PubMed (medicine and life sciences)
• Scopus (multidisciplinary)
• Google Scholar (multidisciplinary)

Subject-Specific Databases

These databases focus on a single academic field or subject area, providing in-depth and specialized content for researchers and students in that particular discipline.

• PsycINFO (psychology)
• ERIC (education)
• MathSciNet (mathematics)

Abstracting And Indexing Databases

These databases do not provide full-text articles but instead offer abstracts, citations, and indexing information for academic publications. Researchers often use them to discover relevant articles and then access the full texts through other means.

• Web of Science (multidisciplinary)
• ProQuest (multidisciplinary)
• INSPEC (physics, engineering)

Full-Text Databases

Full-text databases provide access to complete articles, books, and other scholarly publications within a specific subject area or across multiple disciplines.

• JSTOR (humanities and social sciences)
• IEEE Xplore (engineering and technology)
• ScienceDirect ( science and engineering)

Citation Databases

Citation databases focus on tracking citations between academic articles, helping researchers identify influential works, trends, and the impact of their own research.

• Microsoft Academic (multidisciplinary)

Open Access Databases

Open-access databases provide free and unrestricted access to academic content. They promote the sharing of knowledge without paywalls or subscription fees.

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• Public Library of Science (PLOS)
• BioMed Central (BMC)

Also Read: Pros and Cons of Open Access Publishing: Empowering Academics

Each type of academic database serves a unique purpose and audience, enabling researchers, students, and academics to access relevant scholarly information within their specific areas of interest or study.

Benefits Of Using Academic Databases

Using academic databases offers several benefits to researchers, students, and academics. These databases are valuable tools for accessing high-quality scholarly information and conducting research. Here are some of the key benefits of using academic databases:

Access to High-Quality Information

Academic databases contain peer-reviewed and reputable sources, ensuring the reliability and credibility of the information available. Researchers can trust the accuracy of the content they find.

Efficient Searching

Databases provide advanced search features, such as keyword searches, filters, and Boolean operators, which allow users to refine their searches and find relevant information quickly.

Comprehensive Coverage

Many academic databases cover a wide range of topics and disciplines, providing access to a diverse array of scholarly materials, including research articles, books, thesis , and more.

Time Savings

Researchers can save time by using databases instead of manually searching through numerous journals and publications. Databases compile relevant materials in one place, streamlining the research process.

Citation Assistance

Databases often include citation information for each article or publication, making it easier for researchers to properly cite their sources in their own work, which is crucial for academic integrity.

Current and Historical Content

Databases offer access to both current research and historical publications, allowing researchers to trace the development of ideas and track changes in a particular field over time.

Interdisciplinary Research

Multidisciplinary databases enable researchers to explore connections between different academic disciplines, fostering interdisciplinary research and innovation.

Remote Access

Many academic institutions provide remote access to their databases, allowing students and researchers to access materials from anywhere with an internet connection.

Types of Academic Resources Available in Academic Databases

Academic databases offer a wide variety of academic resources that cater to the needs of researchers, students, and academics. These resources encompass different formats and types of content to support various aspects of scholarly work. Here are some common types of academic resources available in academic databases:

Research Articles

• These are scholarly articles published in academic journals.
• They typically present original research findings, methodologies, and discussions of academic topics.
• Research articles undergo peer review before publication to ensure quality and validity.

Conference Papers And Proceedings

• These include papers presented at academic conferences and the proceedings of those conferences.
• They often contain the latest research findings and innovations in a particular field.

Books And Book Chapters

• Academic databases may provide access to full books or individual chapters from academic books.
• Books offer in-depth coverage of topics and serve as comprehensive references.

Thesis and Dissertations

• These are research documents submitted by graduate students as part of their degree requirements.
• Thesis and dissertations often contain original research and contribute to the scholarly discourse in a specific field.

Reports and Whitepapers

• These documents are often published by research institutions, government agencies, or organizations.
• Reports and whitepapers provide detailed analysis, data, and recommendations on various topics.

Reviews and Commentaries

• These articles offer critical assessments, critiques, or commentary on existing research or academic topics.
• Reviews can help researchers understand the state of knowledge in a particular area.

Reference Materials

• Academic databases may include reference materials like dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks.
• These resources provide definitions, explanations, and overviews of academic concepts and topics.

These types of academic resources collectively support research, teaching, and learning across a wide range of academic disciplines and are vital for advancing knowledge in various fields.

In conclusion, academic databases serve as indispensable tools in the world of education and research. They provide a vast and organized collection of scholarly resources, offering researchers, students, and academics quick and reliable access to the wealth of human knowledge. 

Related Article: The Academic Success Blueprint That Helps You Thrive And Shine

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About Sowjanya Pedada

Sowjanya is a passionate writer and an avid reader. She holds MBA in Agribusiness Management and now is working as a content writer. She loves to play with words and hopes to make a difference in the world through her writings. Apart from writing, she is interested in reading fiction novels and doing craftwork. She also loves to travel and explore different cuisines and spend time with her family and friends.

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Online Databases for Research: Guide to the Best Free & Paid DBs

Written By: Cheyenne Kolosky

• August 25, 2023
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The Full Guide To Online Databases For Research

Online databases have become essential tools for researchers in various fields. They offer easy access to a vast amount of information, including academic journals, scientific studies, business reports, government , and medical records. 

In this guide, we will explore the world of online databases and provide you with valuable insights on how to use them effectively for your research needs. But first things first, let’s take a look at how online databases revolutionized research, and what they are. 

What are Online Databases?

In the past, researchers had to rely on physical libraries and manually search through countless books and journals to find relevant information. This process was not only time-consuming but also limited the scope of research to what was available locally.

An online database, on the other hand, is a digital repository that stores and organizes vast amounts of information, making it easily accessible to users across the globe. They help researchers with: 

• Storing large volumes of data 
• Searching capabilities
• Sorting and organizing data
• Filtering data 
• And data visualization tools.

These databases can also be discipline-specific, covering areas such as academic research, scientific data, business analytics, and medical records. And with the features and discipline-specific organization, this allows researchers to save a significant amount of time. 

The Top Reasons Online Databases Drive Better Thinking

The significance of online databases in research cannot be overstated. Here are a few reasons of why they are so paramount for researchers: 

• They provide them with quick and efficient access to high-quality, peer-reviewed data and scholarly articles. 
• They allow them to expedite their work.
• They allow them to access recent findings.
• They help establish a solid foundation for their own studies.
• They foster collaboration among them.
• They allow for the sharing and dissemination of knowledge.
• They allow them to contribute to the collective body of knowledge in their respective fields.
• They can leverage online databases to extract meaningful insights and identify patterns that would otherwise be impossible to uncover.

Furthermore, online databases have democratized access to information. In the past, access to certain resources was limited to those who could afford expensive subscriptions or had access to prestigious institutions. With online databases, anyone with an internet connection can access a wealth of information, leveling the playing field and promoting inclusivity in research.

As technology continues to advance, online databases will play an even more significant role in shaping the future of research. But now that we understand what online databases are, and why they are so crucial, let’s look at the different types of online databases for research. 

The 4 Main Types of Online Databases for Research

Online databases come in various forms, tailored to meet the specific needs of different research disciplines. Let’s explore some of the commonly used types:

Academic Databases

Academic databases are designed to cater to the needs of scholars across different fields. These databases act as virtual libraries, allowing researchers to access a vast collection of information from the comfort of their own computers. They provide access to:

• Peer-reviewed articles
• Conference papers
• Dissertations
• And other scholarly works. 

Academic databases allow researchers to search for articles based on specific keywords, authors, or publication dates, making it easier and more efficient for scholars to find relevant sources and build upon existing knowledge.

They can also utilize advanced search filters like citation tracking to narrow down their results and find the most relevant and recent publications. Here are 20 examples of online academic databases for research:

And these aren’t the only databases that you will find out there. So, if you’re a researcher, get to digging! Now let’s look at a few examples for scientific databases.  

Science Databases

Science databases focus on scientific research and encompass a wide range of subjects, including:

• And environmental sciences. 

These databases play a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge by providing researchers with access to scientific journals, experimental data, and research findings. And they don’t only provide access to published articles but also include preprints, which are preliminary versions of research papers that have not yet undergone peer review. 

This allows researchers to access cutting-edge research before it is officially published, promoting collaboration and the exchange of ideas within the scientific community. Additionally, these databases often offer tools for data analysis, enabling researchers to explore and interpret complex scientific data. Let’s look at some examples.

While these articles and databases offer an extensive amount of scientific information, there is more out there and it looks like these databases will forever grow. Now let’s take a look at some business databases you could also consult. 

Business Databases 

Business databases provide access to market research reports, financial data, industry trends, and case studies. These databases are invaluable resources for entrepreneurs, market analysts, and business students who need to make informed decisions based on accurate and up-to-date information.

Business databases often include company profiles, which provide detailed information about a company’s history, financial performance, key executives, and competitors. This information is crucial for: 

• Conducting market research
• Identifying potential business opportunities
• And understanding the competitive landscape. 

Business databases also offer industry reports that provide in-depth analysis of specific sectors, helping professionals stay informed about market trends, consumer behavior, and emerging technologies. Let’s look at some examples: 

It’s easy to say that if you’re just starting out of thinking of starting a business, or you’re a seasoned pro, your business could benefit immensely from these business databases. But these aren’t the only type of database, so let’s look at medical databases and some examples. 

Medical Databases

Medical databases focus on healthcare research and provide access to clinical trials, patient records, medical literature, and drug information. They enable healthcare professionals to stay informed about the latest developments in medical science and make informed decisions about patient care. 

Furthermore, these databases include diagnostic tools and medical calculators, which aid healthcare professionals in making accurate diagnoses and treatment decisions. These databases also provide access to drug databases, which contain information about medications, their indications, dosages, and potential side effects. 

Lastly, researchers can utilize medical databases to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses, which help summarize and evaluate existing research on a particular medical topic. So, let’s look at some examples of databases that are available in the market today. 

It’s easy to say that there are millions of articles, research reports, studies, journals, and more that you can look up to further enhance your own research. And now that we have understood what online databases are, and the different types available, let’s take a look at how you can access them. 

How to Access Online Databases

As we have seen, online databases are available in multiple forms of access. The main three types of access to databases are free databases, paid databases, and library access. Let’s look at each of these in a bit more detail. 

Free Databases 

When it comes to free databases, it’s important to keep in mind that while they may provide a starting point for your research, they often have limitations. For example, they may not have access to the latest research articles or provide full-text access to certain publications. However, they can still be a valuable resource, especially for general information or preliminary research.

Paid Databases 

Paid databases offer a wealth of information that is regularly updated and curated by experts in the field. They may also offer advanced search features, citation tools, and other functionalities that can enhance your research process.

While they require a subscription or access fee, they are often worth the investment for those  who rely on up-to-date information. Many universities, research institutions, and organizations provide access to these databases as part of their resources, so it’s worth checking if you have access through your affiliation.

Library Access to Databases

Many libraries provide access to online databases for their patrons. And they are not limited to a specific subject area, so you are likely to find relevant resources. By utilizing these resources, you can take advantage of a wide range of databases without incurring additional costs.

