Content: How to access academic databases How to search academic databases 1. Use the campus network to access research databases 2. Find databases that are specifically related to your topic 3. Set up the search parameters within a database to be as narrow as possible 4. Ask a librarian for help 5. Slowly expand your search to get additional results 6. Use the pro features of the database 7. Try a more general database, if needed 8. Keep track of seminal works Frequently Asked Questions about searching online databases Related Articles How to access academic databases University libraries provide access to plenty of online academic databases that can yield good results when you use the right strategies. They are among the best sources to turn to when you need to find articles from scholarly journals, books, and other periodicals. Searching an online research database is much like searching the internet, but the hits returned will be scholarly articles and other academic sources, depending on the subject. In this guide, we highlight 8 tips for searching academic databases. Organize your papers in one place. Try Paperpile. No credit card needed Get 30 days free Paperpile screenshot Searching databases quick guide Use college and university library networks. Search subject-specific databases. Set up search parameters. Ask a librarian for help. Narrow or broaden your search, as needed. Use the pro features, where applicable. Try a more general database. Keep track of seminal works. How to search academic databases 1. Use the campus network to access research databases Tip: The best practice is to use the links provided on your library's website to access academic databases. Most academic databases cannot be accessed for free. As authoritative resources, these multi-disciplinary databases are comprehensive collections of the current literature on a broad range of topics. Because they have a huge range of publications, public access is sometimes restricted. College and university libraries pay for subscriptions to popular academic databases. As a student, staff, or faculty member, you can access these resources from home thanks to proxy connections. ➡️ Check out our list of EZProxy connections to see if your institution provides such a service. 2. Find databases that are specifically related to your topic Tip: Searching the right databases is key to finding the right academic journals. Around 2.5 million articles are published EACH year. As a result, it's important to search the right database for the reference you need. Comprehensive databases often contain subject-specific resources and filters and these will help you narrow down your search results. Otherwise, you will have to screen too many unrelated papers that won't give you the reference you want. Ask a librarian or check your library's A-Z resource list to find out which databases you can access. If you do not know where to start, you can check out the three biggest academic database providers: ProQuest EBSCO Ovid ➡️ Take a look at our compilations of research databases for computer science or healthcare. 3. Set up the search parameters within a database to be as narrow as possible Unlike in a Google search, typing in full sentences will not bring you satisfactory results. Some strategies for narrowing search parameters include: Use specific keywords instead of general phrases Apply filters like date range, peer-reviewed only, or publication type Use Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT Try phrase searching using quotation marks: "climate change adaptation" Use truncation symbols (e.g., psycholog*) 4. Ask a librarian for help University librarians are trained experts in research. Some are even subject specialists who can help you: Choose the right database Refine your keywords Use advanced search features Many libraries offer one-on-one research consultations that you can take advantage of. 5. Slowly expand your search to get additional results A specific search might not return as many results. This can be good because these results will most likely be current and applicable. If you do not get enough results, however, slowly expand the: date range type of journal keywords From there, you'll be able to find a wider variety of related technical reports, books, academic journals, and other potential results that you can use for your research. Organize your papers in one place. Try Paperpile. No credit card needed Get 30 days free 6. Use the pro features of the database Academic databases offer advanced tools you should take advantage of: "Cited by" and "References" to track research trails Related articles suggestions Saved searches and alerts Some databases use machine learning to recommend articles based on your behavior. AI tools to check out: Connected Papers – Explore relationships between papers Semantic Scholar – AI-powered paper summaries and relevance scores Consensus.app – Find research-backed answers to natural language questions 7. Try a more general database, if needed When you have thoroughly finished searching a comprehensive database, you can move on to another to find more results. Some databases that cover the same topics might give you the same search results, but they might also cover a full range of different journals or online resources. You might prefer the search system of one database over another based on the results you get from keyword searches. One database might have more advanced search options than the other. You can also try a more general database like: Web Of Science Scopus Dimensions ➡️ Visit our list of the best academic research databases. 8. Keep track of seminal works There are experts in every field, people who have published much scholarly content on your topic, people who get quoted or interviewed a lot and seem to be present almost everywhere. Pay attention to those names when searching a database, and once you have found someone interesting, you can search for more from that person. Also, take note of seminal articles, or those works that have been cited repeatedly within your field. Many major databases for academic journals have features that allow you to quickly determine which articles are cited most frequently. ➡️ Ready to start writing your paper? Visit our guide on how to start a research paper.