This section of the guide is using Academic Search Premier for demonstration, and may have slightly different filters or options compared to other databases. If you have questions about the specific filters available in a database or would like assistance using the new interface, please contact us.
The basics of searching have stayed the same between the two interfaces, so this page is intended to be used as an overview of where different features have moved to. If you'd like more information about developing a research strategy, feel free to contact us or visit our Develop a Research Strategy guide.
Starting your search
The landing page for the EBSCOhost databases is the Advanced Search page. This page has three text boxes for your search terms, and allows you to apply filters before starting your search. This is the recommended way to search.
- Searching: This area shows you the database you are currently searching. If you click on the database title, you can select additional databases to search.
- Search fields: This is where you enter your search terms. By default, there are three search boxes on the advanced search interface. You do not need to use all three in your search, but it can be helpful to break up your search using the boxes.
- Field Selection: These drop down selections allow you to specify what part of an item's record you are searching in. This is particularly helpful if you are searching for an article by a specific author, or within a certain publication.
- Boolean operators: These dropdowns let you specify the boolean operators to combine your search.
- Add fields: If you need to add another search field, you can use this button to add a new field.
- Search: This button will start your search. It will be greyed out until you have entered at least one search term into a search field.
Below this section, there are four additional menus, which you can use to further specify the types of results you are interested in. The different menus are:
- Filters: This includes limits like Full Text and Peer Reviewed, as well as publication date, publication type, document type, language, and number of pages. These specify the type of results you'll see.
- If the database has unique or custom filters, this is the section you will see those filters in.
- Search modes: This allows you to specify how EBSCOhost interprets your search by specifying the search mode and the use of expanders.
- Publications: This section allows you to specify the publication(s) you want to search in. Adding these will specify the source of your results.
- Subjects: This section allows you to specify any subject headings you would like to search for. This searches through the database's thesaurus, and may help if you're finding a lot of unrelated results. For databases that have custom thesauruses, those will replace the standard Subjects section.
Viewing your results
Once you've entered your search terms, you'll be brought to the new search results page. This looks a lot different than the old EBSCO interface.
- Searching: Shows you the database you are searching. Click on the database title to select additional databases.
- Search field: This is the search you are currently performing. You can edit the search here, or use the Advanced Search button under the Search field to go back to the advanced search page and edit it there.
- Filters: These filters are like the ones on the advanced search page. To view all of the different filtering options, select "All filters".
- Clear and Search icons: These two icons let you clear your search field or restart your search with any new additions.
- Sort and Save: These options allow you change how your results are displayed. Clicking on the three dots will allow you to save the search to your MyEBSCO account, if you have one, or set up an alert if there are new results that match your search.
- Item type: This line tells you about the type of item you are viewing. In the example above, the item is a peer reviewed academic journal article.
- Item options and tools: The bookmark icon lets you save the article to your MyEBSCO account, while the three dots allow you to view the Tools. There are four different Tool options: Cite, Add to project (part of MyEBSCO), share, and download.
- Item title: This is the title of the item or article. Clicking on this will open the item record, where you can view additional information about the item.
- Bibliographic information and abstract: This section will include bibliographic information about an item, like the publication, date, author, and subject headings applicable to the item, as well as the database it is found in. It will also show the abstract, if one is available. To read the full abstract, select "Show more" or click on the item title.
- Access options: If the item is not available in the database you are searching, or is available in multiple formats, you will see an "Access options" button at the bottom of the result. Selecting this will show you any available access options, including PDF, HTML, or Check for Full Text. If only one access option is available, such as PDF or HTML, you will instead see a button that says "Access Now (PDF)" or "Access Now (HTML)".