Recommended Databases
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) is one of the "gold standard" Education Research databases that we recommend to locate sources. It is built by educators, for educators, so they are familiar with our terminology. There is a free version of ERIC available to the public. Note, although ERIC is available to the public, some of its articles will not be. To access only the free content available to you, make sure to select "peer-reviewed only" and "Full text available on ERIC."
ERIC is widely used by students, researchers, faculty members, and others who are responding to course requirements or developing reports for their work. The video below gives step-by-step instructions on how to narrow your topic, use search filters, and take advantage of the ERIC Thesaurus to target specific resources.
What is Google Scholar? Is it like a regular Google search? Yes and no. Google Scholar is a popular choice across our faculty, staff, and students. Google Scholar searches widely across the web for scholarly content. The majority of the content that it pulls is scholarly. However, it's a bit like casting a wide net out into the ocean. You're going to catch some "fish" and occasionally it may pull in some "trash" too. Unlike ERIC, Google Scholar does not have a "peer-reviewed content" filter. This means that you will want to double check the resources you select are peer-reviewed. It's always a good idea to look up the journal online.
Below is a tutorial from another Library on how to search in Google Scholar. Note, that if you are not currently affiliated with a college or university, that some articles may not be available to you. Although Google Scholar is open to the public, libraries pay for additional access to certain article PDFs. We recommend using the browser extension tool, Unpaywall, if you use Google Scholar.