Accessing databases through the library usually requires a library card or an institutional login. Once you have obtained the necessary credentials, you can access the databases either on-site at the library or remotely from your own device. 

In addition, librarians are trained professionals who can help you navigate databases, refine your search strategies, and locate relevant resources for your specific research needs. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your local librarian for guidance and support!

Build You Own! 

Don’t forget in this modern age you can easily build your own database with no coding skills required. If your organization needs an internal wiki or document repository that connects all the dots between external data, internal research, and a variety of business use cases a customizable online database can be a great solution to drive change internally. For example many local governments utilize our online government database apps to easily manage their work with local constituents.  

Top 7 Tips to Navigate Online Databases

When conducting research online, accessing and utilizing online databases can be a game-changer. These databases provide a vast array of information from various sources, making them an invaluable resource for researchers, students, and professionals alike. 

However, to get the most out of these databases, it is essential to navigate through them effectively and efficiently. So to further enhance your knowledge on databases here are some tips to streamline your searches:

• Consider combining your keywords with Boolean operators such as “AND,” “OR,” and “NOT,” to help you retrieve more specific and relevant information. 
• Use quotation marks for exact phrases to refine your search and ensure that the results match your specific needs.
• Utilize the various filters and sorting options to further refine your search results. 
• Familiarize yourself with the database’s features and functionalities to make the most of your research experience.
• Use the index system which categorizes data based on specific criteria, such as subject, author, or publication date. 
• Broaden your search terms to look at what other information is available, such as “Science” or “History,”. 
• Check to see if you can search within the title, abstract, or full text of an article. 

By utilizing advanced search techniques, such as Boolean operators and quotation marks, and taking advantage of filters and sorting options, you can streamline your searches and retrieve more accurate results. 

Additionally, understanding the unique structure and organization of each database, including the indexing system, subject categories, and relevant search fields, will enable you to navigate through them effectively and retrieve the most relevant information for your research.

The 4 Factors to Consider the Credibility of Online Databases

When conducting research online, it is essential to ensure that the databases you rely on provide accurate and trustworthy information. With the abundance of information available on the internet, it can be challenging to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources. 

However, by considering a few key criteria, you can evaluate the credibility of online databases effectively. So in order to do this, consider this criteria:

• Look for databases that obtain their data from reputable sources, such as scholarly journals, government publications, or well-known research institutions. 
• Consider whether the database has a rigorous peer-review process which involves subjecting research articles to the scrutiny of experts in the field before publication. 
• Check for clear citation information for the articles or studies, which will allow you to trace the origins of the information and verify its accuracy. 
• Consider the database’s coverage of your specific research area which will help you find comprehensive and diverse information for your research. 

By following these four main tips, you should be able to track the credibility of the material you are reading. But to really go in depth on what you should look out for, here are some red flags you should keep in mind. 

Common Red Flags in Online Databases

While evaluating online databases, it is crucial to be aware of certain red flags that may indicate a lack of credibility or reliability. Here are some of the most common examples:

• If the database does not clearly state where it obtains its information or if the sources are questionable, it is wise to approach the database with caution. 
• Non-peer-reviewed content in the database, which may indicate a lower level of credibility. 
• Databases that display outdated information. Cross-checking the information you find in multiple reputable sources can help ensure accuracy and reliability.

Remember, thorough evaluation of online databases is a vital step in ensuring the quality of your research and the validity of your findings. 

Future Trends in Online Databases

As technology continues to advance, online databases are evolving to meet the changing needs of researchers. For example, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is enhancing search capabilities, automating data analysis, and providing personalized recommendations. They also help researchers discover hidden patterns and make connections within vast amounts of data. As we move into this bright future expect businesses to integrate ever more data into their 

Furthermore, the emergence of big data has helped us gain the ability to store and process massive volumes of data which researchers can access. The integration of big data analytics into online databases is expected to drive innovation and pave the way for groundbreaking discoveries. 

Last Thoughts Finding The Right Online Databases for You

Online databases provide researchers with a wealth of information and resources at their fingertips. By understanding how to navigate, evaluate, and utilize these databases effectively, researchers can enhance the quality and efficiency of their work. 

Stay up-to-date with emerging trends and continually explore new databases to ensure you harness the full potential of online databases in your research endeavors. We hope you find what you’re looking for! If you would like to build your own custom database for your organization, sign up for a free trial today . 

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Finding Information

• Types of Information Resources

Introduction

What are databases, further reading, learning objectives.

• Find ebooks
• Find Articles
• Find Newspaper Articles
• Find Images
• Getting Copies of Articles and Books You Can't Find

This page is designed to help you:

• Identify at least two differences between the type of information available through general search engines and academic databases
• Understand what research databases are and why they are a valuable part of academic work

There are many types of databases that you can use for your research. The database you choose will depend on what type of information you want to find. 

Research databases, such as JSTOR and Academic Search Premier, uncover the world of scholarly information. Most of the content in these databases is only available through the library. The complete list of databases is on the Databases A-Z list. The Library has purchased access to hundreds of databases on your behalf. There is no charge to use these resources.

Search Engines 

Research Databases

Let us search for the same thing in Google and in a general academic database called Academic Search Premier.

Search for the impact of social media on teenagers

Results in Google

Notes about these results in Google:

• 81,500,000 results
• Advertisements are the first two results
• Highlighted article with images from a high school
• Ability to quickly sort based on top Google categories: News, Images, Videos, Shopping

Search results in Academic Search Premier

Notes about these results in the Academic Search Premier database:

• 3 are from academic journals
• Able to quickly sort by scholarly qualification and publication date
• Avdic, A., & Eklund, A. (2010). Searching reference databases: What students experience and what teachers believe that students experience. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 42 (4), 224–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000610380119

This page was designed to help you:

• << Previous: Types of Information Resources
• Next: Find ebooks >>
• Last Updated: May 20, 2024 8:55 AM
• URL: https://libguides.brown.edu/findinginformation

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Literature searches: what databases are available?

Posted on 6th April 2021 by Izabel de Oliveira

Many types of research require a search of the medical literature as part of the process of understanding the current evidence or knowledge base. This can be done using one or more biomedical bibliographic databases. [1]

Bibliographic databases make the information contained in the papers more visible to the scientific community and facilitate locating the desired literature.

This blog describes some of the main bibliographic databases which index medical journals.

PubMed was launched in 1996 and, since June 1997, provides free and unlimited access for all users through the internet. PubMed database contains more than 30 million references of biomedical literature from approximately 7,000 journals. The largest percentage of records in PubMed comes from MEDLINE (95%), which contains 25 million records from over 5,600 journals. Other records derive from other sources such as In-process citations, ‘Ahead of Print’ citations, NCBI Bookshelf, etc.

The second largest component of PubMed is PubMed Central (PMC) . Launched in 2000, PMC is a permanent collection of full-text life sciences and biomedical journal articles. PMC also includes articles deposited by journal publishers and author manuscripts, published articles that are submitted in compliance with the public access policies of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other research funding agencies. PMC contains approximately 4.5 million articles.

Some National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources associated with PubMed are the NLM Catalog and MedlinePlus. The NLM Catalog contains bibliographic records for over 1.4 million journals, books, audiovisuals, electronic resources, and other materials. It also includes detailed indexing information for journals in PubMed and other NCBI databases, although not all materials in the NLM Catalog are part of NLM’s collection. MedlinePlus is a consumer health website providing information on various health topics, drugs, dietary supplements, and health tools.

MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) is the NLM controlled vocabulary used for indexing articles in PubMed. It is used by indexers who analyze and maintain the PubMed database to reflect the subject content of journal articles as they are published. Indexers typically select 10–12 MeSH terms to describe every paper.

Embase is considered the second most popular database after MEDLINE. More than 32 million records from over 8,200 journals from more than 95 countries, and ‘grey literature’ from over 2.4 million conference abstracts, are estimated to be in the Embase content.

Embase contains subtopics in health care such as complementary and alternative medicine, prognostic studies, telemedicine, psychiatry, and health technology. Besides that, it is also widely used for research on drug-related topics as it offers better coverage than MEDLINE on pharmaceutics-related literature.

In 2010, Embase began to include all MEDLINE citations. MEDLINE records are delivered to Elsevier daily and are incorporated into Embase after de-duplication with records already indexed by Elsevier to produce ‘MEDLINE-unique’ records. These MEDLINE-unique records are not re-indexed by Elsevier. However, their indexing is mapped to Emtree terms used in Embase to ensure that Emtree terminology can be used to search all Embase records, including those originally derived from MEDLINE.

Since this coverage expansion—at least in theory and without taking into consideration the different indexing practices of the two databases—a search in Embase alone should cover every record in both Embase and MEDLINE, making Embase a possible “one-stop” search engine for medical research [1].

Emtree is a hierarchically structured, controlled vocabulary for biomedicine and the related life sciences. It includes a whole range of terms for drugs, diseases, medical devices, and essential life science concepts. Emtree is used to index all of the Embase content. This process includes full-text indexing of journal articles, which is done by experts.

The most important index of the technical-scientific literature in Latin America and the Caribbean, LILACS , was created in 1985 to record scientific and technical production in health. It has been maintained and updated by a network of more than 600 institutions of education, government, and health research and coordinated by Latin America and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and World Health Organization (WHO).

LILACS contains scientific and technical literature from over 908 journals from 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with free access. About 900,000 records from articles with peer review, theses and dissertations, government documents, conference proceedings, and books; more than 480,000 of them are available with the full-text link in open access.

The LILACS Methodology is a set of standards, manuals, guides, and applications in continuous development, intended for the collection, selection, description, indexing of documents, and generation of databases. This centralised methodology enables the cooperation between Latin American and Caribbean countries to create local and national databases, all feeding into the LILACS database.  Currently, the databases LILACS, BBO, BDENF, MEDCARIB, and national databases of the countries of Latin America are part of the LILACS System.

Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) is the multilingual and structured vocabulary created by BIREME to serve as a unique language in indexing articles from scientific journals, books, congress proceedings, technical reports, and other types of materials, and also for searching and retrieving subjects from scientific literature from information sources available on the Virtual Health Library (VHL) such as LILACS, MEDLINE, and others. It was developed from the MeSH with the purpose of permitting the use of common terminology for searching in multiple languages, and providing a consistent and unique environment for the retrieval of information. DeCS vocabulary is dynamic and totals 34,118 descriptors and qualifiers, of which 29,716 come from MeSH, and 4,402 are exclusive.

Cochrane CENTRAL

The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) is a database of reports of randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials. Most records are obtained from the bibliographic databases PubMed and Embase, with additional records from the published and unpublished sources of CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.

Although CENTRAL first began publication in 1996, records are included irrespective of the date of publication, and the language of publication is also not a restriction to being included in the database.  You won’t find the full text to the article on CENTRAL but there is often a summary of the article, in addition to the standard details of author, source, and year.

Within CENTRAL, there are ‘Specialized Registers’ which are collected and maintained by Cochrane Review Groups (plus a few Cochrane Fields), which include reports of controlled trials relevant to their area of interest. Some Cochrane Centres search the general healthcare literature of their countries or regions in order to contribute records to CENTRAL.

