InfoGuides: Communication Disorders 4480: Applications of Research in Communication Disorders: Best Databases

Why Search a Database?

Each database may use different subject terms for the same topic. So you may be able to find more articles specific to your research project by expanding your searches beyond Primo, the single search box on the library's home page.

Also, some databases offer unique features, such as limiting articles to test subjects of particular age groups.

Best Databases for Communication Disorders

If you cannot find enough articles for your research project using Discover , try searching individual databases. The best databases for Communication Disorders research (in order of usefulness) are:

APA PsycInfo
Behavioral sciences database containing full-text and abstracts for journals, books, and book chapters. International coverage for psychology, medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education and pharmacology. Index is created by the American Psychological Association. More than 1.8 million entries. Entries are searchable by language, format, special population groups, classification codes, content type, intended audience, and special features.

Format: Citations; some full-text via link resolver, Coverage: 1887-present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Use quotation marks to phrase search. Allows Boolean AND, OR and NOT searching. May limit to full-text, scholarly journals, date, length, publication name and type. HELP link on each screen, which includes Citation information. Can print, save, or email results. Some full-text publications may have the most current 3-12 months in abstract only, due to publisher restrictions.
CINAHL Complete
An expanded version of the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health. Provides citations and abstracts for over 5,400 nursing journals, as well as books, conferences, software, and audiovisual material. Provides the full text for over 1,300 of those journals.

Format: Citations; some full-text via link resolver, Coverage: 1982 - present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and ?, Search Tips: 'Help' link on each screen. 'Styles of Citation' available under 'Help'., and Special Features: Browse list of publication titles.
Communication Source
The most comprehensive research database in the field of communications, this resource results from a merger of EBSCO’s Communication and Mass Media Complete with SAGE's Communications Abstracts. It indexes and abstracts over 1000 core journals, nearly 400 more than in CMMC, and its active full text for more than 600 journals includes 150 full-text titles not available in CMMC.

It also has a subject-specific, browsable thesaurus featuring 4,528 preferred and 8,528 non-preferred terms and coverage dating back to 1915.

Coverage includes advertising, rhetoric, communication disorders and much more.

Coverage: Varies, mostly mid-1990s forward, Truncation and Wildcard: * and ?, Search Tips: Use quotation marks to phrase search. Allows Boolean AND, OR and NOT searching. May limit to full-text.
ScienceDirect
Broad science coverage, emphasizing life sciences, health sciences, engineering, earth sciences, agriculture, and pharmacology. Full text from over 3800 journals and chapters from over 5300 books. Also includes business, management and accounting; economics, econometrics and finance, and social science.

Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies by title, most 1990-present, Truncation and Wildcard: ! and *, Search Tips: Default search assumes entered term is a phrase. Can search for terms in abstract/title/keywords, full-text , author, journal title, etc. Use singular for terms that form regular plurals. For irregular plurals, combine both terms with OR. Greek letters are spelled out in English. Super and subscripts appear inline. Browsable help lists. Journal list.
Web of Science
Simultaneously search the most important journals in the social sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, the humanities, and visual and performing arts. Includes 'high impact' scholarly sources. Search by author, topic, affiliation, etc., or follow links to cited sources. Create an individualized sign-in to save results, set up search alerts, and gain access to citation management with the My EndNote Web service. Includes Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Science Citation Index (SCI).

Format: Citations; some full-text via link resolver, Coverage: 1970-present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and * for (any), ? for (1), $ for (0 or 1), Search Tips: Default search is for terms in the order they are entered, use quotation marks for a phrase. Search options include author, title, keyword, and subject. Author first name is initials only. Supports logical connectors AND, OR, NOT, and SAME. Can limit to one or two of the included indexes.
Education Source
Scholarly research database from EBSCO covering early childhood to higher education and diverse educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education, and testing. Indexing for more than 3500 journals and full text for over 2000 journals, 500 books, and 1700 conference papers. Coverage from 1800 to present.
Sage Journals Online
Full-text from 860+ scholarly journals, with excellent coverage for criminology, psychology, sociology, health sciences and the humanities. Numerous journals also cover education, general and international business, and management.

Format: Full-text, Coverage: 1999-present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Search results may include material earlier than our subscription. DO NOT pay for articles: use our Interlibrary Loan
SpringerLink
Primarily scientific journals, with particular emphasis on mathematics, physics and engineering. Publisher is European, so some journals are not in English. Contains about 1,200 peer-reviewed journals.

Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies, mid 1990s - present., Truncation and Wildcard: No and No, Search Tips: Default choice in advanced search is citation, so switch to articles by text tab to keyword search. Dropdown menu allows searching by All Words, AExact Phrase or Boolean Search. Search is by Author, Title, Abstract (including title), or Full-text (including title and abstract). Select Recency or Relevancy to sort results. To search by publication dates, or specific publication names, click the button labeled Show Advanced Options. Also browseable by publication, by publisher, or by online library (broad subjects such as chemical sciences, computer science, economics, etc.)
MedOne ComSci
This research platform for audiology and speech language pathology offers:
• eBooks - A fully searchable database with access to 45 premier audiology and speech-language pathology e-books
• E-Journals - Full-access to content from the journals Seminars in Hearing and Seminars in Speech and Language
• Cases - Over 160 clinical cases with review questions and answers for each case
• Media - 5,000 images with legends and 100 videos

List of All Databases

For a list of all databases available through the Cornette Library, go to the library's home page. Click on the link for "Databases A-Z" button.

