25 Best Databases for Peer-Reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles

25 Best Databases for Peer-Reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles

Your professor often emphasizes the significance of using peer-reviewed or scholarly sources for your research. However, locating reliable Peer-Reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles Databases can be a challenging task, causing frustration among students. This frustration sometimes results in students using sources that their instructors reject. Although you can utilize newspaper articles, magazines, and other types of sources, it is highly advisable to find and employ peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles for your research. In this post, we will explore what peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles are and why they are essential. Additionally, you will discover where to find government documents, reports, whitepapers, books, and peer-reviewed journal articles for your research writing. Furthermore, you will receive a comprehensive list of 25 peer-reviewed journal databases. However, the value you gain from this post extends beyond the list. So, stay with us.

What You Will Gain from Reading This Post on Peer-Reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles Databases:

1. Access to 25 databases containing thousands or even millions of peer-reviewed and scholarly sources to support your research writing.
2. Crucial information presented in a clear format to help you quickly find what you need.
3. Detailed sections offering valuable insights to assist you in transitioning from an ordinary academic writer to an accomplished one.
4. Guidance on how to easily distinguish between scholarly and peer-reviewed journals and journal articles.
5. Tips to help you avoid unreliable sources and those with questionable origins.
6. Assurance that you are consistently using dependable sources for your research.

Let’s begin by addressing the fundamental question: What is Peer Review?

According to Editage Insights, peer review refers to the evaluation of academic or scientific work conducted by experts in a particular field.

Are Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles and Scholarly Journal Articles the Same Thing?

In some cases, they are, while in others, they are not. We’ll clarify this shortly. Scholarly journals are not always peer-reviewed, but they still provide valuable information. Nevertheless, there are numerous sources where you can find scholarly journals that have undergone rigorous peer review. So, what sets apart a scholarly journal article from a peer-reviewed one? The next two sections on Peer-Reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles Databases will provide explanations.

What Is a Peer-Reviewed Journal?

Peer-reviewed journals are also known as refereed journals. Before a refereed journal is published, it undergoes a meticulous and critical review process. Who performs these reviews? They are conducted by other scholars working in the same specialized field as the author of the work. The reason they are called peer-reviewed journals is that the author’s peers conduct the review. Peer-reviewed journal articles are high-quality sources that offer substantial value and credibility. They represent sound scholarship. Therefore, using peer-reviewed sources is strongly recommended.

What Is a Scholarly Article?

As mentioned earlier, peer-reviewed journal articles are considered scholarly sources. However, scholarly journals themselves may not always be peer-reviewed sources. While some scholarly journals undergo peer review, others do not. What makes scholarly articles valuable sources is their presentation of original experimentation and research findings. These journals include comprehensive citations, typically in the form of footnotes, endnotes, or bibliographies. These articles are authored by experts and primarily target other specialists within a particular discipline. While scholarly articles may not always undergo peer review, an editorial board approves them before publication. In the end, both journal articles and scholarly articles are scrutinized by experts. They represent credible sources that you can confidently rely on when developing arguments for your work.

Why Is Peer Review Important?

Peer review can be a challenging process. However, it ensures that only the highest-quality material is published. To understand why this process is vital, let’s explore how it operates.

When an author submits an article to a journal, it is sent to the editor. The editor then selects a few highly qualified peers to review the work. These peers are experts in the same field as the author and have earned respect and recognition. These experts thoroughly evaluate the work and provide detailed feedback. They submit their feedback along with a decision that corresponds to the quality of the work.

Feedback from Reviewers

Reviewers can make one of three decisions: reject the work, accept it with significant revisions, or accept it without any revisions. It is rare for an author to have their article accepted without revisions. At times, reviewers may suggest that the author incorporate other important studies they may have overlooked. Additionally, peer reviewers may identify errors in the work and offer suggestions for addressing them. The journal editor also reviews the article and may provide further comments.

Peer review serves not only to assess the quality of research but also to enhance the work and elevate it to the standards expected in peer-reviewed and scholarly Journal Articles Databases. Now, you can appreciate why your professor insists on the use of peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles.

