Database Tutorials

About this Database

• The world's largest scholarly, multi-disciplinary full text database.
• Access to more than 3,000 full-text journals/magazines, 2,500 active full-text peer reviewed journals and over 1,000 active full-text peer-reviewed journals with no embargo (access to the most recent articles, as they are published).
• Offers indexing and abstracts for more than 8,200 journals.
• Provides access to topical video content, your search results will include relevant Associated Press video footage.

Navigate to the Academic Search Premier Database

Library Home Page ► A to Z Database List ► Academic Search Premier

Follow these steps to search this database:

1. Enter your search terms / keywords. (To search for a phrase, put the words into quotation marks).
2. The Search Modes and Expanders section provides options that broaden your search results. Use these sparingly -- as you broaden your search the number of results might become overwhelming, or too vague. *Best utilized in the beginning stages of research, for example, when trying to decide on a research topic and you want to know what resources/items/materials are available. 
3. Limit your search results:
   • Document type: looking for materials in a specific format? Choose from Abstract, Article, Book, Chapter, & more.
   • Full Text: Check this box to limit results to include only materials available in Full Text. Helpful when doing last-minute research and you don't have time to wait for interlibrary loan requests. This limiter may drastically reduce the number search results.
   • Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journals: Check this box to ensure your search results only include items from scholarly journals. This eliminates the popular magazines and newspapers.
   • Publication Date: Only want resources published after 2015? This is where you make that happen!
   • Publication Type: Academic Journal, Periodical, Reference Book, etc...
4. Click "Search"

In the following example we used the keywords college students AND risky behavior

From the results page you can:

1. Use the Refine Results section to drill down further into the search results. 
   • View your current search selections Boolean/Phrase
   • Limit your current search results by selecting Full Text, References Available, and/or Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals. You can also choose the date range to further narrow your results. 
   • Use the additional facets to filter search results by Source Types, Subject: Thesaurus Terms. Publication, Publisher, Company, Language, Geography, and/or NAICS/Industry. 
2. Download Full Text PDF or view Full Text online (when available).
3. Look for the article in one of our other databases by using the Full Text Finder Link.
4. Request items not available in our collections, using InterLibrary Loan (Illiad Wolfgram).
5. Search Widener University Catalog (WebPAC) which will tell you if the library has the item in the print serials collection.

The Detailed Record

PDF documents are digital versions of the original print version and will look exactly the same as the print version. They include the following:

• Original page numbers
• Graphs, tables, and charts
• Full list of references 

Accessing the electronic versions of articles through our online databases, offers you additional features and functionality that is not available in print. The detailed record includes the following:

1. Direct link to the PDF viewer where the article can be downloaded. 
2. Bibliographic information, including clickable links to the author(s) name(s) which can be used to find other work by the author(s). Also included are the clickable title of the journal the article was published in, as well as the volume, issue, and page numbers. Below you will also find the abstract and other important information.
3. Hyperlinked Subject Terms and author-supplied keywords. These can be used to find other searchable keyterms.
4. Previews of any images or charts in the article. Click on the image(s) to view.
5. The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) will be displayed if available. Use this in your citation to always link to the correct article. 
6. The web version of the article is displayed below the bibliographic information. This includes the table of contents for easy navigation. 
7. Also displayed above the article is the web reader. Use this to have the article read aloud. 

Use the Tools navigation to share, print and cite the article. 

1. Use Tools section for quick access to print, email, save, and share the article. 
2. Click Cite to open the citation manager. Scroll through the citation style options (APA, MLA, Chicago, ectc.) and copy the citation for use. Be sure to Review the citation for errors. This citation will not be perfect -- names, dates, punctuation and style will need to be checked. 
3. Always use the permalink in your citation or for use when sharing the article. This link is permanent and will always link directly to this article. Never use the URL in the browser search, this link will break.