Finding Articles
To find peer-reviewed, university level articles, the best places to search are:
*Note: You will need to login with your CWL to access these databases if you are off-campus.
Research Expectations
Research expectations vary by professor; please read your syllabus and assignments closely.
Design a better search
Tips for Searching Summon
Searching Summon will retrieve a wide range of types of sources, all available through UBC Library.
Steps to effective research in Summon:
- Choose keywords carefully
- Create a search using AND to join words together. Ex. biomimicry AND honeycomb
- Use quotation marks around phrases. Ex. "wind turbine"
- Use the word OR to expand your search to include synonyms or related ideas. Ex. biomimicry OR biomimetic
- Use filters to select different types of sources: Peer-reviewed journal articles, newspaper articles, or ebooks
- Use filters to select a date range; read your assignment guidelines carefully for details on appropriate date ranges
- Use the citation feature as a starting point to crafting an accurate APA citation
Search Compendex Engineering Village
Compendex Engineering Village is a database that contains over 30 million records of published material in the field of engineering including journal articles, conferences proceedings, technical standards and more. It is the top database that we recommend for conducting engineering research.
- Compendex Engineering Village This link opens in a new windowPremier engineering database, covering the core literature of the engineering field, including related specialties and technologies.
- Citation Management Guide, UBC LibraryUsing software to manage citations can help you keep track of sources and cite accurately. This guide is referred to at the end of the video.
- Library Browser ExtensionAdd the library browser extension to ensure free access to databases, journal articles and ebooks. This tool is referred to at the start of the video.
Additional training materials from Compendex Engineering Village
Search Scopus
Scopus is an interdisciplinary database containing more than 87 million documents covering 240 disciplines, including engineering. As engineering problems often require the knowledge of many disciplines to solve, an interdisciplinary perspective is very valuable. The skills covered in the Design a Better Search video apply to searching Scopus.
- Scopus This link opens in a new windowSearch citations and abstracts for journal articles, conference proceedings, and other resources in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Can also be used for cited reference searches, citation analysis of research and searching by affiliation.
Screenshot of Scopus search results
Image description: Screenshot of Scopus search results page, showing the search box at the top and highlighting the default search fields, the ability to use Boolean logic in the search field, the default results display by date, and the UBC eLInk for full text under each result.
Screenshot of Scopus subject filter
Image description: Screenshot of Scopus subject filter which is necessary to limit results by discipline, as Scopus covers many subjects