ScienceDirect

ScienceDirect i s Elsevier’s most important peer-reviewed academic literature platform. It was launched in 1997 and contains 16 million records from over 2,500 journals, including over 250 Open Access publications, such as Cell Reports and The Lancet Global Health, as well as 39,000 eBooks.

ScienceDirect topics include:

• health sciences;
• life sciences;
• physical sciences;
• engineering;
• social sciences; and
• humanities.

Web of Science

Web of Science (previously Web of Knowledge) is an online scientific citation indexing service created in 1997 by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), and currently maintained by Clarivate Analytics.

Web of Science covers several fields of the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Its main resource is the Web of Science Core Collection which includes over 1 billion cited references dating back to 1900, indexed from 21,100 peer-reviewed journals, including Open Access journals, books and proceedings.

Web of Science also offers regional databases which cover:

• Latin America (SciELO Citation Index);
• China (Chinese Science Citation Database);
• Korea (Korea Citation Index);
• Russia (Russian Science Citation Index).

Boolean operators

To make the search more precise, we can use boolean operators in databases between our keywords.

We use boolean operators to focus on a topic, particularly when this topic contains multiple search terms, and to connect various pieces of information in order to find exactly what we are looking for.

Boolean operators connect the search words to either narrow or broaden the set of results. The three basic boolean operators are: AND, OR, and NOT.

• AND narrows a search by telling the database that all keywords used must be found in the article in order for it to appear in our results.
• OR broadens a search by telling the database that any of the words it connects are acceptable (this is useful when we are searching for synonymous words).
• NOT narrows the search by telling the database to eliminate all terms that follow it from our search results (this is helpful when we are interested in a specific aspect of a topic or when we want to exclude a type of article.

References (pdf)

You may also be interested in the following blogs for further reading:

Conducting a systematic literature search

Reviewing the evidence: what method should I use?

Cochrane Crowd for students: what’s in it for you?

Izabel de Oliveira

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21 Legit Research Databases for Free Journal Articles in 2024

#scribendiinc

Written by  Scribendi

Has this ever happened to you? While looking for websites for research, you come across a research paper site that claims to connect academics to a peer-reviewed article database for free.

Intrigued, you search for keywords related to your topic, only to discover that you must pay a hefty subscription fee to access the service. After the umpteenth time being duped, you begin to wonder if there's even such a thing as free journal articles.

Subscription fees and paywalls are often the bane of students and academics, especially those at small institutions who don't provide access to many free article directories and repositories.

Whether you're working on an undergraduate paper, a PhD dissertation, or a medical research study, we want to help you find tools to locate and access the information you need to produce well-researched, compelling, and innovative work.

Below, we discuss why peer-reviewed articles are superior and list out the best free article databases to use in 2024.

Download Our Free Research Database Roundup PDF

Why peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles are more authoritative.

Determining what sources are reliable can be challenging. Peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles are the gold standard in academic research. Reputable academic journals have a rigorous peer-review process.

The peer review process provides accountability to the academic community, as well as to the content of the article. The peer review process involves qualified experts in a specific (often very specific) field performing a review of an article's methods and findings to determine things like quality and credibility.

Peer-reviewed articles can be found in peer-reviewed article databases and research databases, and if you know that a database of journals is reliable, that can offer reassurances about the reliability of a free article. Peer review is often double blind, meaning that the author removes all identifying information and, likewise, does not know the identity of the reviewers. This helps reviewers maintain objectivity and impartiality so as to judge an article based on its merit.

Where to Find Peer-Reviewed Articles

Peer-reviewed articles can be found in a variety of research databases. Below is a list of some of the major databases you can use to find peer-reviewed articles and other sources in disciplines spanning the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

What Are Open Access Journals?

An open access (OA) journal is a journal whose content can be accessed without payment. This provides scholars, students, and researchers with free journal articles. OA journals use alternate methods of funding to cover publication costs so that articles can be published without having to pass those publication costs on to the reader.

Some of these funding models include standard funding methods like advertising, public funding, and author payment models, where the author pays a fee in order to publish in the journal. There are OA journals that have non-peer-reviewed academic content, as well as journals that focus on dissertations, theses, and papers from conferences, but the main focus of OA is peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles.

The internet has certainly made it easier to access research articles and other scholarly publications without needing access to a university library, and OA takes another step in that direction by removing financial barriers to academic content.

Choosing Wisely

Features of legitimate oa journals.

 There are things to look out for when trying to decide if a free publication journal is legitimate:

Mission statement —The mission statement for an OA journal should be available on their website.

Publication history —Is the journal well established? How long has it been available?

Editorial board —Who are the members of the editorial board, and what are their credentials?

Indexing —Can the journal be found in a reliable database?

Peer review —What is the peer review process? Does the journal allow enough time in the process for a reliable assessment of quality?

Impact factor —What is the average number of times the journal is cited over a two-year period?

Features of Illegitimate OA Journals

There are predatory publications that take advantage of the OA format, and they are something to be wary of. Here are some things to look out for:

Contact information —Is contact information provided? Can it be verified?

Turnaround —If the journal makes dubious claims about the amount of time from submission to publication, it is likely unreliable.

Editorial board —Much like determining legitimacy, looking at the editorial board and their credentials can help determine illegitimacy.

Indexing —Can the journal be found in any scholarly databases?

Peer review —Is there a statement about the peer review process? Does it fit what you know about peer review?

How to Find Scholarly Articles

Identify keywords.

Keywords are included in an article by the author. Keywords are an excellent way to find content relevant to your research topic or area of interest. In academic searches, much like you would on a search engine, you can use keywords to navigate through what is available to find exactly what you're looking for.

Authors provide keywords that will help you easily find their article when researching a related topic, often including general terms to accommodate broader searches, as well as some more specific terms for those with a narrower scope. Keywords can be used individually or in combination to refine your scholarly article search.

Narrow Down Results

Sometimes, search results can be overwhelming, and searching for free articles on a journal database is no exception, but there are multiple ways to narrow down your results. A good place to start is discipline.

What category does your topic fall into (psychology, architecture, machine learning, etc.)? You can also narrow down your search with a year range if you're looking for articles that are more recent.

A Boolean search can be incredibly helpful. This entails including terms like AND between two keywords in your search if you need both keywords to be in your results (or, if you are looking to exclude certain keywords, to exclude these words from the results).

Consider Different Avenues

If you're not having luck using keywords in your search for free articles, you may still be able to find what you're looking for by changing your tactics. Casting a wider net sometimes yields positive results, so it may be helpful to try searching by subject if keywords aren't getting you anywhere.

You can search for a specific publisher to see if they have OA publications in the academic journal database. And, if you know more precisely what you're looking for, you can search for the title of the article or the author's name.

Determining the Credibility of Scholarly Sources

Ensuring that sources are both credible and reliable is crucial to academic research. Use these strategies to help evaluate the usefulness of scholarly sources:

• Peer Review : Look for articles that have undergone a rigorous peer-review process. Peer-reviewed articles are typically vetted by experts in the field, ensuring the accuracy of the research findings.

Tip: To determine whether an article has undergone rigorous peer review, review the journal's editorial policies, which are often available on the journal's website. Look for information about the peer-review process, including the criteria for selecting reviewers, the process for handling conflicts of interest, and any transparency measures in place.

• Publisher Reputation : Consider the reputation of the publisher. Established publishers, such as well-known academic journals, are more likely to adhere to high editorial standards and publishing ethics.
• Author Credentials : Evaluate the credentials and expertise of the authors. Check their affiliations, academic credentials, and past publications to assess their authority in the field.
• Citations and References : Examine the citations and references provided in the article. A well-researched article will cite credible sources to support its arguments and findings. Verify the accuracy of the cited sources and ensure they are from reputable sources.
• Publication Date : Consider the publication date of the article. While older articles may still be relevant, particularly in certain fields, it is best to prioritize recent publications for up-to-date research and findings.
• Journal Impact Factor : Assess the journal's impact factor or other metrics that indicate its influence and reputation within the academic community. Higher impact factor journals are generally considered more prestigious and reliable. 

Tip: Journal Citation Reports (JCR), produced by Clarivate Analytics, is a widely used source for impact factor data. You can access JCR through academic libraries or directly from the Clarivate Analytics website if you have a subscription.

• Peer Recommendations : Seek recommendations from peers, mentors, or professors in your field. They can provide valuable insights and guidance on reputable sources and journals within your area of study.
• Cross-Verification : Cross-verify the information presented in the article with other credible sources. Compare findings, methodologies, and conclusions with similar studies to ensure consistency and reliability.

By employing these strategies, researchers can confidently evaluate the credibility and reliability of scholarly sources, ensuring the integrity of their research contributions in an ever-evolving landscape.

The Top 21 Free Online Journal and Research Databases

Navigating OA journals, research article databases, and academic websites trying to find high-quality sources for your research can really make your head spin. What constitutes a reliable database? What is a useful resource for your discipline and research topic? How can you find and access full-text, peer-reviewed articles?

Fortunately, we're here to help. Having covered some of the ins and outs of peer review, OA journals, and how to search for articles, we have compiled a list of the top 21 free online journals and the best research databases. This list of databases is a great resource to help you navigate the wide world of academic research.

These databases provide a variety of free sources, from abstracts and citations to full-text, peer-reviewed OA journals. With databases covering specific areas of research and interdisciplinary databases that provide a variety of material, these are some of our favorite free databases, and they're totally legit!

CORE is a multidisciplinary aggregator of OA research. CORE has the largest collection of OA articles available. It allows users to search more than 219 million OA articles. While most of these link to the full-text article on the original publisher's site, or to a PDF available for download, five million records are hosted directly on CORE.

CORE's mission statement is a simple and straightforward commitment to offering OA articles to anyone, anywhere in the world. They also host communities that are available for researchers to join and an ambassador community to enhance their services globally. In addition to a straightforward keyword search, CORE offers advanced search options to filter results by publication type, year, language, journal, repository, and author.

CORE's user interface is easy to use and navigate. Search results can be sorted based on relevance or recency, and you can search for relevant content directly from the results screen.

Collection : 219,537,133 OA articles

Other Services : Additional services are available from CORE, with extras that are geared toward researchers, repositories, and businesses. There are tools for accessing raw data, including an API that provides direct access to data, datasets that are available for download, and FastSync for syncing data content from the CORE database.

CORE has a recommender plug-in that suggests relevant OA content in the database while conducting a search and a discovery feature that helps you discover OA versions of paywalled articles. Other features include tools for managing content, such as a dashboard for managing repository output and the Repository Edition service to enhance discoverability.

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles : Yes

Advanced Search Options : Language, author, journal, publisher, repository, DOI, year

2. ScienceOpen

Functioning as a research and publishing network, ScienceOpen offers OA to more than 74 million articles in all areas of science. Although you do need to register to view the full text of articles, registration is free. The advanced search function is highly detailed, allowing you to find exactly the research you're looking for.

The Berlin- and Boston-based company was founded in 2013 to "facilitate open and public communications between academics and to allow ideas to be judged on their merit, regardless of where they come from." Search results can be exported for easy integration with reference management systems.

