Research Databases

Research databases always let you search specific "fields" or parts of the papers and their metadata. This is usually accomplished using a dropdown box after the search box. Sometimes you have to go to a special advanced search page to access this feature. This is not particularly useful if you're just doing a general topic search. However, if your search is more specific--for example, you are looking for papers by a specific author or you know the title of the paper and only need to find a copy--selecting the appropriate field will save a lot of time.

If an article includes the HTML format of the article, you can easily translate the article into your native language.  

Most databases have a Cite function. You can easily cite your article into different citation formats, such as  APA, MLA, or Chicago style.

1. Click on Cite to view citation formats.	2. Copy and paste the citation format you need.

NOTE: The database's citation formats are not always currently updated. Always consult the most current citation guide for the exact formatting and punctuation guidelines. Make any necessary corrections before using. 

Need help with citation? See our guides on citing and citation management:

Or contact the Illinois Tech Writing Center:

Most research databases have certain advanced features that you can only access by creating a free personal log-in account. These features usually include:

• Search History Searches can be saved to your account so you can run them again. This is especially useful if you need to go back and find a paper you saw earlier but can't remember what it was or how you found it. Some databases don't require logging in to access search history, but then your history only applies to the current session and is erased when you exit the database or close your browser.
• Combining Searches Because searches are saved, you can also combine the results of entire searches using Boolean operators. This is much easier than constructing a Boolean expression from scratch.
• Search Alerts Set up alerts to email you whenever a new paper is published that matches one of your saved searches. You can schedule the search to be run weekly, monthly, or at other intervals, and any new results will be emailed directly to you to keep you up to date on current research.
• Bookshelf or Folder This goes by many different names depending on the database, but it allows you to save individual articles to your account to read later or save for another project.

In addition to finding articles by topic or author, the Web of Science database allows researchers to explore scientific literature by citations and references. Web of Science allows you to follow references both backwards and forwards through time, so you can:

• discover articles and papers citing a particular author or paper
• determine the most influential articles and/or researchers in a particular topic by the number of times they've been cited
• find related articles based on the number of shared references

The publisher of Web of Science provides a number of tutorials on how to use these features. View them here: https://www.youtube.com/user/WoSTraining

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