Skip to Main Content

Online Resources: EBSCOhost

Learn about the library's online resources: what types of sources they contain, search strategies, and unique features.

About EBSCOhost

EBSCOhost

Through EBSCOhost Web, you can access 20 different databases covering various subjects, so students of any major will find EBSCOhost useful. This database provides full text access to articles from magazines, newspapers, and journals (including peer reviewed). You can also find company profiles and e-books  as well.

Accessing EBSCOhost

Do I have to log in?

If you are using a campus computer or campus WiFi, you should be able to directly access the resource. If you are off-campus, you will be prompted to log in using your Single Sign-On username and password. Contact the library if you have any problems accessing the resource.


After you click one of the links to access EBSCO, you will see the screen below.  Unless you want to use the Business Searching Interface (Business Source Premier), you should click on the first option, EBSCOhost Web.

Next, you will need to select at least one database from the list.  You can choose to search all of the databases by clicking the checkbox next to "Select / deselect all" (below the 'Continue' button).

Once you have made your selection(s), click the 'Continue' button to go to the main search screen.

Searching in EBSCOhost

  • In the area below the search input fields labeled “Search Options”, you can narrow your search to only return results available in full text documents and only Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Journals. You can also do this on the search results screenEbsco limiters
  • Placing your keywords on different lines and using the drop-down boxes allows you to connect your search with AND, OR, and NOT
  • If you type more than one word into the same box, the search automatically places AND between the words (for example, if you type the search string health care field your search string is interpreted as health AND care AND field), so…
    • Use quotation marks (“ ”) to search for an exact phrase ("health care field")
    • Use a question mark (?) as a wildcard (ex. 'm?th' will search for 'moth', 'math' or 'myth')
    • Use an asterisk (*) to look for multiple endings (ex. 'penn*' will search for 'penny' or 'Pennsylvania')
  • When you are viewing the results, you can click “Add to Folder” to keep track of your research (the folder remains active for the current session only--when you leave EBSCO, your folder and its contents disappear)
  • You can switch to other databases or add more databases to your search by clicking the link that says "Choose Databases" and selecting from the pop-up window.

The Results List

  • The results are automatically sorted by "relevance" based on your search terms and how frequently they appear in each result – you can change this by selecting an option just above your search results list.
  • The “Full Text” links appear when the article is available in full text. Clicking on this link will take you to the complete document.
  • You can narrow your search to include only full-text and/or scholarly/peer-reviewed articles and/or a range of dates in the "Refine your results" box to the left of the results.
  • If you have too many results, you can add another subject term to your search by clicking one of the subjects at the left of the results.
  • Clicking on the title of the results will take you to the citation and abstract view.

To get a link for the article you are looking at use the permalink tool on the right side of the page, then copy & paste the url from the box that appears. Ebsco permalink

EBSCO Account and Folder

EBSCO allows users to create an account with EBSCO (this is separate from your Central Penn College accounts) so that you can save articles to a Folder which you can then access in future EBSCO search sessions.

  • Click the Sign In button at the top right of the screen

Ebsco Sign In button

  • If you have a Google account you can login using that information or click 'Sign Up' to create login credentials. Ebsco account login or sign up

 

Full Text from ERIC

Most articles available in full text from EBSCO will be indicated with either a PDF icon or HTML icon.

 

However, some articles which you'll find listed in EBSCO are available in full text from ERIC, which is an online library of education research and information, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.  These articles are indicated on the Results List as shown below:

To retrieve the full text of the article, click on the "Full Text from ERIC" link (shown above), and it will take you to a screen like the one shown below.  Click on the "Download full text" link (shown below) to open a PDF of the article.

Library Database References

**When using a generated citation, you must double check it for accuracy! It’s not unusual for a database to have an error in a citation!**

Database information is typically not included in most references because sources can be found in multiple platforms. The goal of a citation is to allow the reader to find the source, not to tell them how to find the source. Meaning a particular article may be found in Ebsco, or Gale, on the publisher's website. Database information is only included if they have "original, proprietary content and works of limited circulation" (Business Insights, Proquest dissertations & theses, Cochrane database of systematic reviews). URLs are usually not included because the reader would need to login to access the source, but your professor may request that you include them.

