Once you've identified what you need to search, you need to decide where to search for it. Research databases are an excellent place to look for scholarly information on a topic.

Why Use Research Databases?

• They are often specialized by subject area (e.g. Psychology)
• They contain information not available through public resources like Google
• They are designed with scholars and researchers in mind - that's you!

While doing your research, it's a good idea to look in more than one place for your articles. Why, you may ask?

• Databases contain different content: You may notice some overlap between the search results of different databases (for example, Web of Science and Scopus); however, each database also contains unique results. By searching one and not the other, you a) risk missing out on valuable information, and b) bias your search by excluding relevant materials.
   
• Databases operate differently: Not all databases search the same way, and so you may need to tweak your search strategy to match the requirements of a specific database. Check out "Building a Search Strategy" in the left menu for general tips and tricks when designing a search.