However, Peer Review Has Its Limitations

Authors vary in terms of training, experience, and quality. Similarly, peer-reviewed journals differ in many aspects. Smaller, less-known journals may struggle to secure the expertise of top specialists in the field for their reviews. Consequently, such journals may end up working with reviewers who are unfamiliar to the broader academic community. Critics take pleasure in discrediting sources used in research. The publication venue and the reviewers’ qualifications can significantly impact the credibility of the materials you utilize. This is why it is crucial to choose reputable and respected journals.

Even well-respected journals involve human reviewers who can make mistakes. A prominent reviewer who is pressed for time may hastily accept a work that appears excellent without thorough scrutiny. Such a superficial review may overlook subtle errors. Furthermore, reviewers may not always meticulously scrutinize every reference or consider every fact or statistic.

In addition to these limitations, peer reviewers may be susceptible to bias. They may exhibit prejudice against studies that contradict their own research findings. Reviewers with such biases are unlikely to accept work that directly challenges their published research. If an author suspects that a particular reviewer may be biased, they can take action, such as requesting that the journal not assign that particular individual to review their work. However, such a request might lead the editor to include the potentially biased reviewer, fearing that the author is seeking to evade legitimate criticism.

Moreover, conflicts of interest can undermine a journal’s credibility. For instance, a journal dedicated to alternative medicine may be inclined to accept work that supports alternative medicine practices. Similarly, a journal with a vested interest in promoting certain products or ideas may readily accept specific types of articles while rejecting others. Such journals may even select reviewers who hold favorable views toward the subject matter. These reviewers might reject articles that could significantly benefit the scientific community, thus limiting the pool of peer-reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles Databases.

Despite these limitations, peer review serves as a valuable quality control mechanism. It is far superior to having no quality control at all. However, it does not offer an ironclad guarantee that submissions will always be free of errors.

Recognizing Peer-Reviewed Journals with Ease

It is essential to note that not every journal is peer-reviewed. An article published in a non-peer-reviewed journal cannot be considered a peer-reviewed source. Additionally, not all content within a peer-reviewed journal is peer-reviewed material. For example, letters to the editor, editorials, and book reviews are not articles that have undergone peer review. It is imperative to discern peer-reviewed journals and strive to avoid other content as much as possible. The good news is that some peer-reviewed and scholarly Journal Articles Databases enable you to filter your search results to include only peer-reviewed sources. Here is how you can easily identify peer-reviewed journals:

Instruct Your Database to Return Only Peer-Reviewed Search Results

One effective method to ensure you access peer-reviewed journal articles is to use the right search commands. Some databases permit you to narrow your search to peer-reviewed sources. For instance, ERIC (more on ERIC later) is one such database. Our list of 25 databases containing peer-reviewed journals includes many that allow you to filter your search to focus on peer-reviewed sources. In some databases, you may need to perform an “advanced” or “expert” search to find peer-reviewed journals. Unfortunately, not all databases offer the option to limit your search to specific types of sources.

Utilize Ulrichsweb.com

Access to Ulrichsweb requires your school to be a subscriber. Once you gain access, you can determine whether a journal is peer-reviewed. Additionally, you can access thousands of free sources through this platform. To ascertain if a journal is peer-reviewed, enter the exact title of the journal. Make sure to input the title exactly as it appears; do not make any alterations. The database encompasses approximately 300,000 journals. However, there is no guarantee that the specific journal you are seeking will be listed. If the journal you are interested in is displayed, check if it is peer-reviewed. How can you tell if a journal is peer-reviewed? Peer-reviewed journals are typically denoted by a specific symbol next to the journal’s title. The symbol looks like this:

If Ulrichsweb.com does not contain information about the specific journal you are interested in, do not worry. This is not the only method to determine whether a source is peer-reviewed. The approach outlined below can also assist you in recognizing a peer-reviewed journal.

Examine Individual Journals and Journal Articles to Determine if They Are Peer-Reviewed Sources

This method involves inspecting each journal or journal article to determine if it has undergone peer review. However, there is a minor challenge associated with this approach. It can sometimes be difficult to ascertain if an online-published journal has been peer-reviewed. Here is how you can utilize this method:

Step 1:

Locate the journal of interest either online or in the library, focusing on the most recent issues from the year.