The citation tool above results in this for an article:

Peters, R., & Quinn, M. (2018). Agrowtopia: Cultivating Community, Consciousness and Capital on Campus. Journal of Case Studies, 36(3). Retrieved from https://bi.gale.com/global/article/GALE|A597895516/48398b0d65e763958fb4d0e51125f445?u=centpenn_itc1#

The correct citation will not include the database information because the article can be found in other databases or through an online search. If there were a DOI, the DOI url would be included. If there were page numbers, they would be included after the issue number. Since there isn't a DOI, or page numbers, and the URL would take the reader to a login page the URL is not included. The reference ends after the volume number.

Peters, R., & Quinn, M. (2018). Agrowtopia: Cultivating community, consciousness and capital on campus. Journal of Case Studies, 36(3).

In Business Insights there is a good chance you will be retrieving items that are not articles, but reports and other data. These sources do not have the citation tool option. These reports might not be found elsewhere so the name of the database is included, along with the retrieval date if they update over time and are not archived.

Author. (Year, Month day of publication). Title of the report [Type of report]. Database name.

OR, if the content updates and you should include the retrieval date:

Author. (Year, Month day of publication). Title of the report [Type of report]. Retrieved date, from Database name.

For example:

GlobalData. (2019, March). Starbucks Corp - Financial and strategic analysis review. Business Insights.

New Constructs. (2022, February 19). Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) [Investment report]. Retrieved March 11, 2022, from Business Insights.

Starbucks Corp. [Company profile]. (2019). Business Insights. Retrieved February 13, 2020, from Business Insights.

McDonald's Corp. (2020).  [McDonald's Corp. interim - last 5 periods Income statement]. Retrieved February 18, 2020, from Business Insights.

** When using a generated citation, you must double check it for accuracy! It’s not unusual for a database to have an error in a citation!**

Database information is not included in most references because sources can be found in multiple platforms. The goal of a citation is to allow the reader to find the source, not to tell them how to find the source. Meaning a particular article may be found in Ebsco, or Gale, on the publisher's website. Database information is only included if they have "original, proprietary content and works of limited circulation" (Proquest dissertations & theses, Cochrane database of systematic reviews). URLs are not included because the reader would need to login to access the source.

In Credo, either use the citation tool at the top of the page or find the APA citation following each entry.

credo cite tool

Copy and paste the citation, and then make any necessary corrections.

This is how a citation from a reference work is generally structured.

Author's last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year). Title of entry. In Title of reference work (edition). Publisher name.

This is what the copied citation looks like using the citation tools in Credo:

credo APA citation screenshot

Almost correct, but it does not need the URL in 7th edition APA. This is how it should look:

Posluszny, D., Spencer, S., & Baum, A. (2007). Post-traumatic stress disorder. In S. Ayers, A. Baum, C. McManus, & et. al. (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of psychology, health and medicine (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

The following example, is if there is no author.

Hormone therapy. (2016). In Merriam Webster's Medical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. 

** When using a generated citation, you must double check it for accuracy! It’s not unusual for a database to have an error in a citation!**

Database information is not included in most references because sources can be found in multiple platforms. The goal of a citation is to allow the reader to find the source, not to tell them how to find the source. Meaning a particular article may be found in Ebsco, or Gale, on the publisher's website. Database information is only included if they have "original, proprietary content and works of limited circulation" (Proquest dissertations & theses, Cochrane database of systematic reviews). URLs are not included because the reader would need to login to access the source.

Ebook Central has a Citation tool available both on the Detail Page and in the Reader view of the ebook. Ebook central cite book tool screenshot       Ebook Central Cite tool in read online

Book and ebook citations are treated the same. They require the following elements: author(s), year of publication, book title, book edition (if applicable), and publisher name. Ebook Central does not need to be listed as the database.

Author's last name, initials. (year of publication). Title of book: With only capitalization of first word of title and subtitle and any proper nouns. Publisher. DOI or URL

Ebook Central Citation tool example

Change the format in the drop-down box to APA. The citation ends after the publisher's name because there is no DOI and the URL will not work without logging in. "Dark Knight" is one of Batman's most well-known nicknames, and the name Batman is also a proper noun, so all three words should be capitalized. You also don't need to include the business structure information (Limited). The corrected citation is:

Brooker, W. (2012). Hunting the Dark Knight: Twenty-first century Batman. I.B. Tauris & Company.

 

**When using a generated citation, you must double check it for accuracy! It’s not unusual for a database to have an error in a citation!**

Database information is not included in most references because sources can be found in multiple platforms. The goal of a citation is to allow the reader to find the source, not to tell them how to find the source. Meaning a particular article may be found in Ebsco, or Gale, on the publisher's website. Database information is only included if they have "original, proprietary content and works of limited circulation" (Proquest dissertations & theses, Cochrane database of systematic reviews). URLs are usually not included because the reader would need to login to access the source.

