Core Databases
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Compendex Engineering VillagePremier engineering database, covering the core literature of the engineering field, including related specialties and technologies.
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IEEE Xplore Digital LibraryThe IEL database provides fulltext access to more than 140 technical journals, over 1000 standards, and approximately 900 annual conference proceedings published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
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Web of Science Core CollectionMultidisciplinary database of journal articles and conference proceedings, used for citation analysis of research. Includes access to EndNote Basic, a web-based version of EndNote.
Database Search Strategies
Google automatically finds synonyms and variations on the keywords you search for. Other databases don't always have the same capabilities. Here are a few tips which can make your database searches more effective:
Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT
- Most databases assume an AND - they search for documents matching all the keywords you search for.
- OR can be very useful when you're not finding enough results - add in some synonyms to broaden your search. Use parentheses to gather these synonyms together and combine with another concept.
- NOT is equivalent to the minus sign in Google - use it to exclude a word from your search. Use with caution.
Phrase searching: put quotes around your keywords to find the words together, in that order. Might limit your search too much; use carefully.
Truncation: in most databases, an asterisk at the end of a word will find all different endings.
- Example: “life cycle” AND (analysis OR assess*)
Controlled vocabulary or subject headings: these are terms added to articles or books to help you find related topics. In some databases, you can click on these or add them to your search to help improve your results.
Understanding Peer Review
The Oxford English Dictionary defines peer review as:
"The process by which an academic journal passes a paper submitted for publication to independent experts for comments on its suitability and worth; refereeing." Source.
Many of the articles contained within the Compendex Engineering Village database and the Web of Science database have gone through the peer review process.
However, you can double check whether a journal is peer reviewed by searching the journal title in Ulrich's. This is helpful as Compendex Engineering Village does not have a filter for only peer reviewed articles. Within Ulrich's, search for the journal title. If the referee's jersey appears next to the title, then the journal has gone through the peer review process.
For a good overview of the components of an academic article, see Anatomy of a Scholarly Article.