You can also bookmark articles for later research. There are extensive networking options, including your Science Open profile, a forum for interacting with other researchers, the ability to track your usage and citations, and an interactive bibliography. Users have the ability to review articles and provide their knowledge and insight within the community.

Collection : 74,560,631

Other Services : None

Advanced Search Options :   Content type, source, author, journal, discipline

3. Directory of Open Access Journals

A multidisciplinary, community-curated directory, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) gives researchers access to high-quality peer-reviewed journals. It has archived more than two million articles from 17,193 journals, allowing you to either browse by subject or search by keyword.

The site was launched in 2003 with the aim of increasing the visibility of OA scholarly journals online. Content on the site covers subjects from science, to law, to fine arts, and everything in between. DOAJ has a commitment to "increase the visibility, accessibility, reputation, usage and impact of quality, peer-reviewed, OA scholarly research journals globally, regardless of discipline, geography or language."

Information about the journal is available with each search result. Abstracts are also available in a collapsible format directly from the search screen. The scholarly article website is somewhat simple, but it is easy to navigate. There are 16 principles of transparency and best practices in scholarly publishing that clearly outline DOAJ policies and standards.

Collection : 6,817,242

Advanced Search Options :   Subject, journal, year

4. Education Resources Information Center

The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) of the Institution of Education Sciences allows you to search by topic for material related to the field of education. Links lead to other sites, where you may have to purchase the information, but you can search for full-text articles only. You can also search only peer-reviewed sources.

The service primarily indexes journals, gray literature (such as technical reports, white papers, and government documents), and books. All sources of material on ERIC go through a formal review process prior to being indexed. ERIC's selection policy is available as a PDF on their website.

The ERIC website has an extensive FAQ section to address user questions. This includes categories like general questions, peer review, and ERIC content. There are also tips for advanced searches, as well as general guidance on the best way to search the database. ERIC is an excellent database for content specific to education.

Collection : 1,292,897

Advanced Search Options : Boolean

5. arXiv e-Print Archive

The arXiv e-Print Archive is run by Cornell University Library and curated by volunteer moderators, and it now offers OA to more than one million e-prints.

There are advisory committees for all eight subjects available on the database. With a stated commitment to an "emphasis on openness, collaboration, and scholarship," the arXiv e-Print Archive is an excellent STEM resource.

The interface is not as user-friendly as some of the other databases available, and the website hosts a blog to provide news and updates, but it is otherwise a straightforward math and science resource. There are simple and advanced search options, and, in addition to conducting searches for specific topics and articles, users can browse content by subject. The arXiv e-Print Archive clearly states that they do not peer review the e-prints in the database.

Collection : 1,983,891

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles : No

Advanced Search Options :   Subject, date, title, author, abstract, DOI

6. Social Science Research Network

The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is a collection of papers from the social sciences community. It is a highly interdisciplinary platform used to search for scholarly articles related to 67 social science topics. SSRN has a variety of research networks for the various topics available through the free scholarly database.

The site offers more than 700,000 abstracts and more than 600,000 full-text papers. There is not yet a specific option to search for only full-text articles, but, because most of the papers on the site are free access, it's not often that you encounter a paywall. There is currently no option to search for only peer-reviewed articles.

You must become a member to use the services, but registration is free and enables you to interact with other scholars around the world. SSRN is "passionately committed to increasing inclusion, diversity and equity in scholarly research," and they encourage and discuss the use of inclusive language in scholarship whenever possible.

Collection : 1,058,739 abstracts; 915,452 articles

Advanced Search Options : Term, author, date, network

7. Public Library of Science

Public Library of Science (PLOS) is a big player in the world of OA science. Publishing 12 OA journals, the nonprofit organization is committed to facilitating openness in academic research. According to the site, "all PLOS content is at the highest possible level of OA, meaning that scientific articles are immediately and freely available to anyone, anywhere."

PLOS outlines four fundamental goals that guide the organization: break boundaries, empower researchers, redefine quality, and open science. All PLOS journals are peer-reviewed, and all 12 journals uphold rigorous ethical standards for research, publication, and scientific reporting.

PLOS does not offer advanced search options. Content is organized by topic into research communities that users can browse through, in addition to options to search for both articles and journals. The PLOS website also has resources for peer reviewers, including guidance on becoming a reviewer and on how to best participate in the peer review process.

Collection : 12 journals

Advanced Search Options : None

8. OpenDOAR

OpenDOAR, or the Directory of Open Access Repositories, is a comprehensive resource for finding free OA journals and articles. Using Google Custom Search, OpenDOAR combs through OA repositories around the world and returns relevant research in all disciplines.

The repositories it searches through are assessed and categorized by OpenDOAR staff to ensure they meet quality standards. Inclusion criteria for the database include requirements for OA content, global access, and categorically appropriate content, in addition to various other quality assurance measures. OpenDOAR has metadata, data, content, preservation, and submission policies for repositories, in addition to two OA policy statements regarding minimum and optimum recommendations.

This database allows users to browse and search repositories, which can then be selected, and articles and data can be accessed from the repository directly. As a repository database, much of the content on the site is geared toward the support of repositories and OA standards.

Collection : 5,768 repositories

Other Services : OpenDOAR offers a variety of additional services. Given the nature of the platform, services are primarily aimed at repositories and institutions, and there is a marked focus on OA in general. Sherpa services are OA archiving tools for authors and institutions.

They also offer various resources for OA support and compliance regarding standards and policies. The publication router matches publications and publishers with appropriate repositories.

There are also services and resources from JISC for repositories for cost management, discoverability, research impact, and interoperability, including ORCID consortium membership information. Additionally, a repository self-assessment tool is available for members.

Advanced Search Options :   Name, organization name, repository type, software name, content type, subject, country, region

9. Bielefeld Academic Search Engine

The Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) is operated by the Bielefeld University Library in Germany, and it offers more than 240 million documents from more than 8,000 sources. Sixty percent of its content is OA, and you can filter your search accordingly.

BASE has rigorous inclusion requirements for content providers regarding quality and relevance, and they maintain a list of content providers for the sake of transparency, which can be easily found on their website. BASE has a fairly elegant interface. Search results can be organized by author, title, or date.

From the search results, items can be selected and exported, added to favorites, emailed, and searched in Google Scholar. There are basic and advanced search features, with the advanced search offering numerous options for refining search criteria. There is also a feature on the website that saves recent searches without additional steps from the user.

Collection : 276,019,066 documents; 9,286 content providers

Advanced Search Options :   Author, subject, year, content provider, language, document type, access, terms of reuse

10. Digital Library of the Commons Repository

Run by Indiana University, the Digital Library of the Commons (DLC) Repository is a multidisciplinary journal repository that allows users to access thousands of free and OA articles from around the world. You can browse by document type, date, author, title, and more or search for keywords relevant to your topic.

DCL also offers the Comprehensive Bibliography of the Commons, an image database, and a keyword thesaurus for enhanced search parameters. The repository includes books, book chapters, conference papers, journal articles, surveys, theses and dissertations, and working papers. DCL advanced search features drop-down menus of search types with built-in Boolean search options.

Searches can be sorted by relevance, title, date, or submission date in ascending or descending order. Abstracts are included in selected search results, with access to full texts available, and citations can be exported from the same page. Additionally, the image database search includes tips for better search results.

Collection : 10,784

Advanced Search Options :   Author, date, title, subject, sector, region, conference

11. CIA World Factbook

The CIA World Factbook is a little different from the other resources on this list in that it is not an online journal directory or repository. It is, however, a useful free online research database for academics in a variety of disciplines.

All the information is free to access, and it provides facts about every country in the world, which are organized by category and include information about history, geography, transportation, and much more. The World Factbook can be searched by country or region, and there is also information about the world's oceans.

This site contains resources related to the CIA as an organization rather than being a scientific journal database specifically. The site has a user interface that is easy to navigate. The site also provides a section for updates regarding changes to what information is available and how it is organized, making it easier to interact with the information you are searching for.

Collection : 266 countries

12. Paperity

Paperity boasts its status as the "first multidisciplinary aggregator of OA journals and papers." Their focus is on helping you avoid paywalls while connecting you to authoritative research. In addition to providing readers with easy access to thousands of journals, Paperity seeks to help authors reach their audiences and help journals increase their exposure to boost readership.

Paperity has journal articles for every discipline, and the database offers more than a dozen advanced search options, including the length of the paper and the number of authors. There is even an option to include, exclude, or exclusively search gray papers.

Paperity is available for mobile, with both a mobile site and the Paperity Reader, an app that is available for both Android and Apple users. The database is also available on social media. You can interact with Paperity via Twitter and Facebook, and links to their social media are available on their homepage, including their Twitter feed.

Collection : 8,837,396

Advanced Search Options : Title, abstract, journal title, journal ISSN, publisher, year of publication, number of characters, number of authors, DOI, author, affiliation, language, country, region, continent, gray papers

13. dblp Computer Science Bibliography

The dblp Computer Science Bibliography is an online index of major computer science publications. dblp was founded in 1993, though until 2010 it was a university-specific database at the University of Trier in Germany. It is currently maintained by the Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Center for Informatics.

Although it provides access to both OA articles and those behind a paywall, you can limit your search to only OA articles. The site indexes more than three million publications, making it an invaluable resource in the world of computer science. dblp entries are color-coded based on the type of item.

dblp has an extensive FAQ section, so questions that might arise about topics like the database itself, navigating the website, or the data on dblp, in addition to several other topics, are likely to be answered. The website also hosts a blog and has a section devoted to website statistics.

Collection : 5,884,702

14. EconBiz

EconBiz is a great resource for economic and business studies. A service of the Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, it offers access to full texts online, with the option of searching for OA material only. Their literature search is performed across multiple international databases.

EconBiz has an incredibly useful research skills section, with resources such as Guided Walk, a service to help students and researchers navigate searches, evaluate sources, and correctly cite references; the Research Guide EconDesk, a help desk to answer specific questions and provide advice to aid in literature searches; and the Academic Career Kit for what they refer to as Early Career Researchers.

Other helpful resources include personal literature lists, a calendar of events for relevant calls for papers, conferences, and workshops, and an economics terminology thesaurus to help in finding keywords for searches. To stay up-to-date with EconBiz, you can sign up for their newsletter.

Collection : 1,075,219

Advanced Search Options :   Title, subject, author, institution, ISBN/ISSN, journal, publisher, language, OA only

15. BioMed Central

BioMed Central provides OA research from more than 300 peer-reviewed journals. While originally focused on resources related to the physical sciences, math, and engineering, BioMed Central has branched out to include journals that cover a broader range of disciplines, with the aim of providing a single platform that provides OA articles for a variety of research needs. You can browse these journals by subject or title, or you can search all articles for your required keyword.

BioMed Central has a commitment to peer-reviewed sources and to the peer review process itself, continually seeking to help and improve the peer review process. They're "committed to maintaining high standards through full and stringent peer review."

Additionally, the website includes resources to assist and support editors as part of their commitment to providing high-quality, peer-reviewed OA articles.

Collection : 507,212

Other Services : BMC administers the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) registry. While initially designed for registering clinical trials, since its creation in 2000, the registry has broadened its scope to include other health studies as well.

