ECON 460: Research Methods (Carney): Helpful Databases

Google Scholar is a great tool for doing a broad search of scholarly literature on your topic:

• Google Scholar searches across many disciplines. 
• Your search results will include a broad range of sources, including journal articles, conference papers, theses, dissertations, academic books, pre-prints, & abstracts. 
• Results come from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities & other web sites. 

You'll just want to keep some things in mind:

• Coverage is not comprehensive. Many sourcess are hidden in publishers' databases and journals that Google can't search, so you'll want to look at other databases as well. 
• Search results can include links to things like high school term papers, so you'll want to evaluate what you find. 

You can access advanced search features by clicking the arrow in the right of the search box. These features allow you to refine your search.

Look for the words Get Full Txt @ Holy Cross next to an article. You should be able to access any of these articles through the library's subscriptions. If you come across a source that Holy Cross does not have access to, remember that you can request the item through Interlibrary Loan.

When you are on campus, Google Scholar will automatically show you those Get Full Txt @ Holy Cross links next to articles that Holy Cross has access to. If you are off-campus, you can set your Scholar Settings to show the links for accessing sources through Holy Cross. You can modify your settings by selecting the Settings link in the upper-right corner of Google Scholar webpage.

Click on the Cited by and Related articles links at the bottom of a search result to find relevant articles & books.

Scopus delivers a comprehensive overview of the world's research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. The database features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research.

More than 60 million journal records in Scopus, which includes:

• Over 21,500 peer-reviewed journals, of which more than 4,200 are full open access
• Over 360 trade publications
• Publications from more than 5,000 international publishers, including Cambridge University Press, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Nature Publishing Group, Springer, Wiley-Blackwell and, of course, Elsevier
• Articles-in-press (i.e., articles that have been accepted for publication) from more than 5,000 titles

More than 130,000 books, available in Scopus and 10,000 added each year.

• Plus, more than 1100 Book Series containing over 34,000 individual volumes
• Subject areas: Focus on Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities, but also  includes Science, Technology & Medicine (STM)
• Coverage years: Back to 2003 for all subject areas
• Book types: Monographs, edited volumes, major reference works, and graduate level text books

The information for this LibGuide is from the Elsevier Scopus site - https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus.

Please note that some of these sources will only be useful for research on certain topics/countries.

Data.gov - The US Government's data repository.

Google Scholar Search tips for Google Scholar at the bottom of this page.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

The websites of the Brookings Institution, RAND Corporation, and other think tanks. 

The International Monetary Fund 

The World Bank, including: Open Knowledge Repository (includes articles & books) and World Development Indicators (WDI) (economic, social, environmental, & governance time series indicators from 200 countries). 

The National Bureau of Economic Research

The Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics 

The websites of relevant government agencies—e.g., the Social Security Administration in the United States or the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom. (Please note that the amount of material available in English on the websites of relevant German and Swedish agencies may be relatively limited.)

PROL - Political Science Research Online Conference papers & other pre-print scholarship. From the American Political Science Association (APSA). 

Social Sciences Research Network Working papers in the social sciences.

UNData Search the UN's 24 statistical databases and 60+ million records

Laborsta Employment and labor statistics from over 200 countries. From the International Labour Organization.