4 Navigating Search Engines & Databases
When searching for academic articles, it’s beneficial to use a variety of search engines and databases to get a comprehensive view of the literature. Each platform has its strengths and specific focus areas. Here are several widely used and respected search engines and databases for academic research:
SEARCH ENGINES |
DESCRIPTION |
STRENGTHS |
WEAKNESSES |
BEST FOR |
| 1. Google Scholar | A freely accessible search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly articles across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. | Broad coverage, citation tracking, and links to related articles. | Can include fewer scholarly sources, making it necessary to carefully assess the credibility of each result. The broad scope may also lead to an overwhelming number of results. | All disciplines. |
| 2. PubMed | A free search engine accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. | Ideal for medical, health, and biological sciences. | Primarily focuses on life sciences and may not provide comprehensive coverage of related fields like social aspects of medicine. | Medical sciences, health, and biology. |
| 3. Web of Science | A comprehensive research platform that provides access to multiple databases of scholarly works. | Wide disciplinary coverage, citation tracking, and robust search capabilities. | Limited access without a subscription, and some users find the interface less intuitive compared to other databases. | A wide range of fields including sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. |
| 4. Scopus | One of the largest abstract and citation databases of peer-reviewed literature: scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings. | Broad coverage, citation analysis tools, and author profiles. | Subscription-based access and some critiques about its coverage and citation analysis accuracy. | Multidisciplinary research, particularly strong in scientific, technical, medical, and social sciences. |
| 5. JSTOR |
A digital library for scholars, researchers, and students, providing access to thousands of academic journals, books, and primary sources. | Strong in the humanities, social sciences, and historical archives. | Typically does not include the most recent publications due to moving wall restrictions, limiting access to the latest research. | Humanities and social sciences. |
| 6. ScienceDirect |
A website operated by the Dutch publisher Elsevier. It includes a large collection of scientific and technical research. | Strong in scientific, technical, and medical research. | Access is primarily through subscription, and some have critiqued it for high costs and publisher control. | Scientific, technical, and medical research. |
| 7. Microsoft Academic |
A free public web search engine for academic publications and literature. | Semantic search capabilities, and visualization tools. |
Has been considered less comprehensive compared to Google Scholar and others. Also, Microsoft announced it would be discontinuing the service. |
Multidisciplinary, with a strong focus on computer science, physics, and engineering. |
| 8. SSRN |
An open-access repository that provides early distribution of research in the social sciences and humanities. |
Ideal for accessing early-stage and working papers. | Mainly contains working papers and preprints, so the content hasn’t been peer-reviewed. | Social sciences and humanities. |
| 9. Academic Search Engines (ASE): |
Description: A search engine specifically for academic web resources. ASE offers the ability to search a specially curated database of scholarly articles. |
Focuses on academic and scholarly websites. | Varying coverage depending on the field, and sometimes includes non-scholarly sources. |
A broad range of academic web resources, suitable for all disciplines. |
| 10. arXiv |
A repository of electronic preprints (e-prints) approved for posting after moderation but not full peer review. It’s focused on physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, and statistics. |
Access to the latest research, often before it’s formally published. | As a repository of preprints, the studies haven’t been peer-reviewed, which can sometimes question their reliability. |
Physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, and statistics. |
Considering Google Scholar’s widespread popularity as a search engine across various academic fields, here is a straightforward guide offering several tips and tricks to enhance and refine your search experience.
