GW Libraries provides you with access to hundreds of databases.
Keep in mind that no one database will search all publications. To be comprehensive, a search must be done in several databases. Ask your subject librarian for advice if you are unsure of databases which best fit your topic.
Two types of databases are useful when searching for scholarly research on your topic:
(1) General or Multidisciplinary Databases - these cover a wide range of subject matter in both popular and scholarly periodicals. They serve as a great place to begin research or for a general topic.
The following examples can be accessed on the library's A - Z Database List:
Academic Search Complete
Google Scholar
ProQuest Research Library
(2) Subject-specific Databases - These discipline-based databases only search journals in that field of study. Below are some examples, but a list of all available subjects can be found on the GW Libraries page, Databases by Subject Areas.
ABI/INFORM - a great starting place for business research; includes articles from magazines, trade publications and scholarly journals
ERIC - the premier database covering literature on education
PsycINFO - includes research in field of psychology, as well as information about the psychological aspects of related disciplines.
In addition to using your topic as a search term, you might consider adding one of the keywords below to focus your search results on a specific research methodology.
Select one or more of these to use in your database searching:
Action Research
Assessment
Case stud*
Ethnograph*
Focus Group
Interview
Phenomenolog*
Qualitative
Quantitative
TIP: Check the document type; Look for these terms:
research review
meta-analysis
literature review
information analysis
