Back in 2010, we shared with you 100 awesome search engines and research resources in our post: 100 Time-Saving Search Engines for Serious Scholars.
It’s been an incredible resource, but now, it’s time for an update.
Some services have moved on, others have been created, and we’ve found
some new discoveries, too. Many of our original 100 are still going
strong, but we’ve updated where necessary and added some of our new
favorites, too. Check out our new, up-to-date collection to discover the
very best search engine for finding the academic results you’re looking
for.
General
Source: onlineuniversities.com
General
- iSEEK Education:
iSeek is an excellent targeted search engine, designed especially for
students, teachers, administrators, and caregivers. Find authoritative,
intelligent, and time-saving resources in a safe, editor-reviewed
environment with iSEEK.
- RefSeek:
With more than 1 billion documents, web pages, books, journals,
newspapers, and more, RefSeek offers authoritative resources in just
about any subject, without all of the mess of sponsored links and
commercial results.
- Virtual LRC:
The Virtual Learning Resources Center has created a custom Google
search, featuring only the best of academic information websites. This
search is curated by teachers and library professionals around the world
to share great resources for academic projects.
- Academic Index:
This scholarly search engine and web directory was created just for
college students. The websites in this index are selected by librarians,
teachers, and educational consortia. Be sure to check out their
research guides for history, health, criminal justice, and more.
- BUBL LINK:
If you love the Dewey Decimal system, this Internet resource catalog
is a great resource. Search using your own keywords, or browse subject
areas with Dewey subject menus.
- Digital Library of the Commons Repository:
Check out the DLC to find international literature including free and open access full-text articles, papers, and dissertations.
- OAIster:
Search the OAIster database to find millions of digital resources
from thousands of contributors, especially open access resources.
- Internet Public Library:
Find resources by subject through the Internet Public Library’s database.
- Infomine:
The Infomine is an incredible tool for finding scholarly Internet resource collections, especially in the sciences.
- Microsoft Academic Search:
Microsoft’s academic search engine offers access to more than 38
million different publications, with features including maps, graphing,
trends, and paths that show how authors are connected.
- Google Correlate:
Google’s super cool search tool will allow you to find searches that correlate with real-world data.
- Wolfram|Alpha:
Using expert-level knowledge, this search engine doesn’t just find
links; it answers questions, does analysis, and generates reports.
- Dogpile:
Find the best of all the major search engines with Dogpile, an engine
that returns results from Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, with categories
including Web, Images, Video, and even White Pages.
- MetaCrawler:
MetaCrawler makes it easy to "search the search engines," returning results from Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.
- Mamma:
Check out the mother of all search engines to pin down the best
resources on the web. Mamma even searches Twitter and job postings!
- Library of Congress:
In this incredible library, you’ll get access to searchable source
documents, historical photos, and amazing digital collections.
- Archives Hub:
Find the best of what Britain has to offer in the Archives Hub.
You’ll be able to search archives from almost 200 institutions from
England, Scotland, and Wales.
- National Archives:
Check out this resource for access to the National Archives. Find
online, public access to find historic documents, research, government
information, and more in a single search.
- arXiv e-Print Archive:
Cornell University’s arXiv.org offers open access to a wealth of
e-prints in math, science, and related subjects. Search this resource to
find what you need among 756,133 documents and counting.
- Archivenet:
An initiative of the Historical Centre Overijssel, Archivenet makes it easy to find Dutch archives and more.
- NASA Historical Archive:
Explore the history of space in this historical archive from NASA, highlighting space history and manned missions.
- National Agricultural Library:
A service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, you can find global
information for agriculture in the National Agricultural Library.
- Smithsonian Institution Research Information System:
Get access to the considerable resources of the Smithsonian
Institution through the Research Information System, a great way to
search more than 7.4 million records from the Smithsonian’s museums,
archives, and libraries.
- The British Library Catalogues & Collections:
Explore the British Library catalogues, printed materials, digital
collections, and even collection blogs for a wealth of resources.
- CIA World Factbook:
As the center of intelligence, the CIA has certainly done its job
with The World Factbook, offering information on major reference
information around the world. History, people, government, economy, and
more are all covered in this online publication.
- State Legislative Websites Directory:
Use this database to find information from the legislatures of all 50
U.S. states, DC, and the Territories. You can look up bills, statutes,
legislators, and more with this excellent tool.
- OpenDOAR:
In the Directory of Open Access Repositories, you can search through
freely academic research information with more directly useful
resources.
- Catalog of U.S. Government Publications:
Search through the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications to find
descriptive records for historical and current publications, with direct
links where available.
- WorldCat:
Find items from 10,000 libraries worldwide, with books, DVDs, CDs,
and articles up for grabs. You can even find your closest library with
WorldCat’s tools.
- Google Books:
Supercharge your research by searching this index of the world’s
books. You’ll find millions for free and others you can preview to find
out if they’re what you’re looking for.
- Scirus:
For scientific information only, Scirus is a comprehensive research
tool with more than 460 million scientific items including journal
content, courseware, patents, educational websites, and more.
