As a college student, you may have heard the phrase “research is important” thrown around by your professors all the time, but you may be wondering exactly why that is?
Not only does it help students better understand their chosen field of study, but it also allows them to develop important skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication.
In this article, we will be highlighting some of the best websites for accessing a wide range of research materials. Whether you’re looking for papers in a specific field or just want a general database of scholarly articles, these websites have got you covered.
Best Websites for Accessing Research Papers & Journals
The following are the best websites for college students to access research papers & journals:
1. Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a search engine that specifically searches for scholarly literature, including articles, books, theses, conference proceedings, etc. It is a free resource that can be accessed through the website, and it is available to anyone who is interested in finding research papers and other academic materials.
One of the benefits of using Google Scholar is that it searches a wide range of sources, including academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, and universities. This means that you can find a diverse range of materials on a variety of topics.
Google Scholar also allows you to search for specific authors or institutions, and it provides tools to help you track your own research and manage your citations. You can also set up alerts to receive notifications when new research is published on a particular topic.
Pricing: Free
2. Microsoft Academic
Microsoft Academic is a free, public web search engine that allows users to search for academic papers, conferences, journals, and authors. It was developed by Microsoft and launched in 2012.
One of the key features of Microsoft Academic is its ability to search for papers based on the relationships between them. For example, you can use the website to find documents that have been cited by a particular research paper or research papers that have cited a particular research paper.
This can be a useful tool for researchers looking to discover new papers in their field or for students seeking additional resources for a research project.
Microsoft Academic also includes information about authors, conferences, and journals, and allows users to track their academic activity and achievements. Users can create their own profiles on the website and add their own papers to the database.
Pricing: Free
3. Science.gov
Science.gov is a website that provides access to over 60 databases, over 2,200 websites, and over 200 million pages of scientific and technical information from U.S. government agencies, including full-text documents, citations, scientific data supporting federally funded research, and multimedia.
It is a collaborative effort between various U.S. government agencies and is maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI).
Users can search for information using keywords or browse by topic. Science.gov is a useful resource for researchers, students, and anyone else interested in accessing scientific and technical information from U.S. government agencies.
Pricing: Free
