For research in Special Education, the following databases may be of especial use. They are listed in rough descending order of usefulness.
ERIC
The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) database, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, is a comprehensive index of journal articles and reports covering all facets of education.
PsycINFO
PsycINFO is the premier database for articles and other resources in the psychological sciences. Maintained by the American Psychological Association, PsycINFO contains more than 4 million articles from more than 2,500 journals and other resources covering the full breadth of psychology. Many journals touch on matters of interest to students of Special Education.
Education Full-Text
Education Full-Text indexes articles from over 400 English-language periodicals, yearbooks, series, and supplements. The database covers all types and areas of education, from preschool through postsecondary and teacher education, including special education.
PubMed
PubMed is the first stop for medical research, but also includes many articles touching on special education. You will likely want to search it using the Medical Subject Headings.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)
A comprehensive index of articles on all areas of linguistics, including applied linguistics, psycholinguistics, developmental linguistics, syntax and morphology, lexicography, sociolinguistics, learning disabilities, and hearing and speech physiology.
Education Database
Proquest's database of education journals includes many journals not indexed by ERIC.
Psychology Database
Proquest’s database of psychology articles. It has many journals not indexed by PsycINFO.
Linguistics Database
Proquest's database for linguistics journal articles.
Child Care & Early Education Resources
This site offers a searchable collection of more than 10,000 resources from the many disciplines related to child care and early education.
Science Direct, OVID, and Web of Science
Three excellent science- and medicine-focused databases.
Sociological Abstracts, Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA), and Social Services Abstracts (or, to search an array of social science databases at once, try Social Science Premium Collection)
Proquest Ebook Central
Many of Vanderbilt’s ebooks are on the Ebook Central platform.
Ebsco eBook Collection
Another large, searchable collection of ebooks.
Our book catalog
To search only for books and ebooks (i.e., not journal articles), be sure that "VU Collections" is selected. You can also use "Browse Search" to look up a particular book or author.
