Searching the Databases - COM 7920 - Strategic Communication Doctoral Colloquium - UCF Research Guides at University of Central Florida Libraries

Tips for searching the databases

The library provides access to variety of databases on different platforms, like EBSCO and ProQuest, and each database may look a little different. However, following some general guidelines will help you create effective searches across platforms. Here are some tips to get you started:

Use the advanced search: this will give you more control over your search results and save you some time and effort.
Use the built-in thesaurus/index in the database to search for the appropriate subject term.
- See this video on Browsing Subject Terms in EBSCOhost databases for an example of how to use the thesaurus in the database, Academic Search Ultimate.
Create a free personal account on the database platform: this allows you to save your search history, save search results, and organize search results into folders.
- Take a look at this video on How to Create a Personal EBSCO account for an example of how to do this.
Consult the 'help' section on the databases to find specific information about structuring searches in that database.

Recommended Databases

Strategic communication is an interdisciplinary field, integrating several fields of study. As a result, recommended databases will vary depending on the focus on the research. Here is a list of some commonly used databases in strategic communications to get you started.

Communication & Mass Media Complete (EBSCOhost)
Provides the most robust, quality research solution in areas related to communication and mass media, the database includes full text for over 450 journals.
Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) (ProQuest) (1973+)
Provides citations on a wide range of communication topics, such as interpersonal behavior and communication and nonverbal communication.

The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Complete coverage is given to various fields of linguistics including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,500 serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, and dissertations.
Communications and Mass Media (Gale OneFile)
Key subjects covered in the database include advertising and public relations, literature and writing, linguistics, and more.
ABI/INFORM Collection (ProQuest) (1971+)
Useful for topics related to organizational and business communication.
APA PsycInfo (EBSCOhost) (1887+)
Useful for coverage of topics related to interpersonal, small group, and organizational communication, nonverbal communication, mass media uses and effects, language, and linguistics

"contains approximately 5 million citations and summaries dating as far back as the 1600s with DOIs for over 1.4 million records. Ninety-eight percent of the covered material is peer-reviewed. The database also includes information about the psychological aspects of related fields such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, technology, linguistics, anthropology, business, law and others. Journal coverage, which spans from the1800s to present, includes international material selected from around 2,400 periodicals in dozens of languages."
Psychological Abstracts:
* 1927-1947 Microfilm BF1.P65
* 1948-2004 print in remote storage
Business Source Premier (EBSCOhost)
Indexes and abstracts over 1,500 publications in business, economics, management, and related areas.
CINAHL Ultimate (EBSCOhost) (1937+)
Primary database for nursing and allied health fields, useful for locating articles relating to medical and public health communication.
MEDLINE (EBSCOhost) (1946+)
Useful for locating articles, conference proceedings, and other items relating to health communication.

Subject content includes anatomy; communication disorders; microbiology; paramedical professions; pathology; physiology; psychiatry; toxicology; dentistry; parasitology; reproductive biology; epidemiology; gene therapy; surgical and pharmaceutical intervention; nursing practice; ethical and legal issues; institutional operations; laboratory techniques and procedures; diagnosis and management; clinical research trials and experimental treatment protocols; legislation and regulation; allied health specialties; continuing education; investigational drugs and new drug uses, and some veterinary medicine.
PAIS Index (ProQuest) (1915+)
A database to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general from all over the world.

"PAIS (originally, the Public Affairs Information Service) was established in 1914. There are two databases created from the files: PAIS International and PAIS Archive. PAIS International includes records from the print PAIS Bulletin 1977 and forward; it also includes PAIS print Foreign Language Index published 1972-1990, at which time it merged with the PAIS Bulletin.
The PAIS International database contains continually updated records for over half a million journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. Newspapers and newsletters are not indexed. PAIS International includes publications from over 120 countries throughout the world. In addition to English, some of the indexed materials are published in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and other languages. It is updated quarterly with over 17,000 current records added in total each year.
PAIS Archive is a retrospective conversion of the PAIS Annual Cumulated Bulletin, volumes 1-62, published 1915-1976. PAIS Archive contains over 1.23 million records and covers monographs, periodical articles, notes and announcements, and analytics. The original, historical subject headings have been retained. PAIS Archive provides a unique perspective on the 20th century’s most important public and social policies, such as Prohibition, suffrage, pacifism, civil rights, McCarthyism, Vietnam War, and Watergate."
Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest) (1952+)
Communication-related coverage includes interpersonal, small group, and organizational communication, and mass media and society.
Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics)
A multidisciplinary database providing citation indexing of top high-impact journals in the sciences and social sciences

Citation Indexes for finding articles that cite a given author or citation.
- Science Citation Index Expanded (1965+)
- Social Sciences Citation Index (1965+)
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975+)

Citation Connection is now available. This includes:
- Data Citation Index (1900+)
- Derwent Innovations Index – Patents Database (1963+)
- Book Citation Index: Scholarly Books (2005+)
- Conference Proceedings Citation Index (1990+)
- Index Chemicus (IC) (1989+)
- Current Chemical Reactions (1993+)
- Current Contents Connect (1998+)