Step 2:

Locate the publication’s masthead. Typically, the masthead is found on the front or back pages of publications. The masthead contains valuable information that can help you determine if a source or journal has undergone peer review. For each journal, you should easily find important information, including the journal’s editorial staff and the publisher’s name. You may also find details about who publishes the journal’s articles, where, and when. Refer to the screenshots below for reference:

If you do not find the term “PEER REVIEWED” around the masthead of the journal you are interested in, do not be alarmed. There is an alternative course of action:

Check the Journal and Learn How Authors Submit Articles

Some journals provide information on how authors should submit their articles. This information is usually located near the masthead. You may come across phrases like “Submit Articles: Send Three Copies.” While not every journal that invites academics to submit papers is necessarily peer-reviewed, such a journal is likely to be peer-reviewed. Why would a journal request three copies if they did not intend to review them? However, this method is not foolproof when it comes to determining whether the journal you are looking at has undergone peer review.

Here Is a Reliable Method to Recognize Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

If all other methods fail, you can rely on the following approach. This method should help you easily determine whether a journal is peer-reviewed.

First, ask yourself: “Is this article written in technical terminology that regular readers may find challenging to understand?” If the answer is yes, it is likely a peer-reviewed journal article.

Next, assess whether the article conforms to the typical format favored by scientific papers. Does it include sections such as Abstract, Introduction, Review of Literature, Methodology, Findings or Results, and Conclusion? If these elements are present, you are likely examining a peer-reviewed article. However, this is not sufficient. You should also investigate whether the authors of the article are scholarly researchers with the expertise to produce such work.

Here is another indicator to look out for: Does the journal article feature endnotes, footnotes, or in-text citations? Does the article include a detailed bibliography or references page that adheres to a specific editorial style? Additionally, consider whether the journal that published the article contains numerous advertisements. Peer-reviewed journals typically carry minimal or no advertisements. Would it not be reasonable to assume that a source with numerous advertisements promoting specific products is likely to be biased? Conflict of interest could undermine the impartiality of such a source. A peer-reviewed article adheres to the correct format, and a peer-reviewed journal typically requires multiple copies of the work for review and features minimal advertising.

One More Method: Visit the Journal’s Official Website

Simply locate the journal’s official website on the internet. Visit the “about us” page and read the information provided by the journal itself. If the journal explicitly states that it is peer-reviewed, it is highly likely to be a peer-reviewed journal. However, this method is not infallible. It is conceivable that a website may falsely claim to be a peer-reviewed resource. If all the previously described methods do not yield conclusive results and you remain uncertain about a particular source, consult your instructor.

Types of Peer Review

There are several types of peer review that you should become familiar with. Here is a list of seven different types of peer review:

1. Open Peer Review
2. Collaborative Peer Review
3. Single-blind Peer Review
4. Double-blind Peer Review
5. Post-publication Peer Review
6. Cascading or Transferable Peer Review
7. Third-Party Peer Review

Let’s briefly explore each of these types.

What Is Open Peer Review?

As the name suggests, open peer review embraces a high degree of transparency. Authors and reviewers participating in this process are aware of each other’s identities. An open review includes the reviewed document alongside comments from the reviewers, as well as the author’s responses. One drawback of this approach is that researchers may be less candid when reviewing the work of their peers. Nevertheless, open peer review offers several advantages. It encourages transparency, accountability, and civility. It also facilitates the improvement of the article to its fullest potential. Moreover, reviewers are more likely to invest time and effort into their reviews because they know that the journal may publish their comments, and no one wants to be associated with mediocrity.

What Is Collaborative Peer Review?

In collaborative peer review, the identities of authors and reviewers are not initially disclosed by the journal. However, these identities may be revealed when the work is published. The journal provides a platform where authors and reviewers can interact and discuss how to enhance the work. Typically, two or more reviewers collaborate and submit a joint report. In some cases, a reviewer or two may collaborate with the author to improve the work. The objective is to refine the article until it reaches a publishable standard.

