The following techniques can improve your searches in many article databases*
Enter phrases in quotes: "global warming" "capital punishment" "organic food"
Use truncation symbols to search for alternate word endings: In most databases, entering ethic* searches for ethic, ethics, ethical and ethically
If one term doesn't work, try a few others. Experiment with different vocabulary related to your topic. Brainstorm ideas for relevant keywords and use background sources such as Wkipedia or CQ Researcher for suggestions.
*Note: individual databases might have varying conventions for how to search. Consult Help or Search Tips within databases or ask a librarian for help with searching
General/Multidisciplinary Databases
The general databases listed below are a good place to begin research but they often provide limited coverage. Use subject-specific databases to find more articles on your topic.
This multidisciplinary database provides access to articles from journals, magazines, and reference sources across all subject areas. Coverage is primarily from 1980 to the present, with some older content.
Searches for scholarly materials such as peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from broad areas of research. It includes a variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
This is a portal to a growing list of Proquest research products, including Theses & Dissertations, Historical Newspapers, ABI/Inform business collection, and more. Note: we do not subscribe to all the titles on the list.
Subject-Specific Databases
Subject-specific databases offer in-depth coverage of specific disciplines or subject areas.
This site provides access to tables of contents, abstracts, reviews, and full text of every article ever published by ACM and citations from major publishers in computing.
Full text coverage of communication and mass media and related fields.
Communication & Mass Media Complete provides citation coverage in areas related to communication and mass media. This database originated with merging of two databases, CommSearch and Mass Media Articles Index. In addition, Communication & Mass Media Complete offers full text for over 200 titles.
Film and television books, articles, reviews, essays, and more.
Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text is a bibliographic database that provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 300 publications and selected coverage of 300 more. In addition to full-text journals, it includes Variety movie reviews dating back to 1914 and more than 65,000 images from the MPTV Image Archive. The database has been designed for use by a diverse audience that includes film scholars, college students, and general viewers.
Now called APA PsycINFO. Abstract and index of Psychology and the psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, nursing, sociology, business, education, etc.
PsycINFO contains bibliographic citations and abstracts from materials in the field of psychology and the psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law. Updated weekly.
Multidisciplinary coverage of over 10,000 journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities, as well as published proceedings for over 12,000 conferences per year, and over 50,000 scholarly books. Allows searching for articles in the database that have cited a particular work, as well as perform other analytics.