Introduction to database searching
If you are searching for a topic or subject rather than a specific article you might like to search one of our databases. These often focus on a particular subject area or discipline and reduce the amount of results you receive from irrelevant subjects.
Databases are collections of resources such as journal articles and conference papers, and also sometimes book chapters and reports. If you are doing a literature search or systematic review they are a key resource to use.
There are two main kinds of database:
- Bibliographic - they won't show you the full paper straight away, but you can often read an abstract and see the author details. You'll need to check with Get it @ King's if the Library has access to the journal article
- Full text - will let you open and read the article directly from the list of results
Getting the full text
If a database lists something you want to read, look for a button that says 'Get it at King's' 
This will take you to Library Search and to the full text, if the library subscribes to the journal, or prompting you to request the item via Inter Library Loan.
I can't see the 'Get it @ King's'
If the 'Get it @ King's' button is not available then you should use Library Search to see if the article or book is available through another database.
- Library Search @ King's
Find books and full text journal articles on your subject online!
New to using Library Search?
Find out how to use Library Search to find the books and items you need in the Getting Started With the Library - Undergraduates and Taught Postgraduates section of this guide - look for the navigation button in the top left corner!
Searching for Business & Law topics
Below are a small selection of databases for getting started with Business topics. For a more complete list of databases, see the resources available to King's Business School students on the school's webpages, and/or visit the Library's A-Z list of databases for Business;
- Business Source Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Business Source Complete (BSC) is a scholarly business database providing a collection of bibliographic and full text content in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. It includes abstracts for more than 1,300 business journals back as far as 1886. Full text is available for 1160 titles and in most cases there is a 1 year embargo on issues. BSC also includes around 2800 full-text industry reports from three different providers, as well a company profiles for over 10,000 leading world companies from MarketLine (previously Datamonitor) and Life Science Analytics.
- Factiva (Proquest) This link opens in a new window
Factiva is a global digital business aggregator and archive, featuring news and information from 35,000 sources, 200 countries and 26 languages.
Please select the required journal as a source in the Search Builder. Use the Language Filter to search foreign language texts. For guidance and help on how to search Factiva see the Proquest Libguide and videos at https://proquest.libguides.com/factiva/about
The link to Factiva has recently changed. If you have problems logging in please try clearing the cache/cookies etc. in your browser. - FAME (Off Campus access) This link opens in a new window
Fame is a database for searching company information. Users can research individual companies, search for companies with specific profiles, and do detailed analysis.
- FAME (On Campus access) This link opens in a new window
Fame is a database for searching company information. Users can research individual companies, search for companies with specific profiles, and do detailed analysis.
- Statista This link opens in a new window
Statista.com consolidates statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources. Industries covered include Consumer Goods, Internet, Media & Advertising, Retail & Trade, Sports & Recreation, Technology & Telecommunications, Transportation & Logistics, and Travel, Tourism & Hospitality.
For access off campus, please select 'Campus Access' on the log in page to reach the institutional login. - WARC This link opens in a new windowWARC provides unbiased information and advice on advertising and marketing. Which is delivered via best practice guides, case studies, research papers, special reports and advertising trend data, as well as via webinars, awards, events and advisory services.
If you encounter problems logging in from counties outside the UK please email library@kcl.ac.uk stating which country you need access from.
New to using online databases?
Complete interactive tutorials on literature searching in the Finding Academic Material for Business Topics pathway on KLaSS, the library's KEATs module.
- KLaSS Module (KEATS)
Online tutorials and forums available 24/7; to help you find academic materials for your topics and choose your referencing style
Below are a small selection of databases for getting started with Legal topics. For a more complete list of databases, visit the A-Z list of databases for Law:
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new window HeinOnline is Hein’s premier online research product with more than 100 million pages of legal history available in an online, fully-searchable, image-based format. HeinOnline provides comprehensive coverage of more than 1,800 law and law-related periodicals. In addition to its vast collection of law journals, HeinOnline also contains the Congressional Record Bound volumes in entirety, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, famous world trials dating back to the early 1700′s, legal classics from the 16th to the 20th centuries, the United Nations and League of Nations Treaty Series, all United States Treaties, the Federal Register from inception in 1936, the CFR from inception in 1938, and much more.
- Westlaw UK This link opens in a new window Westlaw provides case law, up-to-date legislation, academic journals, the Legal Journals Index and current awareness. It also provides EU legislation and cases and International legislation, cases and journal articles. Geographically, it covers primarily Europe and North America, although it is constantly expanding its jurisdictional scope. As well as the database, it includes access to c.370 Westlaw eLibrary ebooks, including core academic textbooks. Please note that we do not have access to every ebook on the platform. For a complete list of services, check the Westlaw Directory. You may browse the different databases by subject or you may run a keyword search to locate relevant resources. NB. The previous version of Westlaw UK was discontinued from August 2019. For Westlaw E-Books, select 'Books' from the drop-down menu located on the top left of the page
- Lexis + UK This link opens in a new window Lexis+ UK Legal Research provides full-text access to legal, tax and accountancy information. This includes many U.K. reported and unreported cases, legislation, and a number of U.K. legal journals. Material from non-U.K. jurisdictions is available under the ‘International’ tab. The service includes Tax and Accountancy content - sign in to Lexis+ UK and choose the 'Practice Area' tab, then select the Tax or Accounting options.For help and support using this new platform see: pages https://lexisnexisuk.custhelp.com/app/lexisplus
- SCOPUS (Elsevier) This link opens in a new window SCOPUS has a good selection of journal articles on various legal topics. SCOPUS includes over 43.7million patent records from EPO and WIPO, as well as the UK, US and Japan.
New to using online databases?
Complete interactive tutorials on literature searching and earn badges in the Finding and Evaluating Information section of KLaSS:
- KLaSS Module (KEATS)Online tutorials and forums available 24/7; to help you find academic materials for your topics and choose your referencing style