Searching subject databases

Subject databases are collections of scholarly material within specific subject areas. A wide range of subject databases are available across the arts, engineering, medicine, science, and social sciences, so there will be some overlap in content.

Most subject databases provide access to journal articles, but you may also find book chapters, conference proceedings, and primary sources in your search results. 

Subject databases can help you find high quality information, which your tutors will be looking for in your work.

Subject databases:

• often provide access to peer reviewed journal articles, which have been checked by other experts in the same field
• are regularly updated, enabling you to find current research on your topic
• enable you to save time, by searching for articles on the same topic across multiple journals
• enable you to carry out structured searches on your topic to find relevant information

Think about your topic or research question. Is this focused on one subject area, or does it cross several disciplines?

Whatever your topic, it’s a good idea to search multiple relevant subject databases. This will enable you to find a range of appropriate material from different perspectives to help you produce a well-researched assignment.

Databases for your subject area

The following guides introduce you to the subject databases in your discipline, including how to access and search them:

Specialist resources

Some databases provide access to specialist information, including primary resources, patents and standards, clinical trials, marketing research, law reports, conference proceedings, and theses.

You can browse and access these in the following guides: 

You can find these via the Databases tab on NUsearch. You can search for a specific database name or browse the subject categories. 

Working off campus? 

To access electronic resources when working off-campus you may need to log in using your university username and password. 

If you are a UK student, we recommend downloading the Library Access browser extension which provides quick and easy access to electronic resources wherever you are. 

Planning your search

Before you begin searching, spend some time thinking about your topic and planning your search. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of information available if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. 

Visit Search Skills for guidance on planning your search, identifying keywords, applying search functions, and structuring a search strategy.

Reviewing results and revising your search

You’re unlikely to get your search strategy right the first time. Searching is an iterative process, which means you may have to try different combinations of keywords before you find what you’re looking for. 

Visit Search Skills for guidance on reviewing your results and revising a search strategy.

Saving searches and creating alerts

Having spent time trying and adapting your search strategies, it’s a good idea to save these on each subject database you use. This will enable you to easily access and re-run your searches.

• Save your search strategy on a database for a specified time period – log in to the database and re-run your search at any time.
• Create a search alert on a database – the databases will automatically re-run your search strategy at specified intervals, and send you the search results by email.
• Save specific references found during your database searches – you can often store these in a personal folder on a database, send to email, or export to reference management software, such as EndNote.