search engines for research articles

28 Best Academic Search Engines That make your research easier

If you’re a researcher or scholar, you know that conducting effective online research is a critical part of your job. And if you’re like most people, you’re always on the lookout for new and better ways to do it.

This article aims to give you an edge over researchers that rely mainly on Google for their entire research process.

Table of Contents

#1. Google Scholar

Google Scholar is an academic search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.

#2. ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)

ERIC (short for educational resources information center) is a great academic search engine that focuses on education-related literature. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and produced by the Institute of Education Sciences.

ERIC indexes over a million articles, reports, conference papers, and other resources on all aspects of education from early childhood to higher education. So, search results are more relevant to Education on ERIC.

ERIC is a free online database of education-related literature.

#3. Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha is a “computational knowledge engine” that can answer factual questions posed in natural language. It can be a useful search tool.

Wolfram Alpha can also be used to find academic articles. Just type in your keywords and Wolfram Alpha will generate a list of academic articles that match your query.

#4. iSEEK Education

iSEEK is a search engine targeting students, teachers, administrators, and caregiver. It’s designed to be safe with editor-reviewed content.

iSEEK Education is free to use.

#5. BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)

CORE is an academic search engine that focuses on open access research papers. A link to the full text PDF or complete text web page is supplied for each search result. It’s academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers.

#7. Science.gov

#8. semantic scholar, #9. refseek.

This is one of the free search engines that feels like Yahoo with a massive directory. It could be good when you are just looking for research ideas from unexpected angles. It could lead you to some other database that you might not know such as the CIA The World Factbook, which is a great reference tool.

#10. ResearchGate

A mixture of social networking site + forum + content databases where researchers can build their profile, share research papers, and interact with one another.

#11. DataONE Search (formerly CiteULike)

#12. dataelixir , #13. lazyscholar – browser extension, #14. citeseerx – digital library from penstate, #15. the lens – patents search , #16. fatcat – wiki for bibliographic catalog , #17. lexis web – legal database, #18. infotopia – part of the vlrc family, #19. virtual learning resources center, #21. worldwidescience.

Over 70 countries’ databases are used on the website. When a user enters a query, it contacts databases from all across the world and shows results in both English and translated journals and academic resources.

#22. Google Books

A user can browse thousands of books on Google Books, from popular titles to old titles, to find pages that include their search terms. You can look through pages, read online reviews, and find out where to buy a hard copy once you find the book you are interested in.

#23. DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals)

#24. baidu scholar, #25. pubmed central, #26. medline®.

MEDLINE® is a paid subscription database for life sciences and biomedicine that includes more than 28 million citations to journal articles. For finding reliable, carefully chosen health information, Medline Plus provides a powerful search tool and even a dictionary.

Defunct Academic Search Engines

#27. microsoft academic .

Microsoft Academic

#28. Scizzle

Final thoughts.

There are many academic search engines that can help researchers and scholars find the information they need. This list provides a variety of options, starting with more familiar engines and moving on to less well-known ones.

10 thoughts on “28 Best Academic Search Engines That make your research easier”

Thank you so much Joannah..I have found this information useful to me as librarian in an academic library

You are welcome! We are happy to hear that!

Thank You Team, for providing a comprehensive list of academic search engines that can help make research easier for students and scholars. The variety of search engines included offers a range of options for finding scholarly articles, journals, and other academic resources. The article also provides a brief summary of each search engine’s features, which helps in determining which one is the best fit for a specific research topic. Overall, this article is a valuable resource for anyone looking for a quick and easy way to access a wealth of academic information.

We appreciate your support and thank you for your kind words. We will continue to provide valuable resources for students and researchers in the future. Please let us know if you have any further questions or suggestions.

No more questions Thank You

I cannot thank you enough!!! thanks alot 🙂

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Expontum – Helps researchers quickly find knowledge gaps and identify what research projects have been completed before. Expontum is free, open access, and available to all globally with no paid versions of the site. Automated processes scan research article information 24/7 so this website is constantly updating. By looking at over 35 million research publications (240 million by the end of 2023), the site has 146 million tagged research subjects and 122 million tagged research attributes. Learn more about methodology and sources on the Expontum About Page ( https://www.expontum.com/about.php )

Hey Ryan, I clicked and checked your site and thought it was very relevant to our reader. Thank you for sharing. And, we will be reviewing your site soon.

Sounds good! Thanks, Joannah!

Best Academic Search Engines [2024]

Gone are the days when researchers used to spend hours in the library skimming through endless reference books and resources. Now, thanks to academic search engines — with just a few clicks, researchers can access an extensive amount of information at their fingertips.

However, not all search engines are designed to make the research discovery process easier. It varies from one search engine to another, few might not have updated their database to the latest articles, while others might still provide older articles as a result of your search keyword or topic, and so on. This way, half of the researcher’s time is consumed shortlisting the best academic search engines.

Therefore, to help you choose the best search engine for academic research, we’ve crafted this blog. In this article, we will explore the best academic search engines available and why they are essential for scholars, researchers, and students alike.

Introduction to Academic Search Engines

Academic search engines are online repositories or databases that host millions of research articles and allow users to find relevant scholarly articles, research publications, conference proceedings, and other academic resources. Unlike web search engines like Google or Bing, these platforms are specifically designed to provide accurate, reliable, and relevant academic content.

These search engines often have advanced features that help users filter their search results based on specific criteria. For example, SciSpace helps you filter the results based on author, publication date, PDF, open-access, and more. In addition, it also provides citation information, abstracts, and full-text access to research papers and other scholarly literature, making them invaluable tools for scholars and researchers.

Academic search engines play a crucial role in the research process by providing scholars with easy access to relevant and reliable information. They save researchers valuable time by eliminating the need to sift through irrelevant search results and provide them with free access to a focused pool of academic resources.

With their advanced features and comprehensive coverage, these academic databases empower researchers to stay at the forefront of their fields and contribute to the advancement of knowledge.

Benefits of using reliable academic search engines for research

When it comes to academic research, using reliable search engines is of utmost importance. The credibility and quality of the sources you rely on can significantly impact the results of your research findings and conclusions.

Here are the potential advantages of using a popular search engine!

1. Reliable scholarly source: By using an academic search engine, researchers can ensure that the information they find is from reputable sources. These academic databases typically index content from scholarly journals, universities, research institutions, and other reliable and cited sources. As a result, the risk of using incorrect or biased information, which is prevalent on the open web, is significantly reduced.

2. Increased exposure to enormous articles: With a reliable academic search engine, you can access a vast array of scholarly articles and research publications. These search engines have extensive academic databases that include articles from various disciplines, including science and social sciences, allowing researchers to explore a wide range of topics and find relevant studies to support their research.

