EBSCOHost research databases

Reference searching is a technique for tracking down articles or publications that are similar to research you have already located. If you already are aware of highly relevant or seminal works on your topic of research, reference searching can be a very useful strategy for conducting further research. 

In order to undertake a reference search, researchers previously had to manually consult the references of publications by looking at their reference lists or bibliographies (typically found at the end of an article). Today many databases offer features and support that make this process quick and easy.

Reference searching is known by a few other terms including snowballing, reference harvesting, and pearl growing. To distinguish between two methods of reference searching, we will also use the terms backwards chaining and forwards chaining.

Backwards chaining involves searching for references cited in an article you have already located, while forwards chaining refers to the process of searching for articles that have cited your starting article. 

The EBSCOHost research databases provide the ability to search references, but this functionality only works when searching on one (not both) databases. To search on only one database, click on "Choose Databases" from either the Basic or Advanced Search menu. 

Next select or deselect from the database options so that you are only searching on either Sociology Source Ultimate or the Nonprofit Organization Reference Center.

It is important to be aware that not all references will be retrieved by EBSCOHost. Instead, EBSCOHost will only show references for the publications it has records for.

Once you have found a relevant publication on your research topic, click on the "Cited References" link (shown below on the database record for a journal article). You will then be taken to a new page with a list presenting records cited in your original article.

It is also possible to access the list of "Cited References" from a search results page, as shown below.

Once you have found a relevant publication on your research topic, click on the "Times Cited in this Database" link (shown below on the database record for a journal article). You will then be taken to a new page with a list presenting records that have cited your original article.

It is also possible to access the list of "Times Cited in this Database" from a search results page.

Note that not all articles will have been cited; this is particularly true for research that has been recently published.