- HighBeam Research:
Research articles and published sources with HighBeam Research’s
tools. You’ll not only be able to search for what you’re looking for,
you can also choose from featured research topics and articles. Note:
HighBeam is a paid service.
- Vadlo:
Vadlo is a life sciences search engine offering protocols, tools, and
powerpoints for scientific research and discovery. Find what you’re
looking for, and then stick around to check out the forums.
- Open Library:
Find the world’s classic literature, open e-books, and other
excellent open and free resources in the Open Library. You can even
contribute to the library with information, corrections to the catalog,
and curated lists.
- Online Journals Search Engine:
In this free, powerful scientific search engine, you can discover
journals, articles, research reports, and books in scientific
publications.
- Google Scholar:
Check out Google Scholar to find only scholarly resources on Google.
The search specializes in articles, patents, and legal documents, and
even has a resource for gathering your citations.
- Bioline International:
Search Bioline International to get connected with a variety of
scientific journals. The search is managed by scientists and librarians
as a collaborative initiative between Bioline Toronto and and the
Reference Center on Environmental Information.
- SpringerLink:
Search through SpringerLink for electronic journals, protocols, and
books in just about every subject possible. You can also browse
publications by collection and content type.
- Directory of Open Access Journals:
When you need top-quality journal writings for free, the Directory of
Open Access Journals is a great place to check out. You’ll get access
to a searchable journal of full-text quality controlled scientific and
scholarly journals.
- Jurn:
In this curated academic search engine, you’ll get results from over 4,000 free scholarly e-journals in the arts and humanities.
- SciSeek:
In this science search engine and directory, you’ll find the best of
what the science web has to offer. Browse by category, search by
keyword, and even add new sites to the listings.
- Chem BioFinder:
Register with PerkinElmer to check out the Chem BioFinder and look up
information about chemicals, including their properties and reactions.
- Biology Browser:
Biology Browser is a great resource for finding research, resources,
and information in the field of biology. You can also check out their
Zoological Record and BIOSIS Previews.
- Athenus:
Athenus is an authority on science and engineering on the Web, sharing a directory and full-featured web search.
- SciCentral:
Use SciCentral as your gateway to the best sources in science. This
site has a literature search, journals, databases, and other great tools
for finding what you need.
- Strategian:
Strategian is a great place to find quality information in all fields
of science. Featured resources include free full-text books, patents,
and reports, as well as full-text journal and magazine articles, plus a
special collection of Vintage Biology with important articles and books
in biology.
- Science.gov:
In this government science portal, you can search more than 50
databases and 2,100 selected websites from 12 federal agencies. This is
an incredible resource for millions of pages of U.S. government science
information.
- CERN Document Server:
This organization for nuclear research serves up a great search and
directory for experiments, archives, articles, books, presentations, and
so much more within their documents.
- Analytical Sciences Digital Library:
Through the Analytical Sciences Digital Library, you’ll find
peer-reviewed, web-based educational resources in analytical sciences,
featuring a variety of formats for techniques and applications.
- WorldWideScience:
Use WorldWideScience.org as a global science gateway, offering
excellent search results in the sciences, and even the option to select
specific databases and find resources in your own language.
- MathGuide:
Check out the MathGuide subject gateway to find online information
sources in mathematics. The catalog offers not just a search, but a
database of high quality Internet resources in math.
- ZMATH Online Database:
Zentralblatt MATH’s online database has millions of entries from
thousands of serials and journals dating back as far as 1826. Nearly
35,000 items were added in 2012 alone.
- Math WebSearch:
This semantic search engine allows users to search with numbers and formulas instead of text.
- Current Index to Statistics:
In this bibliographic index, you’ll find publications in statistics,
probability, and related fields. There are more than 160 preferred
journals, plus selected articles from 1,200 more and 11,000 statistics
books to draw from in this search.
- Inspec:
This database was made for scientists and engineers by the
Institution of Engineering and Technology. You’ll find nearly 13 million
abstracts and research literature, primarily in the fields of physics
and engineering.
- CiteSeerX:
Get searchable access to the Scientific Research Digital Library by using the CiteSeerX website.
- The Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies:
Find more than 3 million references to journal articles, conference
papers, and technical reports in computer science with this bibliography
collection.
- Citebase:
Still in experimental demonstration, Citebase Search is a resource for searching abstracts in math, technology, and more.
- Behavioral Brain Science Archive:
Check out this searchable archive to find extensive psychology and brain science articles.
- Social Science Research Network:
In this research network, you can find a wide variety of social
science research from a number of specialized networks including
cognitive science, leadership, management, and social insurance.
- Psycline:
Find a journal with Psycline’s journal and article locator, a tool
that offers access to more than 2,000 psychology and social science
journals online.
- Social Sciences Citation Index:
The Thomson Reuters Social Sciences Citation Index is a paid tool,
but well worth its cost for the wealth of relevant articles, search
tools, and thorough resources available.
- Ethnologue:
Search the languages of the world with Ethnologue, offering an
encyclopedic reference of all the world’s known living languages. You’ll
also be able to find more than 28,000 citations in the Ethnologue’s
language research bibliography.
