Why use a STEM Database such as Scopus or Web of Science?

Research databases, such as Scopus or Web of Science, can improve the efficiency of your search for research articles over more general resources, such as Google, by eliminating non-scholarly results and by providing additional search features to help you narrow your search down to the most relevant articles. This tutorial will focus on Scopus and Web of Science, two of the most widely used STEM databases. Some of the key features include:

• STEM focused: Both databases include articles from a broad range of journals and conference proceedings across all STEM fields
• Research focused: Search results include only peer-reviewed and other scholarly research publications, such as conference proceedings and review articles.
• Additional search features: Helpful features allow you to narrow results down to specific topics, authors, institutions, types of papers, and other details.
• Citation tracking: A key feature of Scopus and Web of Science is the ability to track citations to and within an article. This will help you find additional research that is most relevant to your topic.

See more tips for making the best use of Scopus and Web of Science are below.

For more help finding STEM research, contact your subject librarian or request a consultation.

Scopus

Accessing Scopus

You can access Scopus by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page, or:

• Click on Databases above the search box on the homepage of the library
• Click on Scopus
• Login using your NDSU credentials (NOT your NDUS)

Searching Scopus

Elsevier (the company that makes Scopus) provides a variety of videos on how to use the Scopus database. 

 

Web of Science

Accessing the Web of Science

You can access Web of Science by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page, or:

• Click on Databases above the search box on the homepage of the library
• Click on Web of Science: Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics)
• Login using your NDSU credentials (NOT your NDUS)

Searching the Web of Science

Below is a video showing basic searching of the Web of Science. (Or access the video on YouTube.) The video starts with explaining a few things you can add to your keywords to make a better search (such as boolean operators and truncation). To jump straight to the example search demonstration, go to the 4:13 timestamp.

For more tips on searching Web of Science:

• Web of Science Platform: Training Resources (Clarivate)
• Web of Science Training Videos  (Clarivate)
• Web of Science YouTube playlist

Or contact your subject librarian to schedule a consultation on how to search the database.