3. Advanced search filters: Reliable academic search engines often provide advanced search features that enable researchers to refine their search queries and narrow down the results to find the most relevant and latest information. These features may include filters for publication date, author, journal, and citation count, among others. By utilizing these advanced search terms and options, researchers can save time and effort by quickly finding the most pertinent resources.

4. Access full-text journal articles: Another advantage of using search engine for academic research is the ability to access full-text scientific articles. Many academic search engines provide direct links to the full text of articles, either freely available or through institutional subscriptions. This ensures that researchers can read and analyze the complete article, rather than relying on abstracts or TL;DR summaries.

5. Additional tools support: The most reliable search engines for research like SciSpace offer additional tools and features to enhance the research workflow. These may include citation generators, reference management systems, and options to save and organize search results. These tools can greatly facilitate the organization and the citation analysis of sources, making the research process more efficient and systematic.

Best search engines for research

Now that we’ve understood the importance of using reliable search engines for academic research, let's explore some of the best academic literature search engines available:

1. SciSpace

SciSpace is considered the best academic search engine that hosts and provides free access to a comprehensive index of 300 million+ scholarly articles from various fields. It utilizes advanced algorithms to provide users with highly relevant search results. Its intuitive and user-friendly interface makes it ideal for both novice and experienced researchers to navigate millions of research papers with no mess around.

One of the standout features of SciSpace is its “ Trace feature ” which allows users to find relevant research papers based on the preferred criteria including citation counts, related publications, references, authors, and more. It helps you land on the right research paper based on your preferences or research needs.

SciSpace is the only search engine that not only helps you discover relevant scholarly scientific literature but also allows you to read a research paper using its AI research assistant, conduct a literature review, and generate accurate citations for your research publications. It is an all-in-one platform that accelerates your research workflow with its AI-powered tools. You can explore all of them here

2. Google Scholar

Google Scholar is undoubtedly one of the popular search engines. With its vast database of scholarly literature, Google Scholar allows users to search for articles, theses, books, and conference papers across multiple academic disciplines. Google Scholar helps users save their search queries and set up email alerts for new publications in their field of interest. This ensures that researchers stay up-to-date with the latest developments in their respective fields.

PubMed is a go-to academic search engine for those in the field of medicine and life sciences. Developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), PubMed provides access to a vast collection of medicine, biomedical, health sciences, or literature, including journals, clinical trials, and scientific articles. Its meticulously curated articles makes it a trusted resource for medical professionals, scientists, researchers, and students alike.

Scopus is a comprehensive database of science that covers a wide range of scholarly literature across multiple disciplines. It offers a vast collection of peer reviewed articles, including publications, conference papers, and patents. With its extensive coverage and powerful search capabilities, Scopus is a valuable tool for researchers looking to explore the latest developments in their respective fields.

JSTOR is a repository that provides access to a vast collection of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Its interdisciplinary approach makes it a valuable resource for researchers across various fields of study.

6. IEEE Xplore

IEEE Xplore is a premier academic search engine for those in the fields of engineering, computer science, and technology. It provides access to a vast collection of technical articles, conference papers, and standards published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

IEEE Xplore is a treasure trove of knowledge for researchers and engineers looking to stay at the forefront of technological advancements.

Criteria for choosing the best academic search engine

With so many free academic search engines to choose from, it can be challenging to determine which one is the best fit for your research needs. Here are some criteria to consider when selecting an academic search engine:

Relevance: The search engine should provide highly relevant search results that are specific to your area of study.
Database size: A larger database gives you access to a broader range of scientific literature.
Advanced search capabilities: Look for search engines that offer advanced search filters, allowing you to refine your search based on specific criteria.
User-friendly interface: A user-friendly interface makes it easier for researchers to navigate and retrieve the information they need efficiently.
Accessibility: Consider the availability of full-text or PDF access to articles and the ease of obtaining the necessary permissions to cite or use the content.

In conclusion, academic search engines play a vital role in scholarly communication, facilitating efficient and reliable academic research. They provide scholars, researchers, and students with access to a vast array of scholarly articles, research papers, and other academic resources. By using the best academic search engines, researchers can ensure that their research is backed by evidence (accurate and trustworthy information).

While each search engine has its own unique features and strengths, the key is to choose the one that best aligns with your research needs and preferences. Remember to utilize advanced search filters, explore related articles and citations, and keep your research well-organized for maximum efficiency. As technology continues to advance, we can expect academic search engines to evolve and provide even more innovative solutions to the challenges faced in academic research.

So, embrace these powerful tools, explore the above-featured academic search engines, and let us know which tool you are clinging to!

Frequently Asked Questions

Google Scholar, SciSpace, PubMed, and JSTOR are widely used tools for academic research.

Academic search engineinvolves an in-depth examination of scholarly sources with a rigorous approach, while a Google search engine explores a wider range of web content, including non-academic sources, with varying levels of reliability.

They provide a comprehensive overview of existing research on diverse topics aiding researchers in conducting an efficient literature review without investing more time.

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Stay Connected With Semantic Scholar Sign Up What Is Semantic Scholar? Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature, based at the Allen Institute for AI.

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Scopus Search

Scopus quickly delivers the information you're looking for from over 92m records. Updated daily, Scopus features state-of-the-art search tools and filters to empower research efficiency.

Increase research efficiency

Having access to comprehensive content and high-quality data is only effective if you can easily find the information you need. Uncovering trends, discovering sources and potential collaborators, and building deeper insights require effective search tools that can identify the right results.

Identify trends for key topics

Scopus’ literature search is built to distill massive amounts of information down to the most relevant documents and information in less time.

With Scopus you can search and filter results in the following ways:

Document search : Search directly from the homepage and use detailed search options to ensure you find the document(s) you want

Author search : Search for a specific author by name or by Open Research and Contributor Identifier ID (ORCID)

Affiliation search : Identify and assess an affiliation’s scholarly output, collaborating institutions and top authors

Advanced search : Narrow the scope of your search using field codes, proximity operators and/or Boolean operators

Refine results : Scopus makes it easy to refine your results list to specific categories of documents

Language interface : The Scopus interface is available in Chinese and Japanese; content is not localized, but you can switch the interface to one of these language options (and switch back to English, the default language) at the bottom of any Scopus page

Quick reference guide

Learn how to easily start your search from the homepage and use all the features in Scopus with this handy Quick Reference Guide.

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Search Help

Get the most out of Google Scholar with some helpful tips on searches, email alerts, citation export, and more.

Finding recent papers

Your search results are normally sorted by relevance, not by date. To find newer articles, try the following options in the left sidebar:

click "Since Year" to show only recently published papers, sorted by relevance;
click "Sort by date" to show just the new additions, sorted by date;
click the envelope icon to have new results periodically delivered by email.