- SocioSite:
Use this site from the University of Amsterdam to browse sociological subjects including activism, culture, peace, and racism.
- The SocioWeb:
Check out this guide to find all of the sociological resources you’ll
need on the internet. The SocioWeb offers links to articles, essays,
journals, blogs, and even a marketplace.
- WikiArt:
With this custom Google search engine, you can find open access articles about archaeology.
- Encyclopedia of Psychology:
Search or browse the Encyclopedia of Psychology to find basic
information, and even translations for information about psychology
careers, organizations, publications, people, and history.
- Anthropology Review Database:
Through this database, you can get access to anthropology reviews, look up publishers, and find resources available for review.
- Anthropological Index Online:
This anthropological online search includes both general search of
4,000 periodicals held in The British Museum Anthropology Library as
well as Royal Anthropological Institute films.
- Political Information:
Political Information is a search engine for politics, policy, and
political news with more than 5,000 carefully selected websites for
political information.
- David Rumsey Historical Map Collection:
Use the LUNA Browser to check out David Rumsey’s Map Collection with more than 30,000 images, searchable by keyword.
- Genesis:
Find excellent sources for women’s history with the Genesis dataset and extensive list of web resources.
- Fold3:
Get access to historical military records through Fold3, the web’s
premier collection of original military records and memorials.
- Internet Modern History Sourcebook:
Use the Internet Modern History Sourcebook to find thousands of
sources in modern history. Browse and search to find full texts,
multimedia, and more.
- Library of Anglo-American Culture and History:
Use the history guide from the Library of Anglo-American Culture and
History for a subject catalog of recommended websites for historians,
with about 11,000 to choose from.
- HistoryBuff:
History Buff offers an online newspaper archive, reference library,
and even a historical panoramas section in their free primary source
material collection.
- Digital History:
University of Houston’s Digital History database offers a wealth of
links to textbook, primary sources, and educational materials in digital
history. The database has multimedia, an interactive timeline, active
learning, and resources for teachers.
- Internet Ancient History Sourcebook:
The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook is a great place to study
human origins, with full text and search on topics including
Mesopotamia, Rome, the Hellenistic world, Late Antiquity, and Christian
origins.
- History and Politics Out Loud:
History and Politics Out Loud offers a searchable archive of
important recordings through history, particularly politically
significant audio materials.
- History Engine:
In this tool for collaborative education and research, students can
learn history by researching, writing, and publishing, creating a
collection of historical articles in U.S. history that can be searched
for here by scholars, teachers, and the general public.
- American History Online:
Through American History Online, you can find and use primary sources from historical digital collections.
- BPubs:
Search the Business Publications Search Engine for access to business
and trade publications in a tool that offers not just excellent
browsing, but a focused search as well.
- Virtual Library Labour History:
Maintained by the International Institute of Social History,
Amsterdam, this library offers historians excellent content for learning
about economics, business, and more.
- EconLit:
Visit EconLit to access more than 120 years of economics literature
from around the world in an easily searchable format. Find journal
articles, books, book reviews, articles, working papers, and
dissertations, as well as historic journal articles from 1886 to 1968.
- National Bureau of Economic Research:
On this site, you can learn about and find access to great resources in economic research.
- Research Papers in Economics:
Find research in economics and related sciences through the RePEc, a
volunteer-maintained bibliographic database of working papers, articles,
books, and even software components with more than 1.2 million research
pieces.
- Corporate Information:
Perfect for researching companies, Corporate Information offers an easy way to find corporate financial records.
- Inomics:
Economists will enjoy this excellent site for finding economics resources, including jobs, courses, and even conferences.
- DailyStocks:
Easily look up stocks with this search engine to monitor the stock market and your portfolio.
- EDGAR Search:
The SEC requires certain disclosures that can be helpful to
investors, and you can find them all here in this helpful,
next-generation system for searching electronic investment documents.
- PubMed:
From the U.S. National Library of Medicine, PubMed is a great place
to find full-text medical journal articles, with more than 19 million
available.
- Lexis:
Find reliable, authoritative information for legal search with the Lexis site.
- Circumpolar Health Bibliographic Database:
Visit this database to find more than 6,300 records relating to human health in the circumpolar region.
- Education Resources Information Center:
In the ERIC Collection, you’ll find bibliographic records of
education literature, as well as a growing collection of full-text
resources.
- MedlinePlus:
A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Medline Plus
offers a powerful search tool and even a dictionary for finding trusted,
carefully chosen health information.
- Artcyclopedia:
Search Artcyclopedia to find everything there is to know about fine
art, with 160,000 links, 9,000 artists listed, and 2,900 art sites
indexed.
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus:
Use this online dictionary and thesaurus to quickly find definitions and synonyms.
- References.net:
Through References.net, you can get connected with just about every reference tool available, from patents to almanacs.
- Quotes.net:
Need the right thing to say? Check out Quotes.net to reference famous words from famous people.
- Literary Encyclopedia:
Check out the Literary Encyclopedia to get access to reference materials in literature, history, and culture.
