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English: Using Special Features in Databases

Use Limiters

Many databases have limiters to help you refine results. Many databases have filters for:

  • full-text (i.e., articles that are available to read right away)
  • publication type (e.g., news, magazines, peer-reviewed journals, etc.)
  • publication date (e.g., 2010-2020)

Some databases will also have limiters for language, methodology, geography, etc. The available filters will depend on the specific database.

Database limiters

Use Fields

You can specify where the database should look for your terms. For example, you can specify that terms should be present in say the title, abstract, etc. Different databases may have different field options.

Database fields

Use the Email Tool & Download PDFs

It's always best to email and / or download articles that you find to ensure that you can access them later. Many database have tools for emailing articles.

Email tool

To download articles, look for the PDF icon.

PDF icon

Use the Cite Tool as a First Step

Many databases also have tools to help you cite articles, but these are not 100 percent accurate. Copy / paste citations into your word processor, and make sure to edit them.

Cite tool