Locating the full text of an article

Abstracts are freely available for most of the articles. Alas, reading the entire article may require a subscription. Here're a few things to try:

click a library link, e.g., "FindIt@Harvard", to the right of the search result;
click a link labeled [PDF] to the right of the search result;
click "All versions" under the search result and check out the alternative sources;
click "Related articles" or "Cited by" under the search result to explore similar articles.

If you're affiliated with a university, but don't see links such as "FindIt@Harvard", please check with your local library about the best way to access their online subscriptions. You may need to do search from a computer on campus, or to configure your browser to use a library proxy.

Getting better answers

If you're new to the subject, it may be helpful to pick up the terminology from secondary sources. E.g., a Wikipedia article for "overweight" might suggest a Scholar search for "pediatric hyperalimentation".

If the search results are too specific for your needs, check out what they're citing in their "References" sections. Referenced works are often more general in nature.

Similarly, if the search results are too basic for you, click "Cited by" to see newer papers that referenced them. These newer papers will often be more specific.

Explore! There's rarely a single answer to a research question. Click "Related articles" or "Cited by" to see closely related work, or search for author's name and see what else they have written.

Searching Google Scholar

Use the "author:" operator, e.g., author:"d knuth" or author:"donald e knuth".

Put the paper's title in quotations: "A History of the China Sea".

You'll often get better results if you search only recent articles, but still sort them by relevance, not by date. E.g., click "Since 2018" in the left sidebar of the search results page.

To see the absolutely newest articles first, click "Sort by date" in the sidebar. If you use this feature a lot, you may also find it useful to setup email alerts to have new results automatically sent to you.

Note: On smaller screens that don't show the sidebar, these options are available in the dropdown menu labelled "Year" right below the search button.

Select the "Case law" option on the homepage or in the side drawer on the search results page.

It finds documents similar to the given search result.

It's in the side drawer. The advanced search window lets you search in the author, title, and publication fields, as well as limit your search results by date.

Select the "Case law" option and do a keyword search over all jurisdictions. Then, click the "Select courts" link in the left sidebar on the search results page.

Tip: To quickly search a frequently used selection of courts, bookmark a search results page with the desired selection.

Access to articles

For each Scholar search result, we try to find a version of the article that you can read. These access links are labelled [PDF] or [HTML] and appear to the right of the search result. For example:

A paper that you need to read

Access links cover a wide variety of ways in which articles may be available to you - articles that your library subscribes to, open access articles, free-to-read articles from publishers, preprints, articles in repositories, etc.

When you are on a campus network, access links automatically include your library subscriptions and direct you to subscribed versions of articles. On-campus access links cover subscriptions from primary publishers as well as aggregators.

Off-campus access

Off-campus access links let you take your library subscriptions with you when you are at home or traveling. You can read subscribed articles when you are off-campus just as easily as when you are on-campus. Off-campus access links work by recording your subscriptions when you visit Scholar while on-campus, and looking up the recorded subscriptions later when you are off-campus.

We use the recorded subscriptions to provide you with the same subscribed access links as you see on campus. We also indicate your subscription access to participating publishers so that they can allow you to read the full-text of these articles without logging in or using a proxy. The recorded subscription information expires after 30 days and is automatically deleted.

In addition to Google Scholar search results, off-campus access links can also appear on articles from publishers participating in the off-campus subscription access program. Look for links labeled [PDF] or [HTML] on the right hand side of article pages.

Anne Author , John Doe , Jane Smith , Someone Else

In this fascinating paper, we investigate various topics that would be of interest to you. We also describe new methods relevant to your project, and attempt to address several questions which you would also like to know the answer to. Lastly, we analyze …

You can disable off-campus access links on the Scholar settings page . Disabling off-campus access links will turn off recording of your library subscriptions. It will also turn off indicating subscription access to participating publishers. Once off-campus access links are disabled, you may need to identify and configure an alternate mechanism (e.g., an institutional proxy or VPN) to access your library subscriptions while off-campus.

Email Alerts

Do a search for the topic of interest, e.g., "M Theory"; click the envelope icon in the sidebar of the search results page; enter your email address, and click "Create alert". We'll then periodically email you newly published papers that match your search criteria.

No, you can enter any email address of your choice. If the email address isn't a Google account or doesn't match your Google account, then we'll email you a verification link, which you'll need to click to start receiving alerts.

This works best if you create a public profile , which is free and quick to do. Once you get to the homepage with your photo, click "Follow" next to your name, select "New citations to my articles", and click "Done". We will then email you when we find new articles that cite yours.

Search for the title of your paper, e.g., "Anti de Sitter space and holography"; click on the "Cited by" link at the bottom of the search result; and then click on the envelope icon in the left sidebar of the search results page.

First, do a search for your colleague's name, and see if they have a Scholar profile. If they do, click on it, click the "Follow" button next to their name, select "New articles by this author", and click "Done".

If they don't have a profile, do a search by author, e.g., [author:s-hawking], and click on the mighty envelope in the left sidebar of the search results page. If you find that several different people share the same name, you may need to add co-author names or topical keywords to limit results to the author you wish to follow.

We send the alerts right after we add new papers to Google Scholar. This usually happens several times a week, except that our search robots meticulously observe holidays.

There's a link to cancel the alert at the bottom of every notification email.

If you created alerts using a Google account, you can manage them all here . If you're not using a Google account, you'll need to unsubscribe from the individual alerts and subscribe to the new ones.

Google Scholar library

Google Scholar library is your personal collection of articles. You can save articles right off the search page, organize them by adding labels, and use the power of Scholar search to quickly find just the one you want - at any time and from anywhere. You decide what goes into your library, and we’ll keep the links up to date.

You get all the goodies that come with Scholar search results - links to PDF and to your university's subscriptions, formatted citations, citing articles, and more!

Library help

Find the article you want to add in Google Scholar and click the “Save” button under the search result.

Click “My library” at the top of the page or in the side drawer to view all articles in your library. To search the full text of these articles, enter your query as usual in the search box.

Find the article you want to remove, and then click the “Delete” button under it.

To add a label to an article, find the article in your library, click the “Label” button under it, select the label you want to apply, and click “Done”.
To view all the articles with a specific label, click the label name in the left sidebar of your library page.
To remove a label from an article, click the “Label” button under it, deselect the label you want to remove, and click “Done”.
To add, edit, or delete labels, click “Manage labels” in the left column of your library page.

Only you can see the articles in your library. If you create a Scholar profile and make it public, then the articles in your public profile (and only those articles) will be visible to everyone.

Your profile contains all the articles you have written yourself. It’s a way to present your work to others, as well as to keep track of citations to it. Your library is a way to organize the articles that you’d like to read or cite, not necessarily the ones you’ve written.

Citation Export

Click the "Cite" button under the search result and then select your bibliography manager at the bottom of the popup. We currently support BibTeX, EndNote, RefMan, and RefWorks.