The registry is recognized by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), and it meets the requirements established by the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.

The study records included in the registry are all searchable and free to access. The ISRCTN registry "supports transparency in clinical research, helps reduce selective reporting of results and ensures an unbiased and complete evidence base."

Advanced Search Options :   Author, title, journal, list

A multidisciplinary search engine, JURN provides links to various scholarly websites, articles, and journals that are free to access or OA. Covering the fields of the arts, humanities, business, law, nature, science, and medicine, JURN has indexed almost 5,000 repositories to help you find exactly what you're looking for.

Search features are enhanced by Google, but searches are filtered through their index of repositories. JURN seeks to reach a wide audience, with their search engine tailored to researchers from "university lecturers and students seeking a strong search tool for OA content" and "advanced and ambitious students, age 14-18" to "amateur historians and biographers" and "unemployed and retired lecturers."

That being said, JURN is very upfront about its limitations. They admit to not being a good resource for educational studies, social studies, or psychology, and conference archives are generally not included due to frequently unstable URLs.

Collection : 5,064 indexed journals

Other Services : JURN has a browser add-on called UserScript. This add-on allows users to integrate the JURN database directly into Google Search. When performing a search through Google, the add-on creates a link that sends the search directly to JURN CSE. JURN CSE is a search service that is hosted by Google.

Clicking the link from the Google Search bar will run your search through the JURN database from the Google homepage. There is also an interface for a DuckDuckGo search box; while this search engine has an emphasis on user privacy, for smaller sites that may be indexed by JURN, DuckDuckGo may not provide the same depth of results.

Advanced Search Options :   Google search modifiers

Dryad is a digital repository of curated, OA scientific research data. Launched in 2009, it is run by a not-for-profit membership organization, with a community of institutional and publisher members for whom their services have been designed. Members include institutions such as Stanford, UCLA, and Yale, as well as publishers like Oxford University Press and Wiley.

Dryad aims to "promote a world where research data is openly available, integrated with the scholarly literature, and routinely reused to create knowledge." It is free to access for the search and discovery of data. Their user experience is geared toward easy self-depositing, supports Creative Commons licensing, and provides DOIs for all their content.

Note that there is a publishing charge associated if you wish to publish your data in Dryad.  When searching datasets, they are accompanied by author information and abstracts for the associated studies, and citation information is provided for easy attribution.

Collection : 44,458

Advanced Search Options : No

Run by the British Library, the E-Theses Online Service (EThOS) allows you to search over 500,000 doctoral theses in a variety of disciplines. All of the doctoral theses available on EThOS have been awarded by higher education institutions in the United Kingdom.

Although some full texts are behind paywalls, you can limit your search to items available for immediate download, either directly through EThOS or through an institution's website. More than half of the records in the database provide access to full-text theses.

EThOS notes that they do not hold all records for all institutions, but they strive to index as many doctoral theses as possible, and the database is constantly expanding, with approximately 3,000 new records added and 2,000 new full-text theses available every month. The availability of full-text theses is dependent on multiple factors, including their availability in the institutional repository and the level of repository development.

Collection : 500,000+

Advanced Search Options : Abstract, author's first name, author's last name, awarding body, current institution, EThOS ID, year, language, qualifications, research supervisor, sponsor/funder, keyword, title

PubMed is a research platform well-known in the fields of science and medicine. It was created and developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). It has been available since 1996 and offers access to "more than 33 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books."

While PubMed does not provide full-text articles directly, and many full-text articles may be behind paywalls or require subscriptions to access them, when articles are available from free sources, such as through PubMed Central (PMC), those links are provided with the citations and abstracts that PubMed does provide.

PMC, which was established in 2000 by the NLM, is a free full-text archive that includes more than 6,000,000 records. PubMed records link directly to corresponding PMC results. PMC content is provided by publishers and other content owners, digitization projects, and authors directly.

Collection : 33,000,000+

Advanced Search Options : Author's first name, author's last name, identifier, corporation, date completed, date created, date entered, date modified, date published, MeSH, book, conflict of interest statement, EC/RN number, editor, filter, grant number, page number, pharmacological action, volume, publication type, publisher, secondary source ID, text, title, abstract, transliterated title

20. Semantic Scholar

A unique and easy-to-use resource, Semantic Scholar defines itself not just as a research database but also as a "search and discovery tool." Semantic Scholar harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to efficiently sort through millions of science-related papers based on your search terms.

Through this singular application of machine learning, Semantic Scholar expands search results to include topic overviews based on your search terms, with the option to create an alert for or further explore the topic. It also provides links to related topics.

In addition, search results produce "TLDR" summaries in order to provide concise overviews of articles and enhance your research by helping you to navigate quickly and easily through the available literature to find the most relevant information. According to the site, although some articles are behind paywalls, "the data [they] have for those articles is limited," so you can expect to receive mostly full-text results.

Collection : 203,379,033

Other Services : Semantic Scholar supports multiple popular browsers. Content can be accessed through both mobile and desktop versions of Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Opera.

Additionally, Semantic Scholar provides browser extensions for both Chrome and Firefox, so AI-powered scholarly search results are never more than a click away. The mobile interface includes an option for Semantic Swipe, a new way of interacting with your research results.

There are also beta features that can be accessed as part of the Beta Program, which will provide you with features that are being actively developed and require user feedback for further improvement.

Advanced Search Options : Field of study, date range, publication type, author, journal, conference, PDF

Zenodo, powered by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), was launched in 2013. Taking its name from Zenodotus, the first librarian of the ancient library of Alexandria, Zenodo is a tool "built and developed by researchers, to ensure that everyone can join in open science." Zenodo accepts all research from every discipline in any file format.

However, Zenodo also curates uploads and promotes peer-reviewed material that is available through OA. A DOI is assigned to everything that is uploaded to Zenodo, making research easily findable and citable. You can sort by keyword, title, journal, and more and download OA documents directly from the site.

While there are closed access and restricted access items in the database, the vast majority of research is OA material. Search results can be filtered by access type, making it easy to view the free articles available in the database.

Collection : 2,220,000+

Advanced Search Options : Access, file type, keywords

Check out our roundup of free research databases as a handy one-page PDF.

How to find peer-reviewed articles.

There are a lot of free scholarly articles available from various sources. The internet is a big place. So how do you go about finding peer-reviewed articles when conducting your research? It's important to make sure you are using reputable sources.

The first source of the article is the person or people who wrote it. Checking out the author can give you some initial insight into how much you can trust what you’re reading. Looking into the publication information of your sources can also indicate whether the article is reliable.

Aspects of the article, such as subject and audience, tone, and format, are other things you can look at when evaluating whether the article you're using is valid, reputable, peer-reviewed material. So, let's break that down into various components so you can assess your research to ensure that you're using quality articles and conducting solid research.

Check the Author

Peer-reviewed articles are written by experts or scholars with experience in the field or discipline they're writing about. The research in a peer-reviewed article has to pass a rigorous evaluation process, so it's a foregone conclusion that the author(s) of a peer-reviewed article should have experience or training related to that research.

When evaluating an article, take a look at the author's information. What credentials does the author have to indicate that their research has scholarly weight behind it? Finding out what type of degree the author has—and what that degree is in—can provide insight into what kind of authority the author is on the subject.

Something else that might lend credence to the author's scholarly role is their professional affiliation. A look at what organization or institution they are affiliated with can tell you a lot about their experience or expertise. Where were they trained, and who is verifying their research?

Identify Subject and Audience

The ultimate goal of a study is to answer a question. Scholarly articles are also written for scholarly audiences, especially articles that have gone through the peer review process. This means that the author is trying to reach experts, researchers, academics, and students in the field or topic the research is based on.

Think about the question the author is trying to answer by conducting this research, why, and for whom. What is the subject of the article? What question has it set out to answer? What is the purpose of finding the information? Is the purpose of the article of importance to other scholars? Is it original content?

Research should also be approached analytically. Is the methodology sound? Is the author using an analytical approach to evaluate the data that they have obtained? Are the conclusions they've reached substantiated by their data and analysis? Answering these questions can reveal a lot about the article's validity.

Format Matters

Reliable articles from peer-reviewed sources have certain format elements to be aware of. The first is an abstract. An abstract is a short summary or overview of the article. Does the article have an abstract? It's unlikely that you're reading a peer-reviewed article if it doesn't. Peer-reviewed journals will also have a word count range. If an article seems far too short or incredibly long, that may be reason to doubt it.

Another feature of reliable articles is the sections the information is divided into. Peer-reviewed research articles will have clear, concise sections that appropriately organize the information. This might include a literature review, methodology, results (in the case of research articles), and a conclusion.

One of the most important sections is the references or bibliography. This is where the researcher lists all the sources of their information. A peer-reviewed source will have a comprehensive reference section.

An article that has been written to reach an academic community will have an academic tone. The language that is used, and the way this language is used, is important to consider. If the article is riddled with grammatical errors, confusing syntax, and casual language, it almost definitely didn't make it through the peer review process.

Also consider the use of terminology. Every discipline is going to have standard terminology or jargon that can be used and understood by other academics in the discipline. The language in a peer-reviewed article is going to reflect that.

If the author is going out of their way to explain simple terms, or terms that are standard to the field or discipline, it's unlikely that the article has been peer reviewed, as this is something that the author would be asked to address during the review process.

Publication

The source of the article will be a very good indicator of the likelihood that it was peer reviewed. Where was the article published? Was it published alongside other academic articles in the same discipline? Is it a legitimate and reputable scholarly publication?

A trade publication or newspaper might be legitimate or reputable, but it is not a scholarly source, and it will not have been subject to the peer review process. Scholarly journals are the best resource for peer-reviewed articles, but it's important to remember that not all scholarly journals are peer reviewed.

It's helpful to look at a scholarly source's website, as peer-reviewed journals will have a clear indication of the peer review process. University libraries, institutional repositories, and reliable databases (and now you have a list of legit ones) can also help provide insight into whether an article comes from a peer-reviewed journal.

Common Research Mistakes to Avoid

Research is a lot of work. Even with high standards and good intentions, it's easy to make mistakes. Perhaps you searched for access to scientific journals for free and found the perfect peer-reviewed sources, but you forgot to document everything, and your references are a mess. Or, you only searched for free online articles and missed out on a ground-breaking study that was behind a paywall.

Whether your research is for a degree or to get published or to satisfy your own inquisitive nature, or all of the above, you want all that work to produce quality results. You want your research to be thorough and accurate.

To have any hope of contributing to the literature on your research topic, your results need to be high quality. You might not be able to avoid every potential mistake, but here are some that are both common and easy to avoid.

Sticking to One Source

One of the hallmarks of good research is a healthy reference section. Using a variety of sources gives you a better answer to your question. Even if all of the literature is in agreement, looking at various aspects of the topic may provide you with an entirely different picture than you would have if you looked at your research question from only one angle.

Not Documenting Every Fact

As you conduct your research, do yourself a favor and write everything down. Everything you include in your paper or article that you got from another source is going to need to be added to your references and cited.

