BEHS 210: Introduction to Social Sciences

Library Databases to Use, Plus Examples of Keyword Searches

Here are some databases to use, arranged by subject area, plus ways to create keyword searches in a database. Of course, you will choose keywords based on your research topic.

Note on the library keyword searches below:

• We put keyword phrases of two or more words inside quotation marks, for example: "Black Lives Matter"
• When linking keywords with OR, we "nest" those keywords inside parentheses, for example: (family OR children)
• We use the * symbol to find alternative endings for keywords, for example: immigra* tells the library database to find immigrant, immigrants, immigrate, or immigration

Psychology

Databases

• APA PsycInfo
• Academic Search Ultimate

Sample keyword search

Our library has a psychology database, APA PsycInfo. If you search in it, you can simply put in a general keyword search for your topic, for example:

homeless* AND women

Because you're using a psychology database, the articles that come up will be from the perspective of psychology.

You can also add keywords that have to do with psychology, for example:

homeless* AND women AND (anxiety OR depression OR "mental health")

Sociology

Databases

• SocINDEX with Full Text
• Academic Search Ultimate

Sample keyword search

Our library has a sociology database, SocINDEX with Full Text. If you search in it, you can simply put in a general keyword search for your topic, for example:

homeless* AND women

Because you're using a sociology database, the articles that come up generally will be from the perspective of sociology.

You can also add keywords that have to do with sociology, for example:

homeless* AND women AND (housing OR "social services")

Gerontology

Databases

• Academic Search Ultimate

Sample keyword search

The library does not have a gerontology database, so, when searching, be sure to add keywords that relate to gerontology, for example:

homeless* AND women AND (older OR elderly)

Political Science

Databases

• Political Science Complete
• Academic Search Ultimate

Sample keyword search

Our library has a political science database, Political Science Complete. If you search in it, you can simply put in a general keyword search for your topic, for example:

homeless* AND women

Because you're using a political science database, the articles that come up generally will be from the perspective of political science.

You can also add keywords that have to do with political science, for example:

homeless* AND women AND (government OR policy OR politic*)

Anthropology

Databases

• Academic Search Ultimate

Sample keyword search

The library does not have an anthropology database, so, when searching, be sure to add keywords that relate to anthropology, for example:

homeless* AND women AND (cultur* OR "sub-culture" OR subculture OR enthnograph* OR anthropolog*)

Economics

Databases

• Academic Search Ultimate

Use Academic Search Ultimate and other databases and include keywords that relate to economics, for example:

homeless* AND women AND (economic* OR poverty OR income)

Limiting Your Search

When searching for journal articles, look for two handy "limiters" in the database--usually they will be check-boxes. 

• Full text only
  • This lets you limit your search to full-text articles only. That means the results you get will be primarily complete articles that you can read right away (as opposed to just article summaries). 
• Scholarly (peer-reviewed) only
  • Some assignments require you to use scholarly articles (as opposed to magazine or newspaper articles). You can limit your search results to find only articles from scholarly (also known as peer-reviewed) journals.