Librarian
Databases
Note that many of these sources only index journal articles -- they don't actually have the full text. Use the gold UC-eLinks button to do an automated search to find the full text, search for the journal title in the UCLA Library Catalog, or request through interlibrary loan. Browse all UCLA databases here.
- All Science DatabasesAlphabetical list of science related databases. Most are subscription services, requiring on-campus, proxy, or VPN access.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary database that indexes over 10,000 publications, with the complete text of over 5,500 periodicals, including a mix of peer-reviewed journals, magazines, and newspapers.
- Compendex (Engineering Village) This link opens in a new window
Contains citations and abstracts to over 5000 engineering journals from 1884 to the present, conferences and technical reports in the fields of chemical and process engineering, computers and data processing, applied physics, electronics, communications, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering. Coverage is from 1884 to the present; print equivalent is Engineering Index.
- IEEE Xplore This link opens in a new windowIEEE Xplore provides web access to more than five-million full-text documents from some of the world's most highly-cited publications in electrical engineering, computer science, and electronics. Does not include Draft Standards.
- Inspec (Engineering Village) This link opens in a new windowCovers physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computers and control, and information technology. Inspec Quick Guide
- The LensThe Lens serves global patent and scholarly knowledge as a public resource to make science- and technology-enabled problem solving more effective, efficient and inclusive.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Contains full text of bills, resolutions, hearings, debates, and other legislative documents. Also contains Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, Serial Set 1789-present, and legislative histories (through Legislative Insight).
- PubMed This link opens in a new window
Citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. Also searches NCBI's integrated molecular biology databases, including nucleotide sequences, protein sequences, 3-D protein structure data, population study data sets, and assemblies of complete genomes in an integrated system. Note: This link uses a special address which turns on Get it at UC. Without that, PubMed does not link to UCLA's online subscriptions.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window
A multidisciplinary database, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of most disciplines. Indexes major journals with all cited references captured. Combines the following citation databases: Science Citation Index Expanded; Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI); Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI); Conference Proceedings Citation Index.
Search Tips
Determine whether the database considers multiple words as a single phrase, or a combination of words connected by OR (any of the words) or AND (all of the words). Ex. Academic Search Complete's default search is a phrase search (less results) - put each word into a seperate box to get more results.
Use truncation symbols. Each database has its own truncation symbol (*, ?, $, #, !). Ex. engineer* will retrieve engineer, engineers, engineered, engineering, etc.
Use controlled vocabulary (or subject headings, descriptors, thesaurus) to ensure that items being retrieved are specifically on the topic of interest.
Use refine results features to narrow down results. Refine by document, publication, or literature type OR add terms like "survey paper" or "overview" into a keyword search box to find review articles.
For more tips on selecting and using databases, see the Databases guide.