It's important, especially if your aim is to conduct ethical, high-quality research, that all of your research has proper attribution. If you don't document as you go, you could end up making a lot of work for yourself if the information you don't write down is something that later, as you write your paper, you really need.

Using Outdated Materials

Academia is an ever-changing landscape. What was true in your academic discipline or area of research ten years ago may have since been disproven. If fifteen studies have come out since the article that you're using was published, it's more than a little likely that you're going to be basing your research on flawed or dated information.

If the information you're basing your research on isn't as up-to-date as possible, your research won't be of quality or able to stand up to any amount of scrutiny. You don't want all of your hard work to be for naught.

Relying Solely on Open Access Journals

OA is a great resource for conducting academic research. There are high-quality journal articles available through OA, and that can be very helpful for your research. But, just because you have access to free articles, that doesn't mean that there's nothing to be found behind a paywall.

Just as dismissing high-quality peer-reviewed articles because they are OA would be limiting, not exploring any paid content at all is equally short-sighted. If you're seeking to conduct thorough and comprehensive research, exploring all of your options for quality sources is going to be to your benefit.

Digging Too Deep or Not Deep Enough

Research is an art form, and it involves a delicate balance of information. If you conduct your research using only broad search terms, you won't be able to answer your research question well, or you'll find that your research provides information that is closely related to your topic but, ultimately, your findings are vague and unsubstantiated.

On the other hand, if you delve deeply into your research topic with specific searches and turn up too many sources, you might have a lot of information that is adjacent to your topic but without focus and perhaps not entirely relevant. It's important to answer your research question concisely but thoroughly.

Different Types of Scholarly Articles

Different types of scholarly articles have different purposes. An original research article, also called an empirical article, is the product of a study or an experiment. This type of article seeks to answer a question or fill a gap in the existing literature.

Research articles will have a methodology, results, and a discussion of the findings of the experiment or research and typically a conclusion.

Review articles overview the current literature and research and provide a summary of what the existing research indicates or has concluded. This type of study will have a section for the literature review, as well as a discussion of the findings of that review. Review articles will have a particularly extensive reference or bibliography section.

Theoretical articles draw on existing literature to create new theories or conclusions, or look at current theories from a different perspective, to contribute to the foundational knowledge of the field of study.

10 Tips for Navigating Journal Databases

Use the right academic journal database for your search, be that interdisciplinary or specific to your field. Or both!

If it's an option, set the search results to return only peer-reviewed sources.

Start by using search terms that are relevant to your topic without being overly specific.

Try synonyms, especially if your keywords aren't returning the desired results.

Even if you've found some good articles, try searching using different terms.

Explore the advanced search features of the database(s).

Learn to use Booleans (AND, OR, NOT) to expand or narrow your results.

Once you've gotten some good results from a more general search, try narrowing your search.

Read through abstracts when trying to find articles relevant to your research.

Keep track of your research and use citation tools. It'll make life easier when it comes time to compile your references.

7 Frequently Asked Questions

1. how do i get articles for free.

Free articles can be found through free online academic journals, OA databases, or other databases that include OA journals and articles. These resources allow you to access free papers online so you can conduct your research without getting stuck behind a paywall.

Academics don't receive payment for the articles they contribute to journals. There are often, in fact, publication fees that scholars pay in order to publish. This is one of the funding structures that allows OA journals to provide free content so that you don't have to pay fees or subscription costs to access journal articles.

2. How Do I Find Journal Articles?

Journal articles can be found in databases and institutional repositories that can be accessed at university libraries. However, online research databases that contain OA articles are the best resource for getting free access to journal articles that are available online.

Peer-reviewed journal articles are the best to use for academic research, and there are a number of databases where you can find peer-reviewed OA journal articles. Once you've found a useful article, you can look through the references for the articles the author used to conduct their research, and you can then search online databases for those articles, too.

3. How Do I Find Peer-Reviewed Articles?

Peer-reviewed articles can be found in reputable scholarly peer-reviewed journals. High-quality journals and journal articles can be found online using academic search engines and free research databases. These resources are excellent for finding OA articles, including peer-reviewed articles.

OA articles are articles that can be accessed for free. While some scholarly search engines and databases include articles that aren't peer reviewed, there are also some that provide only peer-reviewed articles, and databases that include non-peer-reviewed articles often have advanced search features that enable you to select "peer review only." The database will return results that are exclusively peer-reviewed content.

4. What Are Research Databases?

A research database is a list of journals, articles, datasets, and/or abstracts that allows you to easily search for scholarly and academic resources and conduct research online. There are databases that are interdisciplinary and cover a variety of topics.

For example, Paperity might be a great resource for a chemist as well as a linguist, and there are databases that are more specific to a certain field. So, while ERIC might be one of the best educational databases available for OA content, it's not going to be one of the best databases for finding research in the field of microbiology.

5. How Do I Find Scholarly Articles for Specific Fields?

There are interdisciplinary research databases that provide articles in a variety of fields, as well as research databases that provide articles that cater to specific disciplines. Additionally, a journal repository or index can be a helpful resource for finding articles in a specific field.

When searching an interdisciplinary database, there are frequently advanced search features that allow you to narrow the search results down so that they are specific to your field. Selecting "psychology" in the advanced search features will return psychology journal articles in your search results. You can also try databases that are specific to your field.

If you're searching for law journal articles, many law reviews are OA. If you don't know of any databases specific to history, visiting a journal repository or index and searching "history academic journals" can return a list of journals specific to history and provide you with a place to begin your research.

6. Are Peer-Reviewed Articles Really More Legitimate?

The short answer is yes, peer-reviewed articles are more legitimate resources for academic research. The peer review process provides legitimacy, as it is a rigorous review of the content of an article that is performed by scholars and academics who are experts in their field of study. The review provides an evaluation of the quality and credibility of the article.

Non-peer-reviewed articles are not subject to a review process and do not undergo the same level of scrutiny. This means that non-peer-reviewed articles are unlikely, or at least not as likely, to meet the same standards that peer-reviewed articles do.

7. Are Free Article Directories Legitimate?

Yes! As with anything, some databases are going to be better for certain requirements than others. But, a scholarly article database being free is not a reason in itself to question its legitimacy.

Free scholarly article databases can provide access to abstracts, scholarly article websites, journal repositories, and high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles. The internet has a lot of information, and it's often challenging to figure out what information is reliable. 

Research databases and article directories are great resources to help you conduct your research. Our list of the best research paper websites is sure to provide you with sources that are totally legit.

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Library Research: Understanding Library Databases: Types of databases

• Defining Databases
• How to Access Databases at the Library
• Accessing Databases On/Off Campus
• Why are databases useful?
• Facts about databases
• Types of databases
• Strategies for finding databases
• Understanding What's in a database
• Define your topic
• Choose keywords
• Boolean Operators
• Examples of using AND, OR, NOT
• Wildcards and Truncation
• Subject Headings
• Video: Choosing a Database
• Tutorial: Choosing & Using Keywords
• Quiz: Choosing and Using Keywords
• Quiz: Choosing a Database
• Tutorial: Search Techniques, Part 1
• Tutorial: Search Techniques, Part 2
• Quiz: Search Techniques
• Video: Refining Search Results

Types of Databases

John b. cade library provides you with access to both general and subject databases., so what's the difference between general and subject databases.

General databases cover multiple disciplines or a wide range of subjects.

General databases are a helpful start to your research as they give you information about articles from many disciplines(i.e. Psychology, Sociology, Criminal Justice, Business). John B. Cade Library subscribes to general databases, such as: 

• ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE
• EBSCO DISCOVERY SERVICE

RECAP: General databases are good for:

• Performing multi-disciplinary searches
• Finding information when there is no clear discipline 
• Finding information about any general topic
• Browsing and starting the search process

Subject databases are specialized and cover articles, indexes, news and legal information, and compilations of other information related to a particular subject or discipline .

SUBJECT SPECIFIC DATABASES AVAILABLE AT JOHN B. CADE LIBRARY

• Business Source Complete
• CINAHL  
• Computer Source
• Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition
• Legal Collection
• Nursing and Allied Health Source
• Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection

RECAP: SUBJECT SPECIFIC DATABASES

Some resources provide content with a specific discipline in mind; these tools typically provide comprehensive coverage of scholarly literature in a defined field.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF DATABASES 

Remember to read the description of the database to determine if it is appropriate for your research topic.

Example of General Databases (CLICK the "i" symbol for a complete description of the database)

Examples of subject databases.

• << Previous: Facts about databases
• Next: Strategies for finding databases >>
• Last Updated: Feb 28, 2024 2:03 PM
• URL: https://subr.libguides.com/ULD

Chapter 9: The Research Process

9.3 Basic Guidelines for Research in Academic Databases

Emilie Zickel

Many of your professors will expect you to use academic research databases for research papers in college. Getting used to doing research in an academic database can be challenging, especially if you have only used Google for research. Becoming familiar with the way that research databases work can take some time. However, with some understanding of what academic research databases can do for you, and with some practice and tinkering around, you will soon be more comfortable doing your research in these databases instead of Google.

The guidelines offered in the videos below offer basic but important information about using research databases effectively. While the content on the rest of this page applies most specifically to Academic Search Complete (also called EBSCO), the tips are relevant to any research database.

How Can You Use an Academic Research Database Effectively?

• Avoid typing your whole research question into the search field. Use only keywords, in various combinations
• Use several keywords at once, and be willing to change each word for a synonym if you hit a dead end with one set of words
• Use “AND” or “OR” to retrieve more results or to limit your results
• Use the database’s own Subject Terms to help you to refine your searches within that database

The video below explains what doing all of those things means in a practical sense. 

“Tracking Down Articles” by Research Therapists

What is Academic Search Complete?

Academic Search Complete is one of the more user-friendly databases for conducting college research. It is a great “starter” database for several reasons. In  Academic Search Complete, you can find popular articles from some of the more credible newspapers and magazines. You can also locate scholarly articles from a variety of academic disciplines. Academic Search Complete provides a wide array of information on a range of topics, and chances are that you will find something useful for your project there.

When you realize how many filters you can apply to your search query so that you only get certain types of information, you will see how valuable this database (or database researching in general) can be.

The video below offers a quick overview of how you can use Academic Search Complete to

• Limit your search results to only get peer reviewed (scholarly) articles
• Limit your search results to get articles that are accessible via download
• Refine your searches so that you get the information most relevant to your research project
• Refine your search to specific dates so that only articles from a certain time period are found
• Access articles that you find
• Locate article abstracts
• Find subject terms and understand how they can be useful to your research strategy

“Academic Search Complete Database in 3 Minutes” by Seminole State Library is licensed under CC BY

A Note about Google Scholar vs Academic Search Complete

Many students report using and liking Google Scholar. If Google Scholar works for you – and it certainly can work well – then continue to use it along with Academic Search Complete. What may happen, however, is that while you can find article titles via Google Scholar searches, you may not get access to the full article, particularly if you have not linked your Google Scholar account to your university library.

Academic Search Complete, and the many, many other academic research databases that can be accessed from the university library “ Research Databases ” page, will give you access to most articles. If you find a title via Google Scholar that you cannot access, try looking for it in Academic Search Complete or another database.

