Where is the Article?
will lead you to the full-text of articles.
Integrated into many databases, Find@BU will help you get the article in one of three ways:
- If BU has online access, provider links appear in the Find Online section of a BU Libraries Search record.
- If BU has the print journal, the library and the call number appear in the record. Go to the library and scan the article for free, using our easy self-service scanners.
- If the record indicates we do not have it, sign-in to BU Libraries Search, and a link will lead to our interlibrary loan request form.
Most Comprehensive Article Databases
- BU Libraries Search This link opens in a new window
BU Libraries Search provides a single place to search for a wide variety of research material provided by the library. Resources covered by the search includes books and eBooks, journals, scores and sheet music, video and audio recordings, and other physical and electronic items held by the library. Coverage encompasses materials relating to the prehistoric and antique world through to the present.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowGoogle Scholar provides access to academic literature from many disciplines. The sources include articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions and come from diverse places including academic publishers, online repositories and other websites.
More Databases
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window Provides access to articles, books and book chapters, and dissertations that cover the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. Includes material of relevance to psychologists and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.
- Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new window This collection searches a unique set of primary sources from African Americans actively involved in the movement to end slavery in the United States between 1830 and 1865. The content includes letters, speeches, editorials, articles, sermons, and essays from libraries and archives in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the United States.
- Child Care and Early Education Research Connections This link opens in a new window This continuously updated database includes full text for many peer-reviewed research articles, data sets, books, reports, instruments, and government documents. The collected items are relevant to early education and child care research and policy, and bibliographic information is available for many well known series such as the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS).
- Child Development & Adolescent Studies This link opens in a new window This database includes books, book chapters, journal articles, dissertations and theses, and technical reports related to the growth and development of children through the age of 21.
- Contemporary Women's Issues This link opens in a new window Contemporary Women's Issues provides full-text access to international information on women in over 190 countries. Indexes journals and books, as well as "gray literature" - newsletters, NGO research reports, fact sheets, and other ephemeral literature from research institutes and grassroots organizations.
- Decolonization: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories This link opens in a new windowThis database contains material from within former British colonies and Commonwealth nations, alongside some from former French and Portuguese territories, providing primary source material from a period of enormous global change.
- Education Database This link opens in a new window Education Database provides access to a large number of academic publications, including many articles in full text. The scope spans all levels of education and is particularly strong in the topics of special education, educational administration, early childhood education, and higher education.
- Education Full Text This link opens in a new window Education Full Text provides records for research articles and other scholarly materials, some available in full text, covering all levels from early childhood to higher education. Subject scope includes special education, teaching methods, leadership, global education and much more.
- ERIC (via ProQuest) This link opens in a new window ERIC is a collection of journal articles, association reports, conference papers, government documents, books and other materials on education-related topics. Some items are available in full text. This database is particularly useful for public policy, curriculum studies, administration, and youth literature.
- Exploring Race in Society This link opens in a new windowThis research database covers issues related to race in society today. Essays, articles, reports and other reliable sources provide an in-depth look at the history of race and provide critical context for learning more about topics associated with race, ethnicity, diversity and inclusiveness.
- HistoryMakers: African American Video Oral History Collection This link opens in a new window HistoryMakers is a collection of video oral history interviews with historically significant African Americans. Transcripts are included with the interviews.
- Indigenous Peoples of North America This link opens in a new windowThis collection covers the history of American Indian tribes and supporting organizations from the sixteenth century well into the twentieth century. Part I contains primary sources including manuscripts, monographs, newspapers, photographs, motion pictures, and images of artwork. Part II contains records of the Indian Rights Association, 1882-1986.
- Kanopy This link opens in a new window Kanopy is a provider of documentaries, training films, and theatrical releases available as streaming video. Clips from the videos can be embedded in presentations or shown in class. Films in the Boston University Libraries catalog are licensed to Boston University for educational and research use only, for BU students, faculty, and staff.
- LGBTQ+ Source This link opens in a new window This database provides scholarly and popular LGBTQ+ publications in full text, plus historically important primary sources, including monographs, magazines and newspapers. It also includes a specialized thesaurus containing thousands of terms relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses This link opens in a new window This database contains indexing and abstracts of American doctoral dissertations accepted at accredited institutions since 1861 and a selection from other countries. Masters level theses are included selectively.
- Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection This link opens in a new window This database includes the full text of articles from more than 500 journals. It covers a broad range of topics related to psychology and the behavioral sciences including observational and experimental methods, child and adolescent psychology, and many areas of counseling.
- Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new windowConsists of more than five million cross-searchable pages sourced from books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, legal documents, court records, monographs, manuscripts, and maps from many different countries covering slave trade history. The archive covers a range of topics related to the history of slavery, including: legal studies; the inception of slavery in Africa; the Caribbean; the American South, race and the Civil War; children and women under slavery; modes of resistance; and emancipation and life thereafter.
- Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database This link opens in a new windowContains records of trans-Atlantic slave ship voyages made between 1595 and 1866. Format allows users to track information by time period and geographic region, and includes interactive maps that allow viewers to chart the trans-Atlantic connections. The accompanying data contains materials about people on board, owners and captains, ships' characteristics, and the geographic trajectory of each voyage.
- Women's Studies International This link opens in a new window Women's Studies International indexes women's studies, women's issues and gender-focused journal and magazine articles, books and book chapters, dissertations and reports worldwide.
Search Tips
Consider what database to use! There is no single most important database - not even Google. Be aware of differences such as the size of the database and if it uses a "controlled vocabulary".
- BU Libraries Search and Google Scholar - advanced algorithms with advantages/disadvantages
- other smaller databases available through BU / PsycINFO (curation), Education Full Text
Search Tips
- How to select effective search terms: see the Living Language Guide
a. common search tips (truncate with *, use "" for phrase search, {grouping with synonyms})
b. effective terms (methodology vs "study", "participants", author/experts, etc.)
Tip: Try Forward Searching
Have you found a great article and want to see more like it?
Try forward searching - also known as "cited reference searching". This allows you to see if a particular article has been cited in more recent research. This is an excellent way to:
- See if an article has been influential in the field. If an article has been cited many times, this can mean that it has had a strong impact on a given area of research.
- Check to make sure you are getting the most current information. An author who has cited an article that you have found may provide you with more up-to-date information.
- Find additional information on your topic.
These are two tools for forward searching:
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowGoogle Scholar provides access to academic literature from many disciplines. The sources include articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions and come from diverse places including academic publishers, online repositories and other websites.
- Social Sciences Citation Index This link opens in a new window
Social Sciences Citation Index, accessed via Web of Science, provides comprehensive data on bibliographic and citation information. This database allows a researcher to identify which later articles have cited any particular earlier article, or have cited the articles of any particular author, or have been cited most frequently. Searches notable and significant journals across more than 50 disciplines.
Librarian
Interlibrary Loan
Our interlibrary loan service allows current BU faculty, staff, and students to request materials we don't have. Books generally take 1-3 weeks to arrive; articles are generally delivered electronically within 1-2 days.