Database Search Tips

CINAHL Complete
An expanded version of the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health. Provides citations and abstracts for over 5,400 nursing journals, as well as books, conferences, software, and audiovisual material. Provides the full text for over 1,300 of those journals.

Format: Citations; some full-text via link resolver, Coverage: 1982 - present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and ?, Search Tips: 'Help' link on each screen. 'Styles of Citation' available under 'Help'., and Special Features: Browse list of publication titles.
Communication Source
The most comprehensive research database in the field of communications, this resource results from a merger of EBSCO’s Communication and Mass Media Complete with SAGE's Communications Abstracts. It indexes and abstracts over 1000 core journals, nearly 400 more than in CMMC, and its active full text for more than 600 journals includes 150 full-text titles not available in CMMC.

It also has a subject-specific, browsable thesaurus featuring 4,528 preferred and 8,528 non-preferred terms and coverage dating back to 1915.

Coverage includes advertising, rhetoric, communication disorders and much more.

Coverage: Varies, mostly mid-1990s forward, Truncation and Wildcard: * and ?, Search Tips: Use quotation marks to phrase search. Allows Boolean AND, OR and NOT searching. May limit to full-text.
APA PsycInfo
Behavioral sciences database containing full-text and abstracts for journals, books, and book chapters. International coverage for psychology, medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education and pharmacology. Index is created by the American Psychological Association. More than 1.8 million entries. Entries are searchable by language, format, special population groups, classification codes, content type, intended audience, and special features.

Format: Citations; some full-text via link resolver, Coverage: 1887-present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Use quotation marks to phrase search. Allows Boolean AND, OR and NOT searching. May limit to full-text, scholarly journals, date, length, publication name and type. HELP link on each screen, which includes Citation information. Can print, save, or email results. Some full-text publications may have the most current 3-12 months in abstract only, due to publisher restrictions.
Sage Journals Online
Full-text from 860+ scholarly journals, with excellent coverage for criminology, psychology, sociology, health sciences and the humanities. Numerous journals also cover education, general and international business, and management.

Format: Full-text, Coverage: 1999-present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and *, Search Tips: Search results may include material earlier than our subscription. DO NOT pay for articles: use our Interlibrary Loan
ScienceDirect
Broad science coverage, emphasizing life sciences, health sciences, engineering, earth sciences, agriculture, and pharmacology. Full text from over 3800 journals and chapters from over 5300 books. Also includes business, management and accounting; economics, econometrics and finance, and social science.

Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies by title, most 1990-present, Truncation and Wildcard: ! and *, Search Tips: Default search assumes entered term is a phrase. Can search for terms in abstract/title/keywords, full-text , author, journal title, etc. Use singular for terms that form regular plurals. For irregular plurals, combine both terms with OR. Greek letters are spelled out in English. Super and subscripts appear inline. Browsable help lists. Journal list.
SpringerLink
Primarily scientific journals, with particular emphasis on mathematics, physics and engineering. Publisher is European, so some journals are not in English. Contains about 1,200 peer-reviewed journals.

Format: Full-text, Coverage: Varies, mid 1990s - present., Truncation and Wildcard: No and No, Search Tips: Default choice in advanced search is citation, so switch to articles by text tab to keyword search. Dropdown menu allows searching by All Words, AExact Phrase or Boolean Search. Search is by Author, Title, Abstract (including title), or Full-text (including title and abstract). Select Recency or Relevancy to sort results. To search by publication dates, or specific publication names, click the button labeled Show Advanced Options. Also browseable by publication, by publisher, or by online library (broad subjects such as chemical sciences, computer science, economics, etc.)
Web of Science
Simultaneously search the most important journals in the social sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, the humanities, and visual and performing arts. Includes 'high impact' scholarly sources. Search by author, topic, affiliation, etc., or follow links to cited sources. Create an individualized sign-in to save results, set up search alerts, and gain access to citation management with the My EndNote Web service. Includes Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Science Citation Index (SCI).

Format: Citations; some full-text via link resolver, Coverage: 1970-present, Truncation and Wildcard: * and * for (any), ? for (1), $ for (0 or 1), Search Tips: Default search is for terms in the order they are entered, use quotation marks for a phrase. Search options include author, title, keyword, and subject. Author first name is initials only. Supports logical connectors AND, OR, NOT, and SAME. Can limit to one or two of the included indexes.

Ask An Expert

These are some recommended resources.

ASHA
Practice portal and clinical topics. Free
What Works Clearinghouse
Free
SpeechBITE – Speech Pathology Database for Best Interventions and Treatment Efficacy
Free
EBP Briefs
Free
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Free
Cochrane Library
Free
PubMed
Free