We recommend using bibliographic databases to carry out systematic subject searches for journal articles. These organized digital indexes of references to published literature are distinctive in containing rich subject descriptions of material in the form of keywords. They allow you to use more sophisticated search strategies than is possible with iDiscover or Google Scholar, enabling you to retrieve a comprehensive set of relevant references. Further advice on systematic approaches to searching is available in the Literature Searching Guide.
The form below will help you to plan out any literature search and the table below enables you to select the relevant databases to search.
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Selecting the the most appropriate database(s) is a key part of the planning stage. There is overlap across many of the databases, but if you are conducting a thorough and systematic literature search, you need to ensure that you search all of those that are relevant. Use the tabs above to find out about those databases relevant to education and related disciplines. Each tab includes a coverage and scope box which will enable you to select those that relate to your subject area or you can use the box below to select by subject. |
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We strongly recommend that you create an account on each of the databases you search as this will enable you to save and edit searches and re-run them at a later date |
Image credit: Nick Youngson
Click the link below to access the database:
At the search page, click on the arrow next to Editions and untick all other indexes apart from the Arts & Humanities Citation Index
| Coverage & scope | Indexes more than 1,300 arts and humanities journals and accessed via the Web of Science. Good source for: Arts & creativity; Children's literature; Drama |
| Full text? | No - each entry includes a link enabling you to check whether online access is available |
| Specialist features |
Citation database In addition to enabling you to retrieve high quality academic material using sophisticated and comprehensive search techniques, a citation database enables you to see how many times a previously published paper has been cited in the current literature. Citations are sometimes used as a way to evaluate a piece of work and assess its impact. However, there can be many reasons for citing (negative citations, ethnocentricity, self-citation) and a high citation count does not necessarily indicate that the research is of a high quality. |
| Help & support |
Click the link below to access the database:
Use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Chromium-based Edge (version 87 & higher) to access this database (EBSCO no longer supports Internet Explorer (all versions) or Legacy Edge (version 18 & lower))
| Coverage & scope |
Specialist database focusing on journals in the field of education published in the UK. For more coverage details click here Good source for: Assessment; Arts & Creativity; Education (all curriculum subjects); Counselling (within schools); International development; Psychology & education; School leadership; Second language learning |
| Full text? |
No - each entry includes a link enabling you to check whether online access is available |
| Specialist features | Includes a highly useful thesaurus to help establish relevant terminology plus introduce new terminology and new areas of research |
| Help & support |
Click the link below to access the database:
Use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Chromium-based Edge (version 87 & higher) to access this database. (EBSCO no longer supports Internet Explorer (all versions) and Legacy Edge (version 18 & lower))
| Coverage & scope |
Child Development & Adolescent Studies, produced by NISC, is today’s source for references to the current and historical literature related to growth and development of children through the age of 21. This database includes all of the issues of Child Development Abstracts & Bibliography from 1927 - 2001 previously published by the Society for Research in Child Development plus new coverage on Child Rights and welfare issues Good source for: Children's literature; Counselling; Psychology |
| Full text? | Yes. To find full text articles, click on Linked Full Text under Search Options |
| Specialist features | Includes a highly useful index of terms to help establish relevant terminology plus introduce new terminology and new areas of research |
| Help & support |
Click the link below to access the database:
| Coverage & scope |
Filmed and audio recordings of performances plus scripts along with ebooks covering context and criticism. For more coverage details click here. Good source for: Arts & creativity; Drama |
| Guide | Video guides available here |
| Full text? | Yes |
| Help & support | Can be found on these pages |
Click the link below to access the database:
Use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Chromium-based Edge (version 87 & higher) to access this database. EBSCO no longer supports Internet Explorer (all versions) or Legacy Edge (version 18 & lower)
Alternative access via Proquest (please note that you will not have access to material saved within your EBSCO account)
| Coverage & scope |
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is an American English-language database relating to education. ERIC indexes over 650 journals, plus books, research syntheses, conference papers, technical reports and policy papers. For more coverage details click here Good source for: Assessment; Arts & creativity; Children's literature, Counselling (within schools); Education (all curriculum subjects); International development; Psychology & education; School leadership; Second language learning |
| Full text? |
Mixed - entries either include a PDF option OR a link enabling you to check whether online access is available |
| Specialist features | Includes a highly useful thesaurus to help establish relevant terminology plus introduce new terminology and new areas of research |
| Help & support |
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The video below uses the British Education Index as an example, but the functionality is the same on ERIC
Click the link below to access the database:
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This link opens in a new window| Coverage & scope |
A fully searchable database covering English and American poetry, drama and prose. Another good source for material on Children's Literature. For more coverage details click here. Good source for: Children's literature; Drama |
| Full text? | Mixed - entries either include a PDF option OR a link enabling you to check whether online access is available |
| Help & support |
Click the link below to access the database:
| Coverage & scope |
Produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA) covering more than 3 million citations from journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, scholarly websites, editions, and translations published from the late 19th century to the present. For more coverage details (a list of all indexed titles ptovided in an excel file) click here Good source for: World languages and literatures, Linguistics and teaching of language, Drama, Film, Children's Literature. |
| Full text? |
Mixed - entries either include a PDF option OR a link enabling you to check whether online access is available via Cambridge University Subscriptions. Full text is limited so do not use the option to limit to full text as you will exclude content available through University subscriptions |
| Specialist features | Includes a highly useful thesaurus to help establish relevant terminology plus introduce new terminology and new areas of research |
