Popular Search Engines for Academic
There are several popular search engines specifically designed for academic research. While the landscape may evolve over time, here are some of the most widely used search engines for academic purposes as highlighted by Joannah (2022):
- Google Scholar: Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine provided by Google. It indexes scholarly literature from various sources, including academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities, and other scholarly organizations. It allows users to search for academic papers, theses, books, conference papers, and patents. Google Scholar is popular due to its vast coverage and ease of use, making it a primary choice for many researchers and students.
- PubMed: PubMed is a free search engine operated by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). It focuses on life sciences and biomedical literature, including articles from scientific journals, research papers, and clinical studies. PubMed is widely used in the medical and biological sciences fields.
- IEEE Xplore Digital Library: IEEE Xplore is a digital library providing access to scientific and technical content published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and its partners. It covers various areas such as engineering, computer science, electronics, and telecommunications.
- Scopus: Scopus is a multidisciplinary abstract and citation database owned by Elsevier. It covers a wide range of subjects, including science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Scopus is known for its comprehensive coverage and citation tracking features.
- Web of Science: Web of Science, also owned by Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters), is a research database that provides access to scholarly literature from various disciplines, including natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. It offers citation indexing and analysis, helping researchers evaluate the impact and influence of academic papers.
- Microsoft Academic: Microsoft Academic is a free search engine developed by Microsoft Research. It covers scientific literature from multiple disciplines, including computer science, engineering, physics, and more. It offers various features, such as citation analysis and author profiling.
- BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine): BASE is a multidisciplinary search engine operated by Bielefeld University Library in Germany. It indexes open-access research papers from repositories and academic institutions worldwide, making it a valuable resource for accessing open-access content.