One of the benefits of this approach is that authors often feel that reviewers are there to support them rather than merely pointing out their shortcomings. This positive atmosphere can lead to higher-quality work compared to other review methods. The downside of collaborative peer review is that it may diminish independent evaluation. Additionally, collaboration between authors and reviewers may blur the distinction between writing and reviewing.

Single-Blind Peer Review: How It Works, Pros, and Cons

In single-blind peer review, the author is unaware of the identity of the reviewers, but the reviewers are aware of the author’s identity throughout the review process. The advantage of this review type is that it allows reviewers to provide honest feedback. However, this process can leave room for potential bias and discrimination. A reviewer may discriminate based on factors such as gender or nationality.

Double-Blind Peer Review: How Does It Work?

In double-blind peer review, the journal ensures that neither the authors nor the reviewers know each other’s identities. This approach is commonly favored in the humanities and social sciences. One major advantage is that it minimizes bias. Furthermore, both the author and the reviewer operate in an environment where they feel protected from criticism. However, it is still possible for a reviewer to deduce the author’s identity by examining their writing style or area of expertise.

Third-Party Peer Review

In a third-party review, independent reviewers assess the author’s work before the author submits it to a journal. Typically, the reviewer is a professional editor who specializes in editing scholarly work and research. The author receives feedback and suggestions from the editor and incorporates them into their work. While this approach does not guarantee acceptance, it may enhance the chances of approval.

Editors charge fees for their services, and choosing the right editor is essential. Editors understand what journal editors look for in a piece of work, which can increase the likelihood of acceptance. However, there are no guarantees.

Post-Publication Review

Post-publication review involves ongoing revision even after an article has been accepted and published. This type of review often complements another form of review and is rarely the sole method of review. The advantage of post-publication review is that it acknowledges the dynamic nature of knowledge and its continual evolution. Additionally, it corrects errors that may have been overlooked in the pre-publication review. However, corrections are made through published discussions rather than modifying the original work.

Transferable or Cascading Peer Review

Transferable or cascading peer review typically occurs when a journal is unable to accept an article for various reasons. Perhaps the journal does not consider the article interesting for its target audience, or it may not prioritize the article at the time. In such cases, some journals may encourage the author to submit the work to a different journal that may accept it. Most of the time, the referring journal shares control with the new journal. Usually, the editor sends the work along with the reviewers’ comments to the new journal.

However, the editor of the new journal may decide that the article is not suitable for their audience, which can be frustrating for the author. Nevertheless, being transferred to another journal by the original journal often accelerates the publication process. Starting anew with a different journal may take longer than continuing with the reviews from the current journal.

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Where to Find Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Now that we have discussed what scholarly and peer-reviewed journals are and how to identify them, let’s explore where to find such sources. There are numerous places where you can access credible peer-reviewed sources. From EBSCOhost and CINAHL to NCBI and Medline, there are numerous databases that contain peer-reviewed journal articles. We have compiled a list of 25 databases that offer peer-reviewed journals to facilitate your search. Some of these databases have paywalls that may require payment to access certain content, while others provide free access to peer-reviewed articles. Additionally, some databases offer a mix of open-access and subscription-based resources.

It is highly likely that your educational institution has a library database that provides access to hundreds of journals. You can access these sources both on-campus and off-campus. However, some schools may not have access to research databases. Without further ado, here is the list of 25 databases containing peer-reviewed journals, along with brief descriptions for each. We encourage you to visit each link and explore the content. Some of these databases offer free access to high-quality sources.

By utilizing these methods and resources, you can effectively identify peer-reviewed journals and access credible sources for your research. Remember to consult your instructor if you have any doubts about the reliability of a particular source.

25 Great Peer-reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles Databases

1. EBSCOhost

EBSCO Industries Inc. runs several divisions and EBSCOhost is one of them. For over 70 years, EBSCOhost has worked with libraries across the globe, supporting research through providing quality content. EBSCO provides library resources to users in public library, law, medical, corporate, and government markets. EBSCOhost offers an online research service that has 375 full-text databases. It’s like a database of databases, and there, you’ll find over 90,000 audiobooks and over 1, 000,000 e-books from hundreds of publishers.