Err, no, please respect our robots.txt when you access Google Scholar using automated software. As the wearers of crawler's shoes and webmaster's hat, we cannot recommend adherence to web standards highly enough.

Sorry, we're unable to provide bulk access. You'll need to make an arrangement directly with the source of the data you're interested in. Keep in mind that a lot of the records in Google Scholar come from commercial subscription services.

Sorry, we can only show up to 1,000 results for any particular search query. Try a different query to get more results.

Content Coverage

Google Scholar includes journal and conference papers, theses and dissertations, academic books, pre-prints, abstracts, technical reports and other scholarly literature from all broad areas of research. You'll find works from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies and university repositories, as well as scholarly articles available anywhere across the web. Google Scholar also includes court opinions and patents.

We index research articles and abstracts from most major academic publishers and repositories worldwide, including both free and subscription sources. To check current coverage of a specific source in Google Scholar, search for a sample of their article titles in quotes.

While we try to be comprehensive, it isn't possible to guarantee uninterrupted coverage of any particular source. We index articles from sources all over the web and link to these websites in our search results. If one of these websites becomes unavailable to our search robots or to a large number of web users, we have to remove it from Google Scholar until it becomes available again.

Our meticulous search robots generally try to index every paper from every website they visit, including most major sources and also many lesser known ones.

That said, Google Scholar is primarily a search of academic papers. Shorter articles, such as book reviews, news sections, editorials, announcements and letters, may or may not be included. Untitled documents and documents without authors are usually not included. Website URLs that aren't available to our search robots or to the majority of web users are, obviously, not included either. Nor do we include websites that require you to sign up for an account, install a browser plugin, watch four colorful ads, and turn around three times and say coo-coo before you can read the listing of titles scanned at 10 DPI... You get the idea, we cover academic papers from sensible websites.

That's usually because we index many of these papers from other websites, such as the websites of their primary publishers. The "site:" operator currently only searches the primary version of each paper.

It could also be that the papers are located on examplejournals.gov, not on example.gov. Please make sure you're searching for the "right" website.

That said, the best way to check coverage of a specific source is to search for a sample of their papers using the title of the paper.

Ahem, we index papers, not journals. You should also ask about our coverage of universities, research groups, proteins, seminal breakthroughs, and other dimensions that are of interest to users. All such questions are best answered by searching for a statistical sample of papers that has the property of interest - journal, author, protein, etc. Many coverage comparisons are available if you search for [allintitle:"google scholar"], but some of them are more statistically valid than others.

Currently, Google Scholar allows you to search and read published opinions of US state appellate and supreme court cases since 1950, US federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy courts since 1923 and US Supreme Court cases since 1791. In addition, it includes citations for cases cited by indexed opinions or journal articles which allows you to find influential cases (usually older or international) which are not yet online or publicly available.

Legal opinions in Google Scholar are provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied on as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed lawyer. Google does not warrant that the information is complete or accurate.

We normally add new papers several times a week. However, updates to existing records take 6-9 months to a year or longer, because in order to update our records, we need to first recrawl them from the source website. For many larger websites, the speed at which we can update their records is limited by the crawl rate that they allow.

Inclusion and Corrections

We apologize, and we assure you the error was unintentional. Automated extraction of information from articles in diverse fields can be tricky, so an error sometimes sneaks through.

Please write to the owner of the website where the erroneous search result is coming from, and encourage them to provide correct bibliographic data to us, as described in the technical guidelines . Once the data is corrected on their website, it usually takes 6-9 months to a year or longer for it to be updated in Google Scholar. We appreciate your help and your patience.

If you can't find your papers when you search for them by title and by author, please refer your publisher to our technical guidelines .

You can also deposit your papers into your institutional repository or put their PDF versions on your personal website, but please follow your publisher's requirements when you do so. See our technical guidelines for more details on the inclusion process.

We normally add new papers several times a week; however, it might take us some time to crawl larger websites, and corrections to already included papers can take 6-9 months to a year or longer.

Google Scholar generally reflects the state of the web as it is currently visible to our search robots and to the majority of users. When you're searching for relevant papers to read, you wouldn't want it any other way!

If your citation counts have gone down, chances are that either your paper or papers that cite it have either disappeared from the web entirely, or have become unavailable to our search robots, or, perhaps, have been reformatted in a way that made it difficult for our automated software to identify their bibliographic data and references. If you wish to correct this, you'll need to identify the specific documents with indexing problems and ask your publisher to fix them. Please refer to the technical guidelines .

Please do let us know . Please include the URL for the opinion, the corrected information and a source where we can verify the correction.

We're only able to make corrections to court opinions that are hosted on our own website. For corrections to academic papers, books, dissertations and other third-party material, click on the search result in question and contact the owner of the website where the document came from. For corrections to books from Google Book Search, click on the book's title and locate the link to provide feedback at the bottom of the book's page.

General Questions

These are articles which other scholarly articles have referred to, but which we haven't found online. To exclude them from your search results, uncheck the "include citations" box on the left sidebar.

First, click on links labeled [PDF] or [HTML] to the right of the search result's title. Also, check out the "All versions" link at the bottom of the search result.

Second, if you're affiliated with a university, using a computer on campus will often let you access your library's online subscriptions. Look for links labeled with your library's name to the right of the search result's title. Also, see if there's a link to the full text on the publisher's page with the abstract.

Keep in mind that final published versions are often only available to subscribers, and that some articles are not available online at all. Good luck!

Technically, your web browser remembers your settings in a "cookie" on your computer's disk, and sends this cookie to our website along with every search. Check that your browser isn't configured to discard our cookies. Also, check if disabling various proxies or overly helpful privacy settings does the trick. Either way, your settings are stored on your computer, not on our servers, so a long hard look at your browser's preferences or internet options should help cure the machine's forgetfulness.

Not even close. That phrase is our acknowledgement that much of scholarly research involves building on what others have already discovered. It's taken from Sir Isaac Newton's famous quote, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

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Top 10 Best Academic Search Engines for Scholarly Articles in 2024

Jc Chaithanya

14 min read

Best Search Engines to Search for Scientific Papers at a Glance

Top 10 best search engines to search for scientific papers, google scholar key features , google scholar reviews , base key features , base reviews , scispace key features, scispace reviews , core key features , core reviews , scopus key features , scopus reviews, pubmed key features , pubmed reviews , jstor key features , jstor reviews , science.gov key features , science.gov reviews , semantic scholar key features , semantic scholar reviews , baidu scholar key features , baidu scholar reviews , our selection criteria to pick search engines for search for scientific papers, how to choose the best search engine to search for scientific papers, elephas: the research assistant that halves your research time, conclusion , 1. where can i search for scientific papers, 2. how do you search for scientific papers effectively, 3. how to find research papers on google.

