EBSCOhost Database - Search Tips: Filters

Filters allow you to limit your results and tell the database exactly what type of source you are looking for. Every database has filters. EBSCOhost database filters are under the search box and available by selecting "All filters". Other databases may keep the filters (aka limiters, or 'refine results' options) along the top of the site or on the right. 

The main types of filters are: 

Text Availability, Publication Type, Date Limiting, and Source Type: 

Full Text: You're asking the database to only show you results where the full text of the resource lives in this specific database. For undergraduates, this may be desirable. For graduate students, the results will become limited 

Peer Reviewed (aka Scholarly) Journals: Remove all the resources from your results list that have not been peer-reviewed and limit to a specific kind of publication type. 

Select "All filters" to open an expanded list of filters on the right: 

Date: 

Date: Let the database know what date range you are looking for. Most of the time, you'll want to limit your results to the most recent sources in the last 8 to 10 years. 

Source Type: 

Source Types: Let the database know exactly what type of source you're looking for.

• Academic Journals often include peer-reviewed, empirical/primary source articles or peer-reviewed analyses and reviews.
• Magazines are usually popular sources (the type of glassy publication you find in the grocery store checkout aisle)
• Book Reviews are not full text ebooks, they are reviews by professionals of published books
• Conference papers include peer-reviewed presentations and papers
• Books include ebooks and chapters from academic publishers
• Trade Publications are magazines published specifically for professionals in a specific trade (for example, the magazine called "The Chronicle of Higher Education" is a magazine specifically for people working on college campuses)