The top list of academic research
databases
A research database is an organized, searchable collection of
information that allows you to quickly search many resources
simultaneously
Whether you are writing a thesis, dissertation, or research
paper it is a key task to survey prior literature and research
findings. More likely than not, you will be looking for trusted
resources, most likely peer-reviewed research articles.
Academic research databases make it easy to locate the
literature you are looking for.
1. Scopus
Scopus is one of the two big commercial, bibliographic
databases that cover scholarly literature from almost any
discipline. Beside searching for research articles, Scopus
also provides academic journal rankings, author profiles, and
an h-index calculator.
Coverage: approx. 71 million items
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References: 1.4 billion
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Access options: Limited free preview, full access by
institutional subscription only
Provider: Elsevier
Scopus: a multidisciplinary bibliographic database that covers
71+ million scholarly items
2. Web of Science
Web of Science also known as Web of Knowledge is the
second big bibliographic database. Usually, academic
institutions provide either access to Web of Science or
Scopus on their campus network for free.
Coverage: approx. 100 million items
References: 1.4 billion
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Access options: institutional subscription only
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Provider: Clarivate (formerly Thomson Reuters)
Web of Science: 100+ million scientific articles
3. PubMed
PubMed is the number one resource for anyone looking for
literature in medicine or biological sciences. PubMed stores
abstracts and bibliographic details of more than 30 million
papers and provides full text links to the publisher sites or
links to the free PDF on PubMed Central (PMC).
Coverage: approx. 30 million items
References: NA
Discipline: Medicine, Biological Sciences
Access options: free
Provider: NIH
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The new PubMed labs interface: a glimpse into the future of
the newly designed PubMed search interface.
4. ERIC
For education sciences, ERIC is the number one destination.
ERIC stands for Education Resources Information Center, and
is a database that specifically hosts education-related
literature.
Coverage: approx. 1.3 million items
References: NA
Discipline: Education science
Access options: free
Provider: U.S. Department of Education
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5. IEEE Xplore
IEEE Xplore is the leading academic database in the field of
engineering and computer science. It's not only journal
articles, but also conference papers, standards and books
that can be search for.
Coverage: approx. 5 million items
References: NA
Discipline: Engineering
Access options: free
Provider: IEEE (Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers)
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IEEE Xplore: an academic database specifically for
engineering and computer science
6. ScienceDirect
ScienceDirect is the gateway to the millions of academic
articles published by Elsevier. 2,500 journals and more than
40,000 e-books can be searched via a single interface.
Coverage: approx. 16 million items
References: NA
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Access options: free
Provider: Elsevier
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ScienceDirect: a multidisciplinary database featuring article
from one of the largest academic publishers in the world
7. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
The DOAJ is very special academic database since all the
articles indexed are open access and can be accessed freely
of charge.
Coverage: approx. 4.3 million items
References: NA
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Access options: free
Provider: DOAJ
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DOAJ: Any document you find on this academic database is
open access and can be accessed free of charge.
8. JSTOR
JSTOR is another great resource to find research papers. Any
article published before 1924 in the United States is available
for free and JSTOR also offers scholarships for independent
researchers.
Coverage: approx. 12 million items
References: NA
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Access options: free
Provider: ITHAKA
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JSTOR: 12 million scientifc articles dating back to as early as
1876.
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List_of_academic_databases_and_search_engines
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Digital Libraries
A digital library is a collection of digital objects, such as books, magazines,
audio recordings, video recordings and other documents that are
accessible electronically.
Digital libraries are Internet sites consecrated to the creation and
preservation of electronic book collections and holdings of other kinds of
materials, without the need for end users to purchase the materials they
want to consult and read.
Types of digital libraries
Institutional repositories.
National library collections.
Digital archives.
Digital libraries provide the students with the convenience of learning at
their own comfort. Students can access and read the library materials in
various digital formats (eBooks, audiobooks, videos on demand 24 hrs/day)
anytime and anywhere using their preferred devices.
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queryString=insomnia&gldtl-search=&q=
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