Research is the cornerstone of scientific discovery. However, sifting through the vast amount of scholarly literature can feel overwhelming. Fear not, intrepid researchers! Today, we will equip you with the top 10 search engines designed specifically to streamline your search for scientific papers.

We'll delve into the strengths of each platform, helping you identify the perfect tool for your specific research needs. Whether you're seeking a broad overview or a deep dive into a niche topic, our analysis will ensure you learn about the most relevant and reliable search engines to propel your research forward.

To further maximize your research efficiency, we'll also introduce you to Elephas, a powerful AI writing assistant that can revolutionize your research paper writing process. However, we'll save that discussion for later in our article. For now, let's delve into the best search engines to search for scientific papers.

Google Scholar: General search for scholarly literature across various disciplines.

BASE: Free search engine for scholarly articles with summaries and full-text links.

SciSpace: Powerful search engine with AI-powered recommendations for related research.

CORE: User-friendly search engine for open-access scholarly publications.

Scopus: Search engine for high-quality, peer-reviewed scientific publications.

PubMed: Free search engine for biomedical and life sciences literature.

JSTOR: Comprehensive digital library for scholarly articles, ebooks, and primary sources across disciplines.

Science.gov: Free search engine for scientific research from US government agencies.

Semantic Scholar: Uses AI to find relevant research papers and uncover hidden connections.

Baidu Scholar: Search engine for academic literature in Chinese


Google Scholar	General Academic Search
Base	Scientfic Research Papers
Scispace	AI-Powered Academic Search
CORE	Latest Research Papers
Scopus	Peer-Reviewed Focus
Pubmed	Medical Research
JSTOR	Articles, Ebooks, Images
Science.gov	Search in US federal Agencies
Semantic Scholar	Plain Language Search
Baidu Scholar	English & Chinese

1. Google Scholar

Google Scholar simplifies searching for scholarly literature. It crawls millions of academic publications across various disciplines, including articles, theses, books, and conference papers. Researchers can set up alerts to stay updated on new publications in their field. Google Scholar is like Google Search but specifically designed for academic research.

Massive Database: Search roughly 200 million scholarly articles.

Find Freely Available Papers: Locate research papers and often access full PDFs.

Stay Updated: Set alerts for new publications in your field.

Explore Research: Discover related articles, references, and citations.

Easy Citation Management: Export citations in various formats.

Formatting: Easily export your search results into common citation formats like APA and MLA.

We could not find any public reviews on Google Scholar, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

2. Base

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine) is a free search engine specializing in scholarly articles. With over 136 million publications (including duplicates), BASE allows you to search for research papers across various disciplines. It provides summaries and links to full text whenever available. While BASE doesn't offer features like finding related articles, cited references, or who cited the paper, it excels in its core function: searching for scientific publications effortlessly.

Free Search Engine: Access millions of scholarly publications without any cost.

Focus on Academic Content: Search a vast collection of research papers across various fields.

Article Summaries: Quickly grasp the research topic with summaries (abstracts) provided for each article.

Full Text Links: When available, access the full scientific paper directly through BASE.

Simple Interface: Navigate BASE's user-friendly interface to find what you need efficiently.

We could not find any public reviews on Base search engine, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

3. Scispace

SciSpace is a powerful search engine specifically designed for academic research. With over 300 million scholarly articles across various fields, SciSpace utilizes advanced algorithms to deliver relevant search results. Its user-friendly interface makes navigating millions of research papers simple for both beginners and experienced researchers.

Massive Academic Database: Search over 300 million scholarly articles.

Advanced Search & Filters: Find relevant papers by author, citation count, and more.

AI-powered Recommendations: Get suggestions for related research based on your search.

Integrated Research Tools: Read papers, conduct literature reviews, and generate citations.

User-friendly Interface: Easy to navigate for both novice and experienced researchers.

CORE is a user-friendly search engine designed specifically for scholarly research papers. Unlike traditional search engines, CORE focuses on freely accessible, open-access publications. This means you can easily find millions of scientific articles without any paywalls or restrictions. Every search result on CORE conveniently links directly to the full-text PDF or webpage of the research paper, allowing you to dive deeper into your chosen topic

Vast Collection: Search through over 136 million academic publications.

Full Text Access: Every search result includes a link to the complete article, either in PDF or on the publisher's webpage.

Enhanced Discovery: Easily explore related articles to broaden your research scope.

Simple Interface: CORE's user-friendly design lets you find what you need quickly and efficiently.

Focus on Open Access: CORE prioritizes freely available research, ensuring you can access the latest scientific findings without restrictions.

We could not find any public reviews on Core Search engine, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

Scopus is a search engine for scientific research. It helps researchers find scholarly articles, conference papers, and patents. Unlike regular search engines, Scopus focuses on high-quality, peer-reviewed publications. This ensures you find reliable information to support your research. Scopus also offers advanced search options to help you narrow down your search and find relevant papers quickly.

Extensive Coverage: Search millions of peer-reviewed publications across various disciplines.

Accurate Search: Find relevant research with advanced search options and filters.

Verified Content: Explore high-quality, trusted publications with a focus on peer review.

Author Tracking: Monitor the impact of your research by tracking citations and authorship.

Discover Connections: Explore how different research papers are linked and build upon each other.

PubMed , a free search engine developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), specializes in biomedical and life sciences literature. Offering a vast collection of scholarly articles, journals, clinical trials, and more, PubMed is a trusted resource for medical professionals, researchers, students, and anyone seeking scientific information.

Extensive Collection: Search millions of scientific citations in medicine, health sciences, and related fields.

Accurate Results: PubMed's curated database ensures the quality and trustworthiness of your search results.

Advanced Search Options: Refine your search using keywords, MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms, publication dates, and more.

User-Friendly Interface: The search engine features a user-friendly interface for efficient exploration of scientific data.

We could not find any public reviews on Pubmed, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

JSTOR is a comprehensive digital library for researchers across disciplines. Search for academic journals, books, and primary sources in an easy-to-use interface. Explore millions of images and historical documents alongside scholarly articles. JSTOR offers an interdisciplinary approach, allowing you to research immigration through text and imagery or delve into art history with collections from leading museums.

Search All Content: Find scholarly articles, ebooks, images, and primary sources.

Primary Sources: Explore millions of historical documents, artwork, maps, and photographs.

Image Search: Discover over 3 million images to enhance your research.

Independent Voices: Access alternative publications like underground newspapers and magazines.

Artstor Integration: Search millions of art and cultural artifacts from leading institutions.

We could not find any public reviews on the JSTOR search engine, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

8. Science.gov

Science.gov is a free search engine designed specifically for scientific research. It simplifies your search by providing access to over 200 million scientific articles and reports from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies in one central location. This eliminates the need to search through individual agency websites, saving you valuable time and effort.

