What Is a Scholarly Source?
If your assignment asks you to use:
- scholarly sources,
- academic journal articles, or
- peer-reviewed articles,
it is asking you to use credible information that has been written by and for experts in a subject—and usually written by the person who conducted the research they are writing about. In engineering & aviation, scholarly sources are usually journal articles or conference papers.
Peer-reviewed (also known as refereed) articles have gone through an additional process to ensure their quality. These articles have been checked before publication by other experts in the field to make sure they seem plausible, there are no noticeable faults in the methodology, and they reach a reasonable conclusion given the evidence presented. Peer review does not mean that an article is credible, but it is more likely to be credible.
You will find scholarly sources in databases, WorldSearch, or Google Scholar. These sites usually have a search option that will return only peer-reviewed results. Some useful databases are listed below.
For other scholarly resources:
- Aviation journalsBrowse recent articles in aviation-related journals.
- AlertsSet up alerts to be notified when new content is added.
- Research repositoriesSearch for theses and open access works held in repositories.
- Open access resources for aviation and engineeringLocate scholarly resources in open access databases and journals, which you will have access to even after you graduate.
Statistics, standards, and government or company reports are not considered scholarly sources, but might be useful and credible. To locate this sort of evidence for your work, check out the Websites, Law/Statistics, and Patents/Standards pages in this guide.
Databases for Aviation Students
What is a database?
Databases are where you'll find journal articles and conference papers.
A database is a searchable collection of journal articles, books, and other resources. Some databases focus on peer-reviewed articles of academic quality, while others also contain newspaper articles, conference papers, book chapters, TV clips, and other types of information.
Many databases are subscription-only, so use the links here, on the A-Z database list, or on ECU WorldSearch to ensure the database knows you are an ECU student. This will prompt you to log in using your student username and password, if you are not already logged in.
Some items found in a database can only be found using that database, so it is worth performing a relevant database search even if you have already looked on ECU WorldSearch or Google Scholar.
How do you find databases?
ECU subscribes to many databases, some of which are subject specific, and some multi-disciplinary (they contain information for several academic disciplines). Some databases have content that is relevant only to a specific specialisation or field.
The A-Z database list has a brief summary of each database to help you decide which to use, and it can be filtered to return only databases that are relevant to aviation. However, keep in mind that aviation-related information can be found in other databases as well, and each database holds different material.
The databases listed below are useful places to start. You may have to check several databases to find the evidence you are looking for.
Key Aviation Databases
- Knovel This link opens in a new window
Engineering database featuring interactive tools for tables, charts, equations, plotters and graphs. Also includes material properties, process and design information, best practices, equations and formulations for all engineering disciplines.
- Engineering Village This link opens in a new window
Provides access to 12 engineering literature and patent databases providing coverage from a wide range of trusted engineering sources.
- TRID This link opens in a new window
An integrated database that combines the records from TRB's Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database and the OECD's Joint Transport Research Centre’s International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) Database.
- Scopus This link opens in a new window
A multidisciplinary abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, and provides both author and journal metrics (performance analytics) of the literature indexed in the database.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Web of Science is a multidisciplinary abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, and provides both author and journal metrics (performance analytics) of the literature indexed in the database.
- ACS Publications (American Chemical Society) This link opens in a new window
Provides access to chemistry-related information and research through peer-reviewed journal and eBooks. - ACM Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Provides access to Association for Computing Machinery journals and magazines, as well as conference proceedings. - ASCE Library This link opens in a new window
Provides online access to a high-quality collection of civil engineering content. - ASME Conference Proceedings This link opens in a new window
Conference topics encompass the entire spectrum of subject areas of interest to mechanical engineers and associated disciplines. - ASME Journals This link opens in a new window
Journal topics encompass the entire spectrum of subject areas of interest to mechanical engineers and associated disciplines. - ATRI (Australian Transport Index) This link opens in a new window
Covers Road Safety, Transport Administration, Intelligent Transport Systems, Transport and the Environment, Public Transport, Road and Airfield Pavements, Road Design and Engineering, Traffic Engineering and Control, and Vehicle Design and Safety. - ENGINE (Australian Engineering Database) This link opens in a new window
Covers all branches of engineering including Agricultural, Aerospace, Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Coastal, Computer, Earthquake, Education, Electrical, Electronic, Geotechnical, Management, Materials, Mechanical, Military, Ocean, Railway, Structural, Transport, Tunnelling and Water. - Engineering Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides access to full text resources across all engineering disciplines. - IEEE Xplore Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Provides access to all 120+ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) journals, annual conference proceedings, and technical standards in full text. - OnePetro This link opens in a new window
OnePetro is a unique library of technical documents and journal articles serving the oil and gas exploration and production industry. - ScienceDirect Journals & Books This link opens in a new window
A Web database for scientific research that contains the full text of more than 2,500 scholarly journals including over 250 fully Open Access publications. Covers Physical Sciences and Engineering, Life Sciences, Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities. - SpringerLink Journals and eBooks This link opens in a new window
Provides access to millions of scientific documents from journals, books, series, protocols, reference works and proceedings.
- Techstreet - Standards Australia Online This link opens in a new windowAustralian standards covering: Aerospace, Automotive, Construction, Energy, Engineering, Government, Manufacturing, Medical devices, Pharmaceuticals, Safety.
[Registration required. Create a personal account using your ECU email address.]
Please download this tip sheet on how to access standards on Techstreet
Click here to register for Techstreet. See the database for the corporate key - Engineering Workbench This link opens in a new windowInternational standards: ISO, ASTM, BSI, and ASHRAE.
- IEEE Standards This link opens in a new window
Includes more than 2,500 technical standards and publications, including active, revised, archived, and draft standards dating from 1948.
