EDU 501: Introduction to Educational Research & Evaluation: Research Databases
Using Subject Databases
The field of study or discipline of Education includes particular theories, discourses, and foundational knowledge. Subject databases include discipline specific terms and index publications and journals in the field.
In all the databases, you can limit to scholarly or "peer reviewed" and that helps when doing a literature review on a topic.
Adding the word "methodology," "research," or "study" to your keyword search can also help. (Example: classroom management and methodology) Remember "research articles" usually contain the following information (usually denoted by separate headings). ABSTRACT - RESEARCH - METHODOLOGY - DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS - REFERENCES
When using ERIC, take advantage of the Descriptors field within the article record to refine your search.
Remember that many educational topics spill over into other subject areas like psychology, sociology, and even medical sciences. Generally, it is not effective to combine databases into one multiple database search. For example, retention has one meaning for educators interested in student success and another meaning for psychologists interested in the impact of memory. The Thesaurus in ERIC can help to identify and define subjects and terms, located in the top-left corner of the page.
Search Google Scholar to find citations to scholarly articles. While some articles are freely available via the web, many are not. If you find a useful article citation using Google Scholar, that is not available full-text, use Western Libraries OneSearch. If the article is not on the Internet or available in the library system, then you can request it through ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan).
Core Databases
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ERIC [EBSCO]The world's largest database of education research. Includes bibliographic entries, full-text articles, and a thesaurus of education-related terminology that is used to tag entries in the database.
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ERIC [ProQuest]The world's largest database of education research. Includes bibliographic entries, full-text articles, and a thesaurus of education-related terminology that is used to tag entries in the database.
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Education Abstracts [EBSCO]A database of citations and indexed abstracts for journals and books covering all levels of education.
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Teacher Reference Center [EBSCO]A database containing indexed citations and abstracts of the most popular publications for K-12 teachers, administrators, and librarians. Covers topics such as assessment, instructional media, language arts, math, science, pedagogical research, and continuing education.
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PsycARTICLES [EBSCO]A database of full-text articles from journals published by the American Psychological Association and allied publishing groups. Coverage from 1894 to the present.
Tip:All resources in PsycARTICLES are full text, though the search is very limited compared to PsycINFO. -
Social Sciences Databases [ProQuest]A multi-database search tool combining all the ProQuest social sciences databases.
More
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Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]A multi-disciplinary database of full-text access to approximately 6,600 journals and magazines and nearly 6,000 full-text peer-reviewed journals.
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CLCD: Children's Literature Comprehensive DatabaseA database of children's literature with options to conduct advanced searches by factors such as reading level, interest level, and award-status.
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Educational Administration Abstracts [EBSCO]A database of citations and abstracts for publications about educational administration. Includes educational leadership, management, research, and other topics.
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ERIC [U.S. Department of Education]The world's largest database of education research. Includes bibliographic entries, full-text articles, and a thesaurus of education-related terminology that is used to tag entries in the database.
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JSTOR [ITHAKA]A multi-disciplinary full-text database of articles from many scholarly journals. Content available is usually 1-5 years behind the most recently published journal article. Also contains some current journals and books.
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Web of Science [Clarivate]A multi-database search tool combining all three Web of Science indexes (the Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index).Tip:You can use this index to find works that have cited a specific author or article.
Librarian for Education

Office: Wilson Library 272
Phone: 360.650.7992
Email: stag@wwu.edu
Related Guides
- Adult & Higher Education Research Guide
- APA Workshop
- Blended Learning Guide
- Children's Literature Interdisciplinary Collection - CLIC
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
- EDU 501: Introduction to Educational Research & Evaluation
- EDUC 310: Education, Culture, & Equality Research Guide
- Education
- Folktales at Western Libraries
- Imaginary Library
- Tests and Measures: How to Locate
- Zotero Research Management Software