Search across 15+ U.S. government science agencies: Find scientific information from a vast collection of resources.

200 million+ scientific articles and reports: Access a comprehensive database of scientific research.

Links to full text (when available): Access the complete scientific paper if offered by the database.

Export Options: Export your search results in various citation formats for convenient reference management (availability may vary depending on the database).

We could not find any public reviews on science.gov, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

9. Semantic Scholar

Semantic Scholar is a powerful search engine that uses artificial intelligence to help you find relevant research papers. Its advanced algorithms go beyond keywords to uncover hidden connections and relationships between research topics, delivering more impactful search results.

Natural Language Search: Find research papers using plain language, just like you would search the web.

Comprehensive Coverage: Explore over 40 million scholarly articles across various disciplines.

Detailed Information: Access abstracts, related articles, references, citations, and links to full text (when available).

Export Options: Easily export citations in popular formats like APA, MLA, Chicago, and BibTeX.

We could not find any public reviews on Semantic Scholar, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

10. Baidu Scholar

Baidu Scholar is a powerful search engine designed specifically for academic literature. Despite its Chinese interface, Baidu Scholar indexes a vast collection of scientific papers in English alongside Chinese publications. With over 100 million articles, it offers a valuable resource for researchers worldwide. While some features are limited, like the lack of "cited by" functionality and only showing snippets of abstracts.

Multilingual Search: Find research papers in both English and Chinese.

Large Database: Explore over 100 million indexed articles.

Abstract and Reference Exploration: Gain insights from snippets of abstracts and identify related and cited articles.

Free to Use: Access and search for scientific papers without any cost.

Our selection process focuses on several key criteria to ensure you get the most relevant and reliable results for your scientific inquiry.

1. Depth and Breadth of Content: A vast library of scientific papers is crucial. We looked for search engines that indexed millions of scholarly articles, journals, and publications across various disciplines.

2. Accuracy and Credibility: Trustworthy information is paramount in science. We prioritized search engines that focused on peer-reviewed publications and curated databases to ensure the quality of your results.

3. User-Friendly Interface: A user-friendly interface makes the search process efficient. We considered search engines with clear navigation, advanced search options, and filtering capabilities to help you refine your research.

4. Open Access: Unrestricted access to scientific knowledge is vital. We included search engines that offered a significant amount of freely available, open-access content, alongside those with subscription-based resources for comprehensive searching.

5. Additional Features: Powerful search engines go beyond basic searches. We considered functionalities like AI-powered recommendations for related research, citation management tools, and the ability to export search results in various formats.

By following these selection criteria, we create the top 10 search engines to search for scientific papers. So, explore all the search engines and find the one that is best to Search for Scientific Papers

There are tons of search engines to search for scientific papers out there, and picking the best one for your scientific research can feel like a real challenge. Don't worry, we will help you find the perfect Search Engine to Search for Scientific Papers

Step 1: Identify Your Needs

Breadth vs. Depth: Are you looking for a general overview of a topic or a deep dive into specific research?

Open Access: Do you need freely available articles, or are you affiliated with an institution with access to a wider range of resources?

Focus: Is your research in a specific field like medicine, engineering, or social sciences?

Step 2: Choosing Your Weapon

Now that you know your needs, let's explore some of the top search engines to search for scientific papers:

General Search Engines:

Google Scholar: The go-to option for a broad search across many disciplines. It crawls millions of scholarly articles and often provides links to full PDFs.

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine): A search engine with over 136 million publications, offering summaries and links to full text whenever available.

Specialized Search Engines:

SciSpace: Employs AI to deliver relevant results and suggest related research based on your search.

CORE: Focuses on open-access publications, ensuring you can find millions of scientific articles without paywalls.

Scopus: Curates high-quality, peer-reviewed publications for a focus on reliable information.

PubMed: Developed for the medical and life sciences field, PubMed offers a vast collection of articles, journals, and clinical trials.

Additional Powerhouses:

JSTOR: A comprehensive digital library with scholarly articles, ebooks, and primary sources across disciplines, including historical documents and images.

Science.gov: A one-stop shop for scientific research from US government agencies, providing access to over 200 million articles and reports.

Semantic Scholar: Uses artificial intelligence to uncover hidden connections between research topics for more impactful results.

Baidu Scholar: While the interface is in Chinese, Baidu Scholar indexes a vast collection of scientific papers in both English and Chinese.

Remember: No single search engine is perfect. Experiment with a few based on your needs and combine them for a comprehensive search. Many of these engines allow advanced search options to further refine your results.

Now you've got the perfect search engine to find the best research papers, but what about after you've found them? Elephas is an AI writing assistant that can help you with every stage of your research paper writing, from summarizing complex sources to generating creative ideas and even helping you stay on track with your grammar and citations.

Here's how Elephas can make you a research paper writing master:

Summarizes complex research: Struggling to understand a dense academic paper? Elephas can break it down for you, highlighting the key points and saving you valuable time.

Boosts your writing: Whether you need help with brainstorming ideas, structuring your paper, or simply polishing your writing style, Elephas has a variety of features to get you there.

Check your grammar: No more typos or embarrassing mistakes! Elephas ensures your writing is clear, concise, and error-free.

Multiple writing styles: Need your paper to be formal or informal? Funny or serious? Elephas can adapt its writing style to fit your needs.

Works offline: Worried about data privacy? Elephas has an offline mode that lets you work securely without an internet connection.

These are just a few of the ways Elephas can help you write research papers faster and more efficiently. Elephas offers many more features that can significantly reduce your daily workload.

So why not give it a try and see how much time you can save?

In summary, there are many great search engines to search for scientific papers out there, each with its own strengths. The best one for you depends on what you're researching.

Need a quick overview? Try Google Scholar or BASE.

Want in-depth studies? Look at Scopus or PubMed (for medical stuff).

Need free articles? Try CORE or JSTOR (for more than just science).

If you're not sure where to start, try a few and see which one you like best. You can even use them together to find the most information!

Remember, the ideal search engine hinges on your specific requirements.

Are you seeking a broad overview of a particular field, or a deep dive into a niche topic?

Does open-access content suffice, or do you have institutional access to a wider range of resources?

What is your research area's primary discipline (medicine, engineering, social sciences)?

By considering these questions, you can ensure you select the most effective search engine to propel your research forward.

While powerful search engines are essential, there are additional tools that can significantly enhance your research efficiency. Consider Elephas, an advanced AI writing assistant designed to streamline every stage of the research paper writing process. From summarizing complex sources to generating creative ideas and maintaining flawless grammar and citations, Elephas helps you to become a research paper writing master.

You can search for scientific papers in many online search engines like Google Scholar, BASE, CORE, Scopus, PubMed, JSTOR, Science.gov, Semantic Scholar, and Baidu Scholar. Each engine has its strengths, so it depends on your specific needs.

