6. Tools for Searching

Search tools allow you to effectively search for academic and grey literature. Each tool is designed with different priorities in mind, which is why understanding the diversity of these tools is essential to effectively explore a field or search for a specific answer. Before looking at each type of search tool in detail, let’s discuss the most important parameters that define them.

• Coverage: Some tools focus exclusively on peer-reviewed journal articles, offering curated and validated content (e.g., Scopus, Web of Science). Others expand their scope to include preprints, patents, datasets, theses, or books, depending on the platform’s mission and audience.
• Access: Open-access platforms like arXiv or Lens.org allow unrestricted entry to their content. Many publisher databases contain closed-access publications that can only be accessed through institutional subscriptions or individual purchase. Some platforms, like Scopus, limit search capabilities when you are not subscribed. Find out which search tools the University of Twente is subscribed to here.  
• Search logic: Traditional databases typically rely on keyword-based searching, enabling you to locate sources whose titles or metadata contain the exact terms you’ve entered. Next-generation search tools use smarter technology, such as interpreting full questions instead of just keywords and understanding the meaning behind your words.
• Purpose: Some tools are designed for exhaustive (systematic) literature reviews and citation tracking. Others excel at exploratory browsing, technical patent analysis, or locating specific physical or digital resources held by libraries.
• Update frequency The timeliness of content varies: preprint servers and publisher databases often update daily or in real time, while library catalogues and abstract databases may refresh less frequently. This affects how current the search results are, especially in fast-moving fields.

These databases index scholarly literature across a wide range of disciplines, offering abstracts, citation data, and metadata. Examples of popular multi-disciplinary abstract databases are:

• Scopus: Known for its robust citation tracking and author profiles across disciplines. Learn more about its advanced search capabilities here.
• Web of Science: Offers powerful citation analysis and journal impact metrics. Learn more about its advanced search capabilities here.
• Dimensions: Integrates publications, grants, patents, and clinical trials in one platform. Learn more about its advanced search capabilities here.

What can I use them for?

• Conducting broad literature reviews across multiple disciplines when you're exploring a new topic or need a comprehensive overview.
• It allows for searching specifically for peer-reviewed literature, without having to filter out academic or non-academic works that may be of lesser quality.
• Tracking citation networks and research impact, which is harder to do in publisher databases or repositories.

These are platforms maintained by academic publishers, offering full-text access to journals, books, and conference proceedings they produce. Examples of publisher databases are:

• SpringerLink (Springer Nature): Offers access to journals and books in science, technology and medicine, and humanities and social sciences. Learn more about its advanced search capabilities here.
• ScienceDirect (Elsevier): Hosts a vast collection of peer-reviewed articles, especially in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Learn more about its advanced search capabilities here.
• IEEE Xplore (IEEE): Provides access to high-quality technical literature in engineering, computer science, and electronics. Learn more about its advanced search capabilities here.  

What can I use them for?

• Accessing full-text articles directly from the source, especially when you already know the journal or publisher.
• Exploring the most recent research from specific publishers, often before it's indexed in abstract databases.
• Finding supplementary materials like datasets, figures, and appendices that may not appear in abstract databases or catalogues.

These databases focus on a particular academic field, offering tailored indexing and search features that reflect disciplinary norms. They’re essential for deep dives into specialized topics. Examples of subject-specific databases are:

• PsycINFO: A psychology-focused database with controlled vocabulary and detailed indexing.
• PubMed: The go-to for biomedical literature, with MeSH terms and clinical filters.
• IEEE Xplore: Specializes in engineering and computer science, with conference-heavy content.

What can I use them for?

• Performing deep, focused searches using discipline-specific indexing (e.g., MeSH in PubMed or Thesaurus in PsycINFO).
• Navigating field-specific terminology and filters that aren’t available in broader databases.
• Tracing scholarly conversations within a single discipline, which can be diluted in multi-disciplinary platforms.

These platforms host open-access versions of scholarly work, including preprints (unreviewed manuscripts), theses, and datasets. Repositories and preprint servers are typically hosted by universities, research institutions, or non-profit organizations. Some examples are:

• UT Research Information (Repository): Hosted by the University of Twente, this institutional repository provides access to publications, theses, and research outputs from UT scholars.
• OSF Preprints (Preprint Server): A multidisciplinary platform for sharing early-stage research before peer review, supported by the Center for Open Science.
• ArXiv (Preprint Server): A pioneering preprint server covering physics, mathematics, computer science, and more, designed to share research openly and rapidly before formal peer review.

What can I use them for?

• Accessing early-stage research and preprints, often months before formal publication in publisher databases.
• Finding open-access versions of papers, especially when paywalls block access in other tools.
• Retrieving datasets, code, and supplementary files, which are rarely available in abstract databases or catalogues.

Library catalogues index the holdings of academic or public libraries, including books, journals, media, and sometimes digital resources. They’re essential for locating physical and licensed materials within an institution. Examples of library catalogues are:

• WorldCat: A global catalogue aggregating holdings from thousands of libraries. University of Twente’s customized search interface FindUT is built on WorldCat, allowing users to search the local library collection while also expanding to libraries across the Netherlands and worldwide.
• Primo (Ex Libris): A discovery layer used by many academic libraries to unify access to print and digital resources. The University of Twente does not make use of Primo.  

What can I use them for?

• To find and access (subscribed) literature in the university library collection, often linking out to publisher platforms or full-text databases.
• To locate physical books, media, and archival materials that aren’t indexed in abstract or publisher databases.
• To access institution-specific holdings, including rare or local collections not found in repositories.

Patent databases provide access to technical disclosures, legal status, and bibliographic data of inventions filed with patent offices worldwide. They are essential for innovation tracking, competitive intelligence, and prior art searches. Three widely used and feature-rich patent databases are:

• Espacenet: Offers access to over 140 million patent documents from the European Patent Office and other jurisdictions, with multilingual support and legal status tracking.
• Google Patents: A platform that aggregates global patent data and integrates with Google Scholar.
• Lens.org: Integrates patent and scholarly literature, enabling analysis of innovation ecosystems and inventor networks with open access tools.

What can I use them for?

• Analysing patent literature as a source of technical and historical data for academic research, especially in fields like engineering, chemistry, and innovation studies.
• Conducting prior art searches to identify any publicly available information that exists before you decide to file an invention for a patent.
• Monitoring competitors’ patent activity and identifying emerging technologies.

Next-generation search tools are designed to enhance how researchers discover, explore, and synthesize academic literature. Unlike traditional databases that rely heavily on keyword matching and static filters, these platforms emphasize intuitive interfaces, semantic understanding, and dynamic exploration.

Popular tools include Elicit and Consensus, but information on platforms that are regarded safe and ethical to use by the University of Twente will be added here soon. For more insights on how to evaluate the answers provided by tools using AI powered functionalities, see 7. Systematic Searching.

What can I use them for?

• Exploring unfamiliar topics or generating research questions when you don’t yet know the right keywords or terminology.
• Discovering conceptually related papers that may not be linked by citations or shared references.
• Synthesizing insights across multiple papers, including extracting claims, comparing methodologies, or identifying consensus.