1st Edition: A Guide to Rhetoric, Genre, and Success in First-Year Writing (No Longer Updated) by Emilie Zickel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Library Research Tutorials

• Chat 24/7 Online with the Libraries Ask us anything! Chat with a librarian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with any research or library questions.
• Email contact form
• Schedule an online consultation with the Libraries Contact us to schedule an online consultations for personalized research support primarily for University of Minnesota faculty, instructors, graduate and undergraduate students and staff.

Use library databases

• Tutorial: What is a library database and why should I use one?

• Identify what a library database is
• Recognize the two main types of library databases
• Know why you should use them
• Understand why searching a library database is different than searching the general internet
• Tutorial: Database search tips

Improve your searches! This guide will help you:

• Apply search modifiers AND, OR, and NOT to your database searches
• Recognize phrase searching and other advanced search techniques
• Tutorial: Let's talk databases: Academic Search Premier

This video introduces the Academic Search Premier database.

After viewing this video, you will be able to:

• Access the Academic Search Premier database
• Perform keyword searching
• Filter and sort search results
• View the Full text of articles or download a PDF
• Generate a citation right in the database

And finally: you will know how to get Library help if you need it!

• Tutorial: Let's talk databases: APA PsycInfo

This video introduces the APA PsycInfo database.

• Access the APA PsycInfo database
• Tutorial: Let's talk databases: Libraries Search

This video introduces the Libraries Search database.

• Access the Libraries Search database
• Tutorial: Let's talk databases: Google Scholar

This video introduces the Google Scholar database.

• Access the Google Scholar database
• Tutorial: Let's talk databases: JSTOR

This video introduces the JSTOR database.

• Access the JSTOR database
• Tutorial: Let's talk databases: PubMed

This video introduces the PubMed database.

• Access the PubMed database
• Tutorial: Let's talk databases: Web of Science

This video introduces the Web of Science database.

• Access the Web of Science database
• Generate a citation
• Tutorial: How scholarly research gets published in peer-reviewed journals and where to find it all

• Recognize how scholarly research articles come to be published in peer-reviewed journals
• Use a library database to access it all
• << Previous: Plan and organize your research
• Next: Find sources >>

Library Information Literacy and Research Tutorials

• Tutorial 1: Introduction
• Tutorial 2: Understanding Source Types
• Tutorial 3: Developing a Search Strategy
• Tutorial 4: Searching a Database
• Tutorial 5: Evaluating Information
• Tutorial 6: Citing Sources

Learning Objectives

By the end of Tutorial 4: Searching a Database, you should know how to:

• Define the term research database.
• Differentiate between a keyword search and a subject search.
• Build a search using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).
• Use several techniques for narrowing or broadening your search results. 

Estimated tutorial time: 35 minutes

What is a Research Database?

A database is a searchable collection of information. A research database is where you find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles. Each database contains thousands of articles published in many different journals, allowing you find relevant articles faster than you would by searching individual journals.

Some databases are  full text , where they provide the complete text of works such as articles or books. Other databases will only provide abstracts , or summaries, of articles or books.

Searching a Library database is different from searching the Internet.

Selecting a Database

Some of our library research databases are interdisciplinary and some are discipline-specific. Selecting the best research databases for your topic is an important step to take in your search strategy: this will save you time and help you find the most relevant and appropriate sources. You might also want to consider if the databases you're using cover your topic within the date range you need, and if you should search multiple databases to look at your topic from different disciplinary perspectives.

You can access all of our databases from the  Databases A-Z  page or find subject-specific lists of databases in our  Research Guides . To find the most relevant databases for a specific topic, course, or discipline, you can: 

• Use our  Research Guides
• Use the "Subjects" dropdown menu on the  Databases A-Z  page 
• Ask your instructor or librarian for database recommendations

Keyword Searching

Keywords  are the important words, phrases, or concepts related to your research topic. You’ll need to  identify your main concepts and search terms  to find the most relevant sources in our library databases. 

Search engines like Google use a  natural language algorithm . That means you can enter an entire question or even just talk to Google and get lots of results. If you search Google for "What is the effect of social media use on university students’ sleep?" you get millions of results.

But searching for an entire question in a database will not get you any results, or at least not many good ones. Library databases are more specific and will only give you exactly what you put in. Instead, enter just your keywords, often separated with one concept per search box: 

A database’s keyword search looks for the words you’ve entered anywhere in an article’s record  fields  (such as the article Title and the article abstract), and sometimes in the article full text. In the example database article record below, you can see the keywords "sleep," "social media," and "university students" in  bold  wherever they appear.

Keyword highlights in the article title in the database's search results:

Take some time to develop a list of keywords before starting your search. Remember that keywords should be the main subjects in your topic, and not connecting words such as "what," "effect," or "on." If you’re not sure which terms or combinations of terms might work best, talk to a librarian.

Subject Searching

Subject terms.

Unlike keyword searches,  subject searches  only return results that include your search term in the subject headings field.

Many databases use a  controlled vocabulary , which is a list of standardized subject headings used to index content. You can usually find the database's controlled vocabulary in a section called  subject terms  on the article record page and in the database's thesaurus. Most database article records will have subject terms assigned to them in their record.

In the Academic Search Premier database, subjects can be found below the article Title, Author, and Journal information fields on the search results list:

Subjects can also be found in the full article record. Clicking on a subject term in an article record will start a new search using that exact subject term instead of a keyword: 

Once you know the subject term, it can be used instead of a keyword in your search. In the example below, the keyword phrase "university students" is replaced with "COLLEGE students" and the "Subject Terms - SU" field is selected from the menu next to the search box, which tells the database a preferred subject term is being used. 

Searching with subject terms can make your results much more precise. It can also help you expand your list of effective search terms to use in other databases. 

Keyword vs. Subject Searching

Databases have different interfaces and use different subject terms, but most provide both keyword and subject searching. Let's take a closer look at the differences between these two search options.

Watch the video below to review Keyword vs. Subject Searching:

Source: Wayne State University Libraries Instruction. “ Keyword vs. Subject Searching .” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 9 January 2014. Web. 12 May 2017.

Boolean Operators

When you want to combine search terms, you will need to use the Boolean operators , or connectors. This is best done using the advanced search mode. There are three main Boolean operators: AND, OR, and NOT.

Use AND to retrieve articles that mention  both terms  somewhere in the article. The use of AND generally will retrieve fewer but more focused results .

Example: Childhood obesity AND exercise

Use OR  between two terms to retrieve articles that mention  either term . The use of OR generally will retrieve a  larger set of results . The OR operator is useful when searching with terms that are synonyms or convey the same concept.

Example: Cloning OR genetics OR reproduction

Use NOT to exclude terms . The use of NOT allows you to remove search results containing a specific term. The use of NOT generally will retrieve fewer but more relevant results .

Example: Eating disorders NOT anorexia

Effective use of Boolean operators is essential to sophisticated research. Watch the video below to learn more about Boolean searching.

Source: McMaster Libraries. "How Library Stuff Works: Boolean Operators (AND OR NOT)" Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 28 November 2016. 1 August 2020.

Phrase Searching

Place quotation marks around a phrase to search for that exact phrase. Most databases support phrase searching .

Example: A search for "United Nations" (with the quotation marks) will return only results where the two words appear together as a phrase.

For a quick demo, watch the video below.

Source: "Tips and Tricks: Phrase Searching" by North Carolina State University Libraries, licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US License .

Truncation  is a search technique that uses a word stem  (or  root word) to broaden your search to include various word endings and spellings. A  word stem  is either a word or just the beginning part of a word that can have multiple endings. For example, the word stem  journal*  could have multiple endings like journals , journalist , or journalism , while  nurs* would include nurse, nurses, and nursing. 

To search using truncation, just enter the word stem followed by the truncation symbol; most databases use an asterisk (*). You can check a database's Help page to see if there's a different symbol you should use; some databases, for example, use a question mark (?) instead.

Searches using the word stem  educ *  will return results with any terms like educate , educated , educator , education , or educational . Searches using the word stem analy* will return results with any terms like analyze , analyse (British English spelling), analyst , or analysis . 

Watch the following video to review how truncation searching works:

Source: KU Libraries. "Search by Truncation." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 15 April 2015. 5 August 2020. 

Broadening Your Search

Keep in mind that if you're looking for an all-in-one source that addresses your topic perfectly, you might need to change your approach. Watch this short video to learn what to do when you can't find enough resources on your topic.

Source: “One Perfect Source?” by North Carolina State University Libraries, licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US License .

If you aren’t finding many sources when doing a database search, remember these techniques that can help to broaden your search.

• Make sure you are separating your search terms into keywords and putting one concept in each search box 
• Remove a concept from your search
• Use a broader term as the keyword for your topic or concept
• Add synonyms for your keywords using the Boolean operator "OR"
• Use a truncation symbol to search for various endings of a word

Narrowing Your Search

If you are getting thousands or millions of search results, you will want to narrow your search. There are several techniques you can use, some of which have already been covered in this module.

• Add another concept to your search using the Boolean operator "AND" to focus your results
• Use “quotation marks” to search for multiple words as an exact phrase 

• Remove unrelated records by using the Boolean operator "NOT"
• Use search limiters provided in the database

Limiters  are tools that help you narrow the focus of your search so that the information retrieved from the database is limited according to the values you select. You can apply more than one limiter at a time. In an EBSCO database like  Academic Search Premier , the limiters are found by clicking All filters under the search box and a menu will appear to the right of your search results. The types of limiters available will vary by database, but the most common ones are listed below.

• Full Text  – Click to limit results to articles with full text available in the database. Use this option with caution as the full text of an article may be in a different database we have access to, which you can find using the Find It/Access options button. You can also get access to full text articles by using Interlibrary Loan.
• Scholarly / Peer Reviewed  – Limits search results to just articles from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. Note that not all articles in scholarly journals are peer reviewed, such as letters to the editor and book reviews.
• Publication Date  – Use this option to search for articles before or after a specific date, or within a specified date range.
• Source Type  – Select from the types of sources available in the database, such as journal articles, magazines, newspapers, etc. The type of source you will want depends on your information needs.
• Subject: Thesaurus Term  – Use the subject terms related to your search results to help narrow and focus your results on a particular topic.
• Language  – Some databases include materials published in different languages. Use this option to limit your search results to a language you feel comfortable reading.

Getting Full Text

Not all research databases are full text , where they provide the complete text of every article they have. Some databases only provide abstracts , or summaries, of their articles. When viewing an article record in a database, look for a link or button for the PDF or HTML Full Text.

If you don’t see a full-text option for an article you need, look for a Find It button.

Clicking on Find It will show you if the full text of an article is available in one of our other databases (either through the Find It page or through LibKey) or if you’ll need to request a copy through Interlibrary Loan.

LibKey for Full Text

In the example below, clicking on Find It takes you to a LibKey page that provides the full text PDF of the article for download and a link to the article's location in a different database. 

Link to View Full Text

In the example below, clicking on Find It take you to a page showing the details of the article and which database it is located in (ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Database). Click the View Full Text link to go to the page where the full text can be accessed in ProQuest.

