Research guides: Computer Science: Find papers

Computer science research databases

Find computer science conference papers and journal articles using these research databases:

ACM Digital Library
Conference proceedings, books, articles, magazines, newsletters, and multimedia titles relating to computing and information technology.
Coverage: 1947 - present
ACM Digital Library contains bibliographic information on ACM publications since 1947 and includes full-text of documents where available. Works published by affiliated organizations are included on a selected basis.
IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Resources for computer science, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and mechanical engineering.
Coverage: 1988 - present
IEEE Xplore provides access to journals, annual conference proceedings, and IEEE technical standards.

DBLP Computer Science Bibliography
From the University of Trier, the "DBLP indexes more than 2.6 million articles and contains many links to home pages of computer scientists."
ACL Anthology
Browse through papers on the study of computational linguistics and natural language processing

Eurographics Digital Library
Computer graphics.
Coverage: 1980s - present
CiteSeerX
A scientific literature digital library and search engine focusing on literature in computer and information science.
Coverage: varies
CiteSeerX attempts to provide algorithms, metadata, services, techniques, and software that can be used in other digital libraries. CiteSeer indexes PostScript and PDF research articles on the Web.

News and Business

ABI/INFORM
ProQuest access to articles on business and management from U.S. and international journals and trade magazines, including company histories, competitive intelligence, and product development. Coverage: 1971 - present
Includes scholarly journals, trade magazines, working papers, market research, and company profiles.
Factiva
News, business magazines, trade journals, newsletters, and television and radio transcripts.
Coverage: 1970s - present. Varies by publication
Factiva forbids storing or using search results in research applications such as data mining or trend analysis.
Note: If you are at a public workstation you will be asked for your WatIAM (Quest) User ID and Password.
Nexis Uni
News, legal, and business sources from around the world, Find news, legislation, case law, statutes, company profiles, market & industry reports.
Coverage: 1970s - present
Note: If you are at a public workstation you will be asked for your WatIAM (Quest) User ID and Password.

Multidisciplinary research databases

Not sure where to start? The databases below cover many disciplines including math, business, economics, health, life science, physical science, and technology.

Scopus
Peer-reviewed literature from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, covering the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
Coverage: 1966 - present
Web of Science
Articles and citations in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Coverage: Varies
Web of Science is comprised of several databases. The Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI) covers journals in the medical, physical and natural sciences, and engineering fields. The entire database extends back to 1899. The Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) covers journals in the social sciences. The entire database extends back to 1898. The Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) covers journals in the arts and humanities. It also selectively covers relevant items from science and technical journals. The entire database extends back to 1975.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a search engine finds scholarly information from many sources (however, not everything in Google Scholar is scholarly). To access materials paid for by your library, go to Google Scholar, then choose Settings and click "Library Links" to add the University of Waterloo.
Google Scholar is a search engine that emphasizes scholarly information, particularly in the sciences and technology. It draws from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities.

Note: Access To access materials paid for by your library, go to Google Scholar, then choose Settings and click "Library Links." The off-campus user will first need to login via "Get access from anywhere."
arXiv
A pre-print server which hosts papers (that have not been peer reviewed) relating to physics, mathematics, computer science, nonlinear sciences, qualitative biology and statistics
Coverage: 1991 - present
JSTOR
Provides access to back issues of journals in the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences, many of which date from the 1800s.
Coverage: varies (excludes current 3 to 5 years)
ProQuest
A platform with many databases of journal indexes and abstracts, as well as some with full text
Coverage: Varies
This online platform hosts multiple resources.
EBSCOhost
A platform with many databases of journal indexes and abstracts, as well as some with full text
Coverage: varies
This online platform hosts multiple resources.

Note: Offline digital lending: Requires Adobe Digital Editions.

AI tools for research

Academic Integrity tips for students
Guidance from the Office of Academic Integrity on using generative AI ethically.
GenAI and discovery: Important considerations
A short introduction to the issues that have been noted when using generative AI to find information.
Comparison of AI tools for research
An incomplete list of tools, their functionality, and limitations.
Microsoft Copilot from the University of Waterloo
IST recommends Microsoft Copilot because of the personal and company data protection it provides.

Finding research databases for other disciplines

Research guides at Waterloo
Guides are created for each department on campus and list subject resources for each discipline. Find research in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Biology, Business, Psychology, Education, and more.