Campus Library FAQ: How do I search in Academic Search Complete?

UW Libraries provides access to over 600 online research databases. Academic Search Complete is one of these research databases, and contains scholarly articles and general interest sources in all fields. Academic Search Complete is a great starting point for research in a broad range of topics.

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1. Start on the UW Bothell Campus Library homepage. Select the Research tab. Next, click on the option for Articles & Research Databases.

 

2. From the A-Z Databases, click on Academic Search Complete, located in the upper right side of the page.

 

3. Search using keywords rather than questions or sentences.

  

4. Add or change your keywords to focus and refine your search results. 

 

5. If your search gets no results or too few results...

 

...check your spelling, remove a word, or try a different search term.

 

 

6. In addition to keywords, you can use the options under the search box to limit your results. For example, you can limit your search results to retrieve only peer reviewed (scholarly) articles. 

 

7. When you find an article on your topic, click on the article title in the search results to view details about that article. Check for Subject Terms you might use as future keywords to find other articles on your topics.

 

8. If an article seems useful to you, you can use the tools above the title on the right to save, cite, add to project, share (email), or download the article.

9. Under the author's name will be an "Access Options" link to check for full-text availability.

 

Learn More

How do I find full-text articles in Academic Search Complete?

Databases A-Z List

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