Article & Database Terms Q&A
What is a research database?
A research database is a searchable collection of thousands of articles, often organized by subject.
What is a scholarly journal?
A scholarly journal is a scholarly publication with multiple articles that is often subject specific or has a specific audience. Sometimes referred to as a periodical, because they are published at regularly occurring intervals.
Using Google Scholar
Google Scholar covers articles, theses, books, abstracts, court opinions and other scholarly literature from all broad areas of research, and may include pre-prints and web-published reports as well as published literature. Since Google Scholar indexes information from multiple sources (provided by publishers, included in databases such as PubMed, found on the public web, etc.), there is no comprehensive list of which publications it covers. However, for many fields, the greater number of publication formats included means that Google Scholar may find citations that are not indexed in the Web of Science.
To search for citing publications in Google Scholar, you may want to start with a search for your researchers name. To get the best results that include various ways they may be cited, search all variations of the name within quotation marks, preceded by author: For example, to search for citations to Peter Linebaugh's work, search for
author:"P Linebaugh" OR author:"Peter Linebaugh"
Results will be listed (generally) with the most-cited publications first. To see the list of citing documents, click on 'Cited by [number]' below an entry to display all citing documents. Google Scholar will attempt to group all versions of a single work into one entry and combine the citations, but please note that it is not always able to do so, and you may see additional entried (with citations) to a work. See the examples in red boxes in the figure below.
Research Databases
- MEDLINE Complete This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive database providing access to biomedical and health journals. An important resource for doctors, nurses, health professionals and researchers engaged in clinical care, public health and health policy development. 1865 to present.
- PsycINFO (APA) This link opens in a new window
The most comprehensive international index of peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. 1887 to present.
- Ulrichsweb This link opens in a new window
Directory of U.S. and international periodicals. No articles, just information about journals.
Periodical List
- Periodical List
You can search for a specific journal/magazine/newspaper title using Periodical List.
LinkSource checks our other databases to find a copy of your article in one of our other databases. Sometimes you'll see this image:
What is the Periodical List?
Not every database contains the full text of every article. However, you may be able to find the full text in another of the library's databases. To find out where you can find a particular periodical online or in print, use the Periodical List.
(click on the image to see a larger version)