Request Full Text Through Interlibrary Loan 

If there is no full text available in any of the library's databases, as shown in the next example below, click the Request Item through Interlibrary Loan button further down on the Find It page. Once you have requested an article through  Interlibrary Loan , a copy will be emailed to you within a few days. 

Caution: Paywalls

Beware! When searching for articles, especially when using an open-web search engine such as Google, you can run into paywalls where the database or website where the article is located asks you to pay money to get access to the full text. As a CSB and SJU student you should not pay for individual articles. Instead, request a free copy of the article using Interlibrary Loan or talk to a librarian for help getting access.

Quiz 4: Searching a Database

• << Previous: Tutorial 3: Developing a Search Strategy
• Next: Tutorial 5: Evaluating Information >>
• Last Updated: Aug 27, 2024 4:13 PM
• URL: https://guides.csbsju.edu/general-research

• Lewis & Clark College
• Lewis & Clark Libraries
• Research Databases and Guides
• A-Z List of Research Databases

Research Databases and Guides: A-Z List of Research Databases

• Research Guides

#    a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i   j   k   l   m   n   o   p    q   r   s    t   u    v    w   xyz

# | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X, Y, Z

• accessCeramics This link opens in a new window A growing collection of contemporary ceramics images from artists around the world, created through collaboration between Watzek Library and Ted Vogel, Lewis & Clark's Studio Head of Ceramics.
• Africabib This link opens in a new window Two bibliographic databases covering Africa- one general and one concerning women. more... less... The site consists of two bibliographic databases covering Africana covering Africana periodical literature (Bibliography of Africana Periodical Literature Database) and African Women's literature (African Women's Database). You will also find a comprehensive bibliography on women travelers and explorers to Africa (Women Travelers, Explorers and Missionaries to Africa: 1763-2004: A Comprehensive English Language Bibliography).

• Archival Research Catalog This link opens in a new window ARC is the online catalog of NARA's nationwide holdings in the Washington, DC area, Regional Archives and Presidential Libraries. more... less... With billions of records, ARC describes about half of the holdings in the National Archives. Some additional archival materials -- such as architectural and engineering drawings items, maps and charts, and still pictures -- have been digitized and are available through ARC.
• Archive.org The Internet Archive Text Archive contains a wide range of fiction, popular books, children's books, historical texts and academic books.
• ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new window Provides access to descriptions of archival collections held by thousands of libraries, museums, historical societies and archives worldwide. more... less... ArchiveGrid provides online access to nearly a million descriptions of archival collections held by thousands of libraries, museums, historical societies and archives worldwide. Includes access to collections held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Art Institute of Chicago, Smithsonian Institution - Archives of American Art, New York Public Library, and many more: listed on their homepage.
• Art Resource Fine art stock licensing. Art Resource is the world's largest fine art stock photo archive, licensing authorized images to all media.
• Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) This link opens in a new window Covers material published between 1975 and 2007. The BHA is a free online resource that is not connected to Watzek systems; make sure to check items in Primo for local availability. more... less... BHA is a free database that encompasses two databases, the BHA (Bibliography of the History of Art) and RILA (Rpertoire de la litterature de l'art). BHA covers the years 1990-2007; the Getty Web version includes all records with abstracts in French or English and all subject terms in French and English. RILA covers the years 19751989.
• British Library 14 million books, 920,000 journal and newspaper titles, 58 million patents, 3 million sound recordings.
• CiNii (Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator) This link opens in a new window CiNii (pronounced "sigh-knee") searches academic papers and articles published in Japan. more... less... CiNii (Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator)enables searching of information on academic papers published in academic society journals or university research bulletins, or included in the National Diet Library's Japanese Periodicals Index Database. More information is here:http://ci.nii.ac.jp/cinii/en/pages/cinii-db.html
• Digital Public Library of America This link opens in a new window The DPLA offers a single point of access to millions of items photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States. Users can browse and search the DPLA's collections by timeline, map, format, and topic.
• Environmental History Bibliography This link opens in a new window Contains over 40,000 annotated citations to books, articles, and dissertations published from 1633 to the present. more... less... For over 50 years the Forest History Society (FHS) has monitored the world of publishing for items written as history and dealing with the utilization, management, and appreciation of forest-related resources. Originally the information was kept on index cards, then in 1977 was published in North American Forest and Conservation History: A Bibliography by Ronald J. Fahl (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO Press, 1977). Since the early 1980s FHS has maintained the bibliography in a computer database, which is continually updated and searchable on our web site.
• GovInfo This link opens in a new window A service of the U.S. Government Printing Office, this site provides free electronic access to over 1,000 databases documenting the legislative, executive and judicial branches.
• Fed in Print A free, comprehensive index to economic research publications of the Federal Reserve. Covers 1970s-present. more... less... Fed in Print is the central catalog of publications of the US Federal Reserve System. This free, comprehensive index covers publications from 1970s-present.
• Federal Register This link opens in a new window A highly user-friendly interface to the government's main publication on federal rules and regulations.
• Getty Provenance Index Databases contain indexed transcriptions of material from auction catalogs and archival inventories of western European works of art, and contain nearly 1,000,000 records that cover the period from the late 16th century to the early 20th century.
• GPO Monthly Catalog This link opens in a new window A guide to publications from the Government Printing Office since July 1976. more... less... Consists of records published by the GPO since July 1976, including references to congressional committee reports and hearings, debates, documents from executive departments, and more.
• Historic Oregon Newspapers This link opens in a new window On this site you can search and access complete content for historic Oregon newspapers that have been digitized as part of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program (ODNP). Titles are here http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/newspapers/.
• Homeland Security Digital Library This link opens in a new window The HSDL collection includes homeland security strategy, policy and research documents. more... less... The HSDL collection provides quick access to important U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources such as theses and reports from various universities, organizations and local and state agencies. The resources are reviewed and selected by a team of homeland security researchers and organized in a unique homeland security taxonomy.
• Index to Military Periodicals (AULIMP) Indexes significant articles, news items, book reviews and editorials from English language military and aeronautical periodicals. more... less... The Air University Library's Index to Military Periodicals is a subject index to significant articles, news items, and editorials from English language military and aeronautical periodicals. The Index contains citations since 1988 and is updated continuously. A comprehensive list of all journals covered by AULIMP since 1949 is available as the Historical Index of AULIMP titles.
• LegalTrac Full-text coverage of major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals.
• PubMed This link opens in a new window National Library of Medicine's database covering the international literature on biomedicine, including dentistry and nursing. more... less... National Library of Medicine's database covering the international literature on biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care. Many records include abstracts.
• National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections This link opens in a new window NUCMC is a catalog of historical manuscript collections in the United States. more... less... NUCMC lists archival and manuscript collections in repositories across the U.S. Also contains links to other archival sites of interest. The Watzek Library also has print editions that cover pre-1986 in the stacks that contain records for archives added to the catalog before 1986: National union catalog of manuscript collections
• Natural Resources Conservation Service - Geospatial Data Gateway Site that offers national datasets including topoquads, imagery, climate, soil, census data, and other data topics.
• NCBI Gene National Library of Medicine database that integrates gene information from a wide range of species.
• Archives West This link opens in a new window Provides enhanced access to more than 2,400 archival and manuscript collections in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
• NTIS (National Technical Information Service) This link opens in a new window Containing over 2.0 million bibliographic records, the NTIS Database is the preeminent resource for accessing the latest research sponsored by the United States and select foreign governments.
• Open Library Featuring more than 23 million books (and more than 1 million with full-text).
• Oregon Index This link opens in a new window Indexes several Oregon newspapers. more... less... The Oregon Index selectively indexes several Oregon newspapers and other publications with articles about Oregon. No full text is provided.
• Oregon Employment Department Find comprehensive information on over 700 occupations. more... less... OLMIS provides information about 700 occupations, including occupational descriptions, licensing information, wages, occupational projections, educational requirements, schools offering training, and more.
• Perseus Digital Library This link opens in a new window Primarily a full-text database of ancient Greek and Roman texts, the collection has recently expanded into Renaissance English and 19th century American texts as well.

No databases yet.

• EconPapers (RePEc) This link opens in a new window RePEc disseminates research in economics, including working papers, journal articles, software components, author information, directory of institutions. more... less... RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 58 countries and 35 U.S. states to enhance the dissemination of research in economics. The heart of the project is a decentralized database of working papers, journal articles and software components. Some RePEc material is freely available, but RePEc does not contain full-text journal articles; article links require subscription access. RePEc collaborates with EconLit to provide content from leading universities' working paper series to EconLit.
• SIRIS This link opens in a new window Smithsonian Institute research databases focus on art and culture. more... less... Access to a variety of databases, including the Smithsonian library catalogs, the Freer Gallery of Art Catalog, the Manuscripts & Photographic Collections Catalog, and the national Inventory of American Painting and Sculpture databases.
• SODA Southern Oregon Digital Archives Includes federal, state and local documents pertaining to Southern Oregon History, the Southern Oregon Bioregion, and First Nations. more... less... The First Nations Collection of the Southern Oregon Digital Archives consists of documents, books, and articles relating to the indigenous peoples of this bioregion. SODA has begun to collect and mount materials about many tribes in southwestern Oregon and northern California. Some of these nations include the Coos, Hupa, Karuk, Klamath, Modoc, Takelma, Shasta, Siuslaw,Cow Creek Band of Umpqua, Yahooskin, and Yurok nations. Over the past 30 years the Southern Oregon University Library has actively collected hundreds of federal and state government publications relating to the Southern Oregon Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion. Along with those publications we receive through the U.S. Government Printing Office and the Oregon State Library, SODA has made special efforts to collect "fugitive" and "gray" documents, those materials not normally distributed through these channels. Many are written by researchers that are not regular staff members of the state or federal government, but who contract with regional government offices to do environmental research.
• TRID Transport Research International Documentation TRID is the world's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic resource on transportation information. more... less... The TRID Database contains almost a million records of references to books, technical reports, conference proceedings, journal articles and on-going research in the field of transportation.
• UNdata Browse or search for data series of more than 55 million records from the databases of the UN on employment, education, energy, environment, health, population, refugees, and much more.
• USGS Map locator This link opens in a new window Download USGS maps in pdf format.

Provides full-text articles for the Wall Street Journal from January 2, 1984 through current issue.

• Web Gallery of Art (Europe) A virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 12th to mid-19th centuries. more... less... Includes guided tours of museums, interactive, full-screen views of artworks, and a glossary, among other resources.
• Wolframalpha.com This link opens in a new window Searches datasets rather than web pages to provide answers.
• World Bank Open Data The World Bank's premier annual compilation of data. World Development Indicators alone includes 1431 time series data categories. more... less... The tables cover 152 economies and 14 country groups-with basic indicators for a further 56 economies.
• WorldCat This link opens in a new window WorldCat searches library catalogs from all over the United States, including Summit libraries and other academic and public libraries. The older Firstsearch . interface is due to go away but is still here for now. more... less... Provides access to more than 135 million bibliographic records from library holdings around the world. All types of materials are listed, including books, sound recordings, musical scores, visual materials, and web resources. Includes some journal articles.

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• Last Updated: Aug 15, 2024 12:39 PM
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