Content vendors supply some of the databases found on EBSCO. These vendors provide some of the best known databases including Econlit and MEDLINE. EBSCO, on the other hand, compiles the rest of the databases. These databases include Academic Search, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Clinic Reference Systems, Education Abstracts and many others.

EBSCO industries Inc. also operates EDS which stands for EBSCO Discovery Service. This service allows institutions to easily search for magazines and journals. Are you a medical student or in nursing school? If yes, EBSCO is a great resource for you. With EBSCO, you should be able to find tons of high-quality journal articles from the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. It’s not surprising that lots of schools across the U.S. are EBSCO subscribers.

2. CINAHL

CINAHL is pretty much a nursing and medicine database. It provides high-quality and up-to-date literature to help nursing and allied health professionals conduct quality research. The database is available via EBSCOhost (already discussed above). The database has a useful tool called CINAHL Complete. The tool helps researchers and students to access evidence-based care sheets and valuable full-text journals from 1937 onward. In this database, you can search and find cited references for over 1,500 journals. Whether you’re in general health, medicine, nutrition, or nursing, you’ll find CINAHL hugely useful.

3. PubMed/HubMed

HubMed helps you easily and quickly access material in a database known as PubMed. The great thing about HubMed is that it enables users to search PubMed live. Using the field codes that support searches on HubMed returns the same results you would get on PubMed. Make sure to sort results by “date” instead of by “relevance.” “By date” is the default search criterion, and it tends to return more useful results than a “by relevance” search. You should be able to see these sorting options on a dropdown menu found below the search box.

Pretty much anyone connected to the Internet can access HubMed. HubMed is a great database for anyone not affiliated with a library. On this database, you can access for free many quality full-text peer-reviewed journal articles. PubMed/HubMed is a great database when you need biomedical sources.

4. Ovid MEDLINE

Ovid Medline has supported research since 1946. On this database, there are nearly 6,000 journals focusing on biomedicine and life sciences. About 80 percent of the articles on the database are in English. The sources exist in as many as 60 languages. What’s more, Medline offers over 23 million recent author abstracts and bibliographic citations.  It gets better: Ovid, the platform on which Medline operates, provides 4,500 + e-publications each week before they appear in print. But that’s not all. The database provides over 1,000 full-text Open Access journals. Whether you seek reliable information on AIDS, cancer, bioethics, toxicology or complementary medicine, Medline’s got you covered. Medline gets updated daily.

5. BIOSIS Previews Via Ovid

BIOSIS Previews’ publisher is U.K.-based Clarivate Analytics (UK) Limited. In this database, you should be able to find material dating back to 1926. The database focuses on disciplines in the life sciences. You’ll find quality sources to help you write excellent papers in zoology, ecology, botany, biomedicine, biochemistry, and biotechnology.

BIOSIS gets updated weekly. You won’t believe the next statement. This database has up to 500,000 new records (sources) added each year. The resource carries over 5,000 journals and non-journal literature. Many of the journals are peer-reviewed. BIOSIS provides access to over 18,000,000 records that have been piling up since 1926. When you want to know what trends are emerging in your discipline, this database is a great place to start your search. Like MEDLINE, BIOSIS Previews runs on Ovid.

6. The Cochrane Library

The Cochrane Library offers a collection of databases that carry different kinds of quality sources for research in healthcare-related fields. Cochrane.org owns the database while Wiley is the publisher. Some of the databases found on Cochrane Library include CCAs, CENTRAL, and CDSR.  CCAs stand for Cochrane Clinical Answers while CENTRAL is an acronym for Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. CDSR means Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. CDSR gets updated throughout the month. The systematic reviews found on CDSR are peer-reviewed sources.

Published monthly, Central contains loads of reports on randomized controlled trials and quasi-randomized controlled trials. CDSR provides bibliographic information such as source, author, year, and title. While you may access a journal article’s abstract, you may not get the source’s full text. For Cochrane Clinical Answers, the audience is practicing healthcare professionals. There, you’ll find lots of clinical questions, brief answers, and data from a relevant Cochrane review.

The great thing about the Cochrane Library is that it’s pretty easy to search for sources by publication year and issue number. CCAs seems to be a great option for nursing and medicine students as well as practicing nurses.