First, identify your needs. Are you looking for a general overview or a deep dive? Do you need free articles or have access to paid resources? Then choose a search engine that fits your needs. Finally, use the advanced search options in the research search engines to refine your results.

Google Scholar is a search engine specifically designed for scholarly articles. You can search for papers by topic, author, title, and more. It also allows you to find freely available PDFs of many papers.

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The Top 100 Search Engines For Academic Research

From science databases to document collections and more, here are 100 of the best search engines for academic research.

What Are The Top 100 Search Engines For Academic Research?

by TeachThught Staff

Need to get started with a more broad search? These academic search engines are great resources.

See also 7 Pros And Cons Of Using Siri For Learning

ResearchGate

Access over 135 million publication pages and stay up to date with what’s happening in most professional fields.

With more than 1 billion documents, web pages, books, journals, newspapers, and more, RefSeek offers authoritative resources in just about any subject, without all of the mess of sponsored links and commercial results.

Digital Library of the Commons Repository

Check out the DLC to find international literature including free and open access full-text articles, papers, and dissertations.

Microsoft Academic Search

Microsoft’s academic search engine offers access to more than 38 million different publications, with features including maps, graphing, trends, and paths that show how authors are connected.

Google Trends

Google’s super cool search tool will allow you to find searches that correlate with real-world data.

WolframAlpha

Using expert-level knowledge, this search engine doesn’t just find links; it answers questions, does analysis, and generates reports.

BASE is one of the world’s most voluminous search engines, especially for academic web resources. BASE provides more than 200 million documents from more than 8,000 content providers. You can access the full texts of about 60% of the indexed documents for free (Open Access). BASE is operated by Bielefeld University Library.

Databases and Archives

Resources like the Library of Congress have considerable archives and documents available, and many of them have taken their collections online. Use these search tools to get access to these incredible resources.

Library of Congress

In this incredible library, you’ll get access to searchable source documents, historical photos, and amazing digital collections.

Archives Hub

Find the best of what Britain has to offer in the Archives Hub. You’ll be able to search archives from almost 200 institutions from England, Scotland, and Wales.

National Archives

Check out this resource for access to the National Archives. Find online, public access to find historic documents, research, government information, and more in a single search.

arXiv ePrint Archive

Cornell University’s arXiv.org offers open access to a wealth of e-prints in math, science, and related subjects. Search this resource to find what you need among 1,772,647 documents and counting.

National Agricultural Library

A service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, you can find global information for agriculture in the National Agricultural Library.

Smithsonian Institution Research Information System

Get access to the considerable resources of the Smithsonian Institution through the Research Information System, a great way to search more than 7.4 million records from the Smithsonian’s museums, archives, and libraries.

The British Library Catalogues & Collection

Explore the British Library catalogs, printed materials, digital collections, and even collection blogs for a wealth of resources.

CIA World Factbook

As the center of intelligence, the CIA has certainly done its job with The World Factbook, offering information on major reference information around the world. History, people, government, economy, and more are all covered in this online publication.

State Legislative Websites Directory

Use this database to find information from the legislatures of all 50 U.S. states, DC, and the Territories. You can look up bills, statutes, legislators, and more with this excellent tool.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications

Search through the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications to find descriptive records for historical and current publications, with direct links where available.

iSEEK Education

iSeek is an excellent targeted search engine, designed especially for students, teachers, administrators, and caregivers. Find authoritative, intelligent, and time-saving resources in a safe, editor-reviewed environment with iSEEK.

Books & Journals

Instead of heading to the library to bury your face in the stacks, use these search engines to find out which libraries have the books you need, and maybe even find them available online.

Google Scholar

Check out Google Scholar to find only scholarly resources on Google. The search specializes in articles, patents, and legal documents, and even has a resource for gathering your citations.

Microsoft Academic

Microsoft Academic is a semantic academic search engine powered by Microsoft Academic Graph (MAG) data and Microsoft Academic Knowledge Exploration Service (MAKES) hosted API’s.

Find items from 10,000 libraries worldwide, with books, DVDs, CDs, and articles up for grabs. You can even find your closest library with WorldCat’s tools.

Google Books

Supercharge your research by searching this index of the world’s books. You’ll find millions for free and others you can preview to find out if they’re what you’re looking for.

Science Direct

For scientific information only, Scirus is a comprehensive research tool with more than 460 million scientific items including journal content, courseware, patents, educational websites, and more.

Open Library

Find the world’s classic literature, open e-books, and other excellent open and free resources in the Open Library. You can even contribute to the library with information, corrections to the catalog, and curated lists.

Bioline International

Search Bioline International to get connected with a variety of scientific journals. The search is managed by scientists and librarians as a collaborative initiative between Bioline Toronto and the Reference Center on Environmental Information.

Directory of Open Access Journals

When you need top-quality journal writings for free, the Directory of Open Access Journals is a great place to check out. You’ll get access to a searchable journal of full-text quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals.

In this curated academic search engine, you’ll get results from over 4,000 free scholarly e-journals in the arts and humanities.

With a focus on science, these academic search engines return all-science, all the time.

Science.gov

In this government science portal, you can search more than 60 databases and 2,200 selected websites across more than 200 million pages and 12 federal agencies. This is an incredible resource for millions of pages of U.S. government science information.

CERN Document Server

This organization for nuclear research serves up a great search and directory for experiments, archives, articles, books, presentations, and so much more within their documents.

WorldWideScience

Use WorldWideScience.org as a global science gateway, offering excellent search results in the sciences, and even the option to select specific databases and find resources in your own language.

Math & Technology

Keep your results limited to only the best math and technology resources by using these search engines.

ZMATH Online Database

Zentralblatt MATH’s online database has millions of entries from thousands of serials and journals dating back as far as 1826. Nearly 35,000 items were added in 2012 alone.

This database was made for scientists and engineers by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. You’ll find nearly 13 million abstracts and research literature, primarily in the fields of physics and engineering.

The Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies

Find more than 3 million references to journal articles, conference papers, and technical reports in computer science with this bibliography collection.

Social Science

Researchers working in the fields of psychology, anthropology, and related subjects will find great results using these search engines.

Behavioral Brain Science Archive

Check out this searchable archive to find extensive psychology and brain science articles.

Social Science Research Network

In this research network, you can find a wide variety of social science research from a number of specialized networks including cognitive science, leadership, management, and social insurance.

Social Sciences Citation Index

The Thomson Reuters Social Sciences Citation Index is a paid tool, but well worth its cost for the wealth of relevant articles, search tools, and thorough resources available.

Search the languages of the world with Ethnologue, offering an encyclopedic reference of all the world’s known living languages. You’ll also be able to find more than 28,000 citations in the Ethnologue’s language research bibliography.