 

 

When you click the Cite tool button the popup screen provides citations in a variety of styles. Scroll down to find the APA citation. Copy & paste it into your paper and then correct it for 7th edition style if necessary. Articles should follow this format:

Author's last name, first initial. middle initial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume#(issue#), pages-pages. DOI or URL

In the example below, the first word of the subtitle (after the colon) should be capitalized, but the 'of' in the Journal title should not be.

ebsco APA citation

Corrected citation:

Dury, R. (2016). COPD and emotional distress: Not always noticed and therefore untreated. British Journal of Community Nursing, 21(3), 138–141. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjcn.2016.21.3.138


Business reports are treated differently because these reports might not be found elsewhere; in this situation the name of the database is included. If the information updates over time and is not be archived, include the retrieval date.

Author. (Year, Month day of publication). Title of the report [Type of report]. Database name.

OR, if the content updates and you should include the retrieval date:

Author. (Year, Month day of publication). Title of the report [Type of report]. Retrieved date, from Database name.

Citation example of corrected MarketLine report in Business Source Premier:

MarketLine. (2019, October 28). Company profile: Netflix, Inc. Business source Premier.

[You'll find the date on the first page of the PDF, bottom left.]

**When using a generated citation, you must double check it for accuracy! It’s not unusual for a database to have an error in a citation!**

Database information is not included in most references because sources can be found in multiple platforms. The goal of a citation is to allow the reader to find the source, not to tell them how to find the source. Meaning a particular article may be found in Ebsco, or Gale, on the publisher's website. Database information is only included if they have "original, proprietary content and works of limited circulation" (Proquest dissertations & theses, Cochrane database of systematic reviews). URLs are not included because the reader would need to login to access the source.

Films on Demand does have a Citation tool available directly below the video frame. 

FOD tools cite highlighted

HOWEVER--Films on Demand citations for APA are usually incomplete and should not include a URL (APA citations should only have a retrieval date if the content might change).

You can start with the citation from Films on Demand, but you will need to correct it and finish it yourself with help from a style guide, a librarian, and/or your professor.

Here is an example citation from a Films on Demand video:

Films on Demand incorrect citation from tool

As you can see, the video director or producer is missing.  However, that information is easily available in the database. 

In the image below you can see, in the Details section, that the video producer is Java Films. 

A correct APA citation for this film would be:

Java Films (Producer). (2014). The mobile revolution [Video]. 


Many videos in Films on Demand are divided into segments, and sometimes you might only use a segment in a project/presentation. 

To cite a segment: Add the segment name and number to the citation

Java Films (Producer). (2014). Disruptive technology [segment 13]. In The mobile revolution [Video].

 

**When using a generated citation, you must double check it for accuracy! It’s not unusual for a database to have an error in a citation!**

Database information is not included in most references because sources can be found in multiple platforms. The goal of a citation is to allow the reader to find the source, not to tell them how to find the source. Meaning a particular article may be found in Ebsco, or Gale, on the publisher's website. Database information is only included if they have "original, proprietary content and works of limited circulation" (Proquest dissertations & theses, Cochrane database of systematic reviews). URLs are not included because the reader would need to login to access the source.

Articles should follow this basic format:

Author's last name, first initial. middle initial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume#(issue#), pages-pages. DOI or URL

 

Gale tools with cite  circled

This is the citation that Gale displays:

Volkow, N. D., & Blanco, C. (2020). Medications for opioid use disorders: clinical and pharmacological considerations. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 130(1), 10+. Retrieved from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A612694392/AONE?u=centpenn_itc1&sid=AONE&xid=64436e81.

It should be:

Volkow, N. D., & Blanco, C. (2020). Medications for opioid use disorders: Clinical and pharmacological considerations. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 130(1), 10-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/JCI134708   

The page numbers indicated (10+) weren't correct. Downloading the article you are able to find the page range on the PDF, and there was a doi provided.

 

Chat with a Librarian

Contact the Library

The Library is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday,  & Friday from 10AM - 5PM and Wednesday from 1PM - 8PM.

If you need help from the librarian or need to access the library resources outside of those hours let us know!

Call or text 717-728-2500 or email Library@centralpenn.edu to make an appointment.

Remember the Learning Hub is also open with lots of great faculty and staff willing to help with tutoring, advising, and general questions.

Library Director