AMED: The Allied and Complementary Medicine Database

AMED is a great resource if you’re researching a topic in complimentary or alternative medicine. The publisher is the British Library. Whether you’re researching palliative care, podiatry, hypnosis, rehabilitation, or acupuncture, go to AMED. All records offer basic bibliographic information. Sources published after 1995 will usually have the author’s abstracts. To access full-text articles, you’ll have to pay for them. The database carries over 600 journals. For the most part, the sources here are scholarly rather than peer-reviewed. To access AMED, you should be able to access EBSCOhost or OVID, the platforms that support the database.

8. Google Scholar

For most researchers and students, Google Scholar is where their search for quality sources start. Established in 2004, Google Scholar contains tons of peer-reviewed articles, books, dissertations, theses, abstracts, technical reports, patents, and case laws.  It happens to be the largest academic search engine in the world.

This may sound incredible but Google contained close to 390 million sources as of January 2018. Fully 90 percent of the articles published on Google are in English. You can access some of the articles on Google Scholar FREE of charge. Free articles usually have the phrase “Free Access” somewhere above the title of the article in question. It should be easy to download a PDF version of a free source or a paid one. At the same time, Google Scholar works like other subscription-based tools out there.

The problem with this amazing resource is that Google Scholar doesn’t always vet the journals it accepts. For that reason, we advise you to go for sources cited by the majority of people seeking such information.

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MEDLINE / MEDLARS Online

MEDLINE or MEDLARS ONLINE is a bibliographic database operated by the NLM (National Library of Medicines). The database supports researchers and students in different fields in the vast healthcare field. If you’re pursuing medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, or preclinical sciences, Medline’s got your back. The database contains nearly 4,000 biomedical journals published in different locations across the world. Fully 76 percent of the over 9 million records on the database have author abstracts written in English. Since June 26, 1997, students and researchers have easily accessed content published on MEDLINE free of charge.

10. JSTOR: Journal Storage

JSTOR works with members of the academic community across the world to advance teaching and research. Established in 1994, JSTOR provides over 10, million academic journal articles and 50,000 books. On top of that, there are about 2,000,000 primary source documents spanning 75 disciplines. That makes JSTOR an insanely useful online research tool. The database works with ITHAKA, a nonprofit that strives to use digital technologies to preserve knowledge and support teaching and learning.

Every source published before 1923 in the U.S. and before 1870 in other places is available to everyone everywhere for free. The rest of the sources are available at affordable rates, and some of them allow free access. The materials JSTOR provides support research and teaching in the social sciences, humanities, and science. Now, we’re not marketing for JSTROR. Nor do we earn any commissions by recommending JSTOR or any other database. But we must say pretty much anyone can afford their services. With an annual access plan of as little as $20, you can access the database’s sources.

11. Informit A+ Education

Informit A+ Education is a small database that contains research to support academic writing and teaching in the education field. The database offers just over 220,000 records from about 165 resources. The good thing is that all the sources focus on the education field. Some of the sub-fields covered include early childhood education, adult education, primary education, education theory and practice, and secondary education. The sources provided aren’t older than 1978, though. If you’re an education student attending a university in Australia, this resource should be a natural choice. Informit A+ Education is purely a subscription-based database.

12. ERIC: Education Resources Information Center

ERIC stands for Education Resources Information Center. ERIC offers two broad categories of journals. The first category is what ERIC calls comprehensively indexed journals. Roughly 80 percent of Comprehensively Indexed journals contain education-related research. ERIC provides bibliographic details for each of these articles. The second bunch of journals is called Selectively Indexed journals. About 50–79 of the journals contained here focus on education. ERIC selects manually all the journal articles that meet the criterion described in the database’s selection policy. The search box allows you to limit your enquiry to full-text articles and peer-reviewed sources. If you’re looking for government documents, technical reports, or whitepapers, ERIC is a great place to go. The database also provides no-journal material.

13. ProQuest education journals

ProQuest is a database created to support researchers and academic writers in the area of education. It contains many top education journals. More than 1,000 of the journals are full-text education-focused titles. Additionally, the database offers around 18,000 dissertations and over, 450,000 ebooks. The database says it offers six billion digital pages, some of them as old as 600 years. Therefore, it’s the kind of database where you would find Plato’s the Republic or Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Most of the material, though, is research covering the theory and practice of education. Some of the topic areas ProQuest helps include homeschooling, primary, secondary, adult, and higher education.