| Help & support |
Click the link below to access the database:
This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window| Coverage & scope |
A full text searchable database covering digital humanities and social science. A good source for material on Children's Literature. For more coverage details click here. Good source for: Children's literature; Drama |
| Full text? | Yes |
| Help & support | Project Muse guide available here |
Click the link below to access the database:
Use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Chromium-based Edge (version 87 & higher) to access this database. (EBSCO no longer supports Internet Explorer (all versions) and Legacy Edge (version 18 & lower))
| Coverage & scope |
APA PsycArticles is a full-text database of journals published by APA, the Canadian Psychological Association, Hogrefe Publishing Group and APA's Educational Publishing Foundation dating back to 1894. For more coverage details click here. Good source for: Assessment; Counselling; Psychology; Wellbeing/mental health |
| Full text? | Yes |
| Specialist features | Includes a highly useful thesaurus to help establish relevant terminology plus introduce new terminology and new areas of research |
| Help & support |
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The video below uses the British Education Index as an example, but the functionality is the same on PsycArticles
Click the link below to access the database:
Use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Chromium-based Edge (version 87 & higher) to access this database. (EBSCO no longer supports Internet Explorer (all versions) and Legacy Edge (version 18 & lower))
| Coverage & scope |
APA PsycINFO is an abstract database of psychological literature from the 1800s to the present. For more coverage details click here. Good source for: Assessment; Counselling; Psychology; Wellbeing/mental health |
| Full text? | MIXED - entries either include a PDF option OR a link enabling you to check whether online access is available |
| Specialist features | Includes a highly useful thesaurus to help establish relevant terminology plus introduce new terminology and new areas of research |
| Help & support |
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The video below uses the British Education Index as an example, but the functionality is the same on PsycInfo
Click the link below to access the database:
| Coverage & scope |
PubMed comprises more than 27 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. Good source for: Counselling; Psychology; Mental health |
| Full Text? | MIXED PubMed Guide to finding full text articles |
| Help & Support |
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Click the link below to access the database:
| Coverage & scope |
Scopus is international in coverage and indexes 16,500 peer-reviewed journals plus book series and conference papers in the fields of Scientific, Technical, Medical and Social Sciences including Arts & Humanities. For more coverage details click here. Good source for: Arts & creativity; Children's literature; Counselling; Education; International development; Medical education; Psychology & education; School leadership; Second language learning |
| Full text? | No - each entry includes a link enabling you to check whether online access is available |
| Specialist features |
Citation database In addition to enabling you to retrieve high quality academic material using sophisticated and comprehensive search techniques, a citation database enables you to see how many times a previously published paper has been cited in the current literature. Citations are sometimes used as a way to evaluate a piece of work and assess its impact. However, there can be many reasons for citing (negative citations, ethnocentricity, self-citation) and a high citation count does not necessarily indicate that the research is of a high quality. |
| Help & support |
Click the link below to access the database:
If prompted to log in, select 'Institutional Access' then select 'UK Federation' from the list, after which you can search for 'University of Cambridge' which will take you to the RAVEN log in page.
| Coverage & scope |
WoS provides access to current and retrospective bibliographic information and cited references found in nearly 1,130 of the world's leading arts, humanities and social science journals. Includes the Social Sciences Citation Index which enables you to see how many times an article has been cited. For more coverage details click here. Good source for: Arts & creativity; Children's literature; Counselling; Education; International development; Medical education; Psychology & education; School leadership; Second language learning |
| Full text? | No - each entry includes a link enabling you to check whether online access is available. |
| Specialist features |
Citation database In addition to enabling you to retrieve high quality academic material using sophisticated and comprehensive search techniques, a citation database enables you to see how many times a previously published paper has been cited in the current literature. Citations are sometimes used as a way to evaluate a piece of work and assess its impact. However, there can be many reasons for citing (negative citations, ethnocentricity, self-citation) and a high citation count does not necessarily indicate that the research is of a high quality. |
| Help & support |
Selecting the the most appropriate database(s) is a key part of the planning stage. There is overlap across many of the databases, but if you are conducting a thorough and systematic literature search, you need to ensure that you search all of those that are relevant.
Use the tabs above to select a database according to your subject area. See the box above for details of each of the 
databases together with help and support. If there is not a tab that relates to your subject area, just contact us (library@educ.cam.ac.uk)
This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science includes Arts & Humanities Citation Index
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Use the Education Ebooks Collection on the Library Moodle Site to access thousands of ebook titles, covering all areas of Education and related subjects. You can ‘browse’ subjects here in the same way that you can browse the shelves in the Education Library. We have made it even easier by dividing big subject sections into more manageable parts e.g. Research Methods into Quantitative, Qualitative, Cross-cultural research etc. and Children’s Literature into Visual & Multimodal Texts, YA & Adolescent Literature etc. Simply click on the title of any ebook that interests you and you will be linked straight through to the text via iDiscover. It is also possible to search by author or title - just follow these instructions.
If you are browsing the library shelves, you will see display stands with QR codes – just scan the QR code with your phone and you be taken straight through to the relevant section of the Education Ebooks Collection, where you can access ebooks on the same subject.
We are always happy to create new Education Ebook Collection sections if this would be helpful.
If you would like to recommend an ebook for purchase just fill in this form.
The quickest way to check electronic access to a specific journal article is to use iDiscover.
Select the 'Search everything' option, then type in the full article title and click search.
If the article is not available electronically, you may still be able to access a print copy here at the Faculty or at the University Library. Use iDiscover to search for the journal title and check the holdings.
If you have any problems tracking down the journal you need, just contact us and we will be happy to help.