Find awesome resources for history through these search engines that index original documents, sources, and archives.

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

Use the LUNA Browser to check out David Rumsey’s Map Collection with more than 30,000 images, searchable by keyword.

Find excellent sources for women’s history with the Genesis dataset and extensive list of web resources.

Get access to historical military records through Fold3, the web’s premier collection of original military records and memorials.

Internet Modern History Sourcebook

Use the Internet Modern History Sourcebook to find thousands of sources in modern history. Browse and search to find full texts, multimedia, and more.

Library of Anglo-American Culture and History

Use the history guide from the Library of Anglo-American Culture and History for a subject catalog of recommended websites for historians, with about 11,000 to choose from.

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook

The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook is a great place to study human origins, with full text and search on topics including Mesopotamia, Rome, the Hellenistic world, Late Antiquity, and Christian origins.

History Engine

In this tool for collaborative education and research, students can learn history by researching, writing, and publishing, creating a collection of historical articles in U.S. history that can be searched for here by scholars, teachers, and the general public.

Business and Economics

Using these search engines, you’ll get access to business publications, journal articles, and more.

Virtual Library Labour History

Maintained by the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, this library offers historians excellent content for learning about economics, business, and more.

Visit EconLit to access more than 120 years of economics literature from around the world in an easily searchable format. Find journal articles, books, book reviews, articles, working papers, and dissertations, as well as historic journal articles from 1886 to 1968.

National Bureau of Economic Research

On this site, you can learn about and find access to great resources in economic research.

Research Papers in Economics

Find research in economics and related sciences through the RePEc, a volunteer-maintained bibliographic database of working papers, articles, books, and even software components with more than 1.2 million research pieces.

Corporate Information

Perfect for researching companies, Corporate Information offers an easy way to find corporate financial records.

Economists will enjoy this excellent site for finding economics resources, including jobs, courses, and even conferences.

Google Finance

Easily look up stocks with this search engine to monitor the stock market and your portfolio.

EDGAR Search

The SEC requires certain disclosures that can be helpful to investors, and you can find them all here in this helpful, next-generation system for searching electronic investment documents.

Other Niches

Find even more specialized information in these niche search engines.

From the U.S. National Library of Medicine, PubMed is a great place to find full-text medical journal articles, with more than 19 million available.

Find reliable, authoritative information for legal search with the Lexis site.

Circumpolar Health Bibliographic Database

Visit this database to find more than 6,300 records relating to human health in the circumpolar region.

Education Resources Information Center

In the ERIC Collection, you’ll find bibliographic records of education literature, as well as a growing collection of full-text resources.

MedlinePlus

A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Medline Plus offers a powerful search tool and even a dictionary for finding trusted, carefully chosen health information.

Semantic Scholar

A free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature.

Artcyclopedia

Search Artcyclopedia to find everything there is to know about fine art, with 160,000 links, 9,000 artists listed, and 2,900 art sites indexed.

Get connected with great reference material through these search tools.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus

Use this online dictionary and thesaurus to quickly find definitions and synonyms.

References.net

Through References.net, you can get connected with just about every reference tool available, from patents to almanacs.

Need the right thing to say? Check out Quotes.net to reference famous words from famous people.

The Literary Encyclopedia

A library and search database for literature and literary books and documents.

CORE’s mission is to aggregate all open access research outputs from repositories and journals worldwide and make them available to the public. In this way, CORE facilitates free unrestricted access to research for all.

More Academic Search Engines

Africa Journals Online

United States Department of Agriculture: National Agricultural Library

Anthropological Index Online

Analytical Sciences Digital Library

TeachThought is an organization dedicated to innovation in education through the growth of outstanding teachers.

Database Search

What is Database Search?

Harvard Library licenses hundreds of online databases, giving you access to academic and news articles, books, journals, primary sources, streaming media, and much more.

The contents of these databases are only partially included in HOLLIS. To make sure you're really seeing everything, you need to search in multiple places. Use Database Search to identify and connect to the best databases for your topic.

In addition to digital content, you will find specialized search engines used in specific scholarly domains.

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Best search engines for researchers

search engines for researchers, search engines for scientists

If you’re researching for your current paper, the first thing that comes to mind is to check Google for the latest advancement in a related field. While Google may be quite handy for listing relevant theories and examples of successful practice, it is not so much scientist-friendly as it is layperson-friendly. There are many other options and available search engines for researchers. As an experienced scholar, you are probably aware that science is fast progressing activity, and that hundreds and even thousands of articles are published daily, especially when your topic concerns a hot issue. When a subject is generating multiple responses from across the disciplines, you must consider all relevant research search engines and make sure to include in your reference list the latest advances.

Also check out our guide on Research Tools for Primary and Secondary Research

Therefore, you want to use your time sparingly and to be able to filter through by year of publishing or find arguments of top-notch academics by name. When collecting data online, use the best research engines that will help you assemble relevant information. Here are some suggestions on best scholar engines that will help you collect key data without having to dig up through a mass of irrelevant, unindexed and low-quality sites.

Here you can find a list of the best academic search engines to help you get your research started .

Google Scholar

As indicated by the name, Google Scholar is one of the best search engines for researchers provided by Google. It is much like your regular search engine, but it lists relevant scholarly articles and helps to acquire support for your research. Google Scholar indexes papers from a variety of sources, such as academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and scientific platforms and social sites. You can simply type keywords related to your topic, filter by year of publication or by author, and it will come up with many sources for books, e-books, papers, articles, case studies, working papers, dissertations, etc.

Academic Info

On the top of our list of research search engines, Academic info is an in-depth directory containing useful links and resources from a specified field. It was developed as an alternative to Google in 1998, posing as a source of authoritative educational content. The website provides an extensive list of influential research sites. The website also offers aspiring students who want to enhance professional credentials and eager-to-improve scientists with a myriad of degrees, online courses and remote learning programs from accredited higher education facilities.

iSeek Education

iSeek is a note-worthy and one of prominent search engines for researchers available online. It was tailored explicitly for students, teachers, scientists, academics, analysts and experts. Using iSeek instead of your regular Google unrelated search allows you to invest time in writing instead of spending hours scrolling to irrelevant resources.

WorldCat is the world’s largest network of library content and services. You can search for popular books, music, audiobooks and videos – all of the physical items you’re used to getting from the library. Moreover, you can access digital content downloadable as audiobooks, article citations with links to their full text, esteemed research materials, documents and photos of local and historic significance and digital versions of rare items that aren’t available to the public.

You can also read our tips for getting published in a research journal

If you’re targeting high-quality journals for publication, then the resources you use most definitely must be from high-profile and influential sources. This list of search engines for researchers should help to get you started and save time you can rather invest in perfecting your submission.