14. PsycINFO

PsycINFO is a database that meets the research needs of academics, students, and scientists in the field of psychology. The database provides peer-reviewed research available in digital format.  It is produced by the American Psychological Association. Over the last 50 years, PsycINFO has evolved to become a trusted resource for researchers in behavioral and social sciences. As of this writing, PsycINFO has 4,587, 214 records. OVID Technologies, ProQuest, and EBSCO are trusted providers who avail licensing for PsycINFO. Both individuals and institutions can access this content-rich database through paid subscription.

15. Medscape

Medscape is a great source for news stories and scholarly perspectives on drugs and diseases. It’s the kind of website every physician or nurse should read every morning before work. It’s a great resource for when you’re writing evidence-based nursing papers. We’ve just checked this site, and there’s a great piece on immunotherapies dated December 23, 2018. All the authors on Medscape are subject experts — physicians and PhDs. Not only do the articles make for interesting reading, they’re also credible sources for research writing. Even better, access is free. Simply sign up and get instant access to quality articles authored by subject experts.

16. Elsevier

Elsevier is a scholarly publisher and a data analytics provider. It’s among the largest scholarly publishers globally. The database provides nearly 49,000 books, close to 3,000 journals, and numerous iconic reference works. As of this writing, Elsevier is offering huge discounts (50 %) for anyone who buys a book from them. The database lets you access journals and books by subject. But you’ll have to contend with paywalls before you can access most of the sources on Elsevier.

Elsevier is a high-quality publisher. Why else did European Commission’s Open Science Monitor subcontract Elsevier to improve accessibility of scientific publications in Europe? The EC wants scientific research to be available to everyone in Europe freely by 2020. One hopes the European Commission succeeds.

But critics have voiced concerns over what they see as Elsevier’s determination to derail Open Science. According to one U.K.-based publication, the Guardian, Elsevier is a biased source of research. How? Elsevier has certain products and services that it keeps promoting including Scopus, Mendeley, and Plum Analytics. As a result, critics think it’s hard for Elsevier to remain neutral while publishing material. But the following are the key issues of concern. The issues include Elsevier’s ever-rising prices for research material and its seemingly anti-Open Science practices. There’s one more thing: that Elsevier is too big! Do these seem like reasons not to get sources from Elsevier? You decide.

17. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

DOAJ is a website that provides a comprehensive list of open access journals. Open access journals are journals that let you access research freely. The sources found on DOAJ are high-quality peer-reviewed and scholarly journals. DOAJ uses a funding model that makes it possible for institutions and individuals gain free access to top-quality research. Every journal that wants to join DOAJ must give users full rights to freely use their publications. You can download, copy, read, print, distribute, or link to full-text articles on DOAJ. As of this writing, DOAJ had 12, 440 journals and 3,645, 571 articles published in 129 countries.

It’s easy to think that this database accepts every other journal that seeks acceptance. But DOAJ has in the past removed a couple thousand journals from its database because it felt there were reliability issues. That means the database cares about quality and wants to work with quality journals. As a student or academic writer, DOAJ is a resource you shouldn’t ignore.

18. Social Science Research Network

Social Science Research Network provides papers and articles written by social science academics and researchers. While the majority of the sources on this database are accessible for free, some articles sit behind paywalls. To access the material here, you must become of their members. Luckily, registration is fast and free. As of January 9, 2019, SSRN had 839,364 research papers in 30 disciplines. The sources came from 418,693 academics and researchers. Whether you’re researching in the social sciences, health sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, or humanities, you’ll find SSRN useful.

