Library guides / Biblioteekgidse: Chemical Engineering: Databases & finding articles

What is a database?

A database is an electronic index to journal or magazine articles, containing citations, abstracts and often either the full text of the articles, or links to the full text.

What is an academic/peer-reviewed article?

Peer-reviewed or academic articles are articles written by academics/experts/researchers on a specific field of study. These articles usually contain a bibliography at the end of the article and information on the author’s academic qualifications and university at the beginning of the article. A peer-reviewed journal article was reviewed by people with credentials in the article's field of study before being accepted for publication.

Interlibrary loans

Request an interlibrary loan
Request a book or journal article not available at SU Library Service. For staff and registered students only.

Google Scholar

Key Chemical Engineering databases

For the complete list of all the databases that the SU Library Service subscribes to, use the Databases A-Z link

AccessEngineering
An engineering reference and teaching platform that delivers world-renowned, interdisciplinary engineering content integrated with analytical teaching and learning tools. Provides access to the latest editions of renowned engineering handbooks and textbooks.
American Chemical Society (ACS) Journals
Cambridge Crystallographic Database
Comprehensive and up-to-date database of crystal structures
Engineering Village: Compendex
An interdisciplinary engineering and applied science database. Apart from all the engineering disciplines, coverage includes applied physics, astronomy, bioengineering, biotechnology, materials science and nanotechnology.
YouTube training video
Knovel
Engineering data and technical references to solve engineering problems
YouTube training video

Reaxys
Search substances, reactions and documents. Training material
Royal Society of Chemistry Journals
ScienceDirect
A leading full-text scientific database
SciFinder-n
Search for substances (editor for chemical structure drawing available), reactions, journal references, MethodsNow, retrosynthesis planning, patents, and commercial source data. Use your existing SciFinder credentials to log into SciFinder-n.
First-time users should go to the registration page at https://ez.sun.ac.za/login?url=https://scifinder.cas.org/registration/index.html?corpKey=A62F817B-86F3-5055-48F7-37DC9AA75526 to register as a CAS user before they continue to SciFinder-n
Training material
Scopus
A comprehensive database of peer-reviewed literature. Features tools to analyze and visualize research. Training material
Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
Web of Science
A large, broad-based abstracting database with direct links to journal articles. Also features bibliometrics tools to analyse results. Training material

Some more useful databases

Creamer Media's research channel: Africa
Intelligence on industry and mining. (Logon codes needed. Call 021 808 4884 or email suliseresources@sun.ac.za)
IEEE Xplore
The IEEE Xplore digital library provides access to scientific and technical content published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and its publishing partners. The content covers electrical engineering, computer science, biotechnology, telecommunications, power and energy, and electronics.

Quick access to full text articles

Follow the full-text link from the database ("Find It" Button)
Search the A-Z list of our journals available online by journal title
Search article titles on Google Scholar (Activate access to SUN full text journals from the Google Scholar Settings)
Use Unpaywall to find legal free versions of articles
EndNote Click (formerly Kopernio) provides one-click access to millions of journal articles and academic research papers worldwide, improving and facilitating access to scholarly articles.

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Chemical Engineering: Databases & finding articles