19. ETHOS

The British Library manages Ethos. Ethos should be an attractive database for doctoral students as it contains thousands of PhD theses. While researching for this post, we visited ETHOS, and the database had 500,000 doctoral theses at the time. Some of the theses are downloadable instantly. You can actually limit your search to items that are available for immediate download. You can also request ETHOS to provide you with scanned copies of the theses easily and quickly. There’s another thing that makes ETHOS great. The database lets you limit your search to recency, author, or title. We tried searching for stem cell research on the database, and we limited our search to “Newest.” See the results we got:

We clicked on the first link, and learned that we could instantly download the full-text version of the article. We also accessed the abstract immediately. See what we found:

 

20. dblp Computer Science Bibliography

If you’re pursuing computer science or a related degree, make dblp your friend. The database provides books, theses, and journal articles to support research in computer science. Fully 52 percent of the sources available on dblp are conference and workshop papers while 39 percent are journal articles. The rest are informal publications, theses, books, theses, and reference works. In total, there are over 4,000,000 computer science publications from more than 2,000,000 authors. Additionally, the database contains 1,606 journals and 5,564 conference-related materials. While some of the articles are available freely, others are behind paywalls. But you can opt to limit your search to full-text articles.

21. BioMed Central

The materials found on BioMed are research discoveries from peer-reviewed journals. The materials come from research communities in medicine, engineering, science, and technology. Are you writing a paper in clinical medicine, health, or biology? BioMed Central has got you covered. You may also find sources for mathematics assignments. BioMed Central contains over 300 peer-reviewed journals. Evidently, this database is an excellent resource for STEM students. There are no paywalls on BioMed Central, and only you can stop you. Here’s an article we’ve just accessed from the database.

22. OpenDOAR

The beauty of OpenDOAR is that all the content there is available freely. It gets even better. All of the journals listed there don’t even require users to sign up. OpenDOAR never lists a journal or website that requires users to sign up, even if their content is free. Nor does the database list any site that offers author abstracts or bibliographic references only. That means OpenDOAR painlessly connects you to tons of high-quality, freely accessible journal articles. One more thing: OpenDOAR doesn’t accept e-journals. That means that every journal you see there is also available in print. Overall, OpenDOAR is an awesome resource that can help you produce well-researched papers that deliver real value. Peer-reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles Databases.

23. Public Library of Science Journals (PLOS Journals

PLOS is a not-for-profit publisher and advocacy organization that supports research in various ways. PLOS covers a diversity of research areas ranging from medicine, genetics and pathogens to tropical diseases, biology and computational biology. What makes PLOS unique and different is that some of the best scientists in the world have published their work there. According to PLOS’ website, 64 Nobel Laureates have their published research in this database. Here, anyone anywhere can quickly access over 215, 000 peer-reviewed articles free of charge.

24. Paperity

According to Paperity, users can easily access the most recent discoveries without having to deal with paywalls.  Paper gathers together Open Access papers and journals from multiple disciplines, making it a valuable resource for students and researchers. While some of the sources are in German and other languages, the vast majority of them are in English.  The database carries 6,608 journals as of this writing and 2, 054, 192 papers.

25. CORE: Find Sources for Pretty Much all Disciplines

Core contains millions of sources spanning pretty much every possible discipline. On this database, you’ll get access to over 66,000 million articles without paying a dime. Now, that’s awesome. Fully, 92 percent of the articles (roughly 60,000,000 articles) found in this database link to full-text sources published on the original publisher’s website. CORE directly hosts the rest (8 percent or about 5,000,000 articles) of the journal articles. CORE allows you to quickly search for articles by publication year, type, journal where published, author, and language. Obviously, CORE is a site to visit regularly if you want quality research available free of charge.

Where to Find Peer-reviewed Journal Articles, Books, Theses, Dissertations, Government Documents and More: Final Thoughts

You’ve learned quite a lot. You can now easily recognize scholarly and peer-reviewed academic articles as well Peer-reviewed and Scholarly Journal Articles Databases.  That means you can now easily choose the best-quality sources that online libraries, physical libraries, and databases carry. Going forward, you no longer have any excuse for not adorning your transcripts with As and A-pluses. There’s no discipline so obscure that you can’t find high-quality sources for it. While some of the databases have paywalls, we’ve shown you lots of places that provide peer-reviewed sources absolutely free of charge. Want more information on how to make your research writing a smoother, happier experience? Feel free to contact us. We collaborate with a few researchers and academic writers. You never know when our expertise and knowledge would mean the difference between an A and an F. Need help? You can get it HERE.