 Before you begin using Academic Search Complete, you want to have a really good idea of what your topic is. If you need help developing a topic, try GVRL. If you need help developing keywords, but you know what your topic is, try this keyword tutorial. A good research topic starts with a question and is broken down into effective keywords. To find Academic Search Complete, go to shoreline.edu, then head to being a student, then Library Technology Center. Click the research tab, then choose databases. The first link on this page goes to Academic Search Complete. Before you hit search, remember to click the full text box. No matter how many settings you change, you'll always want the full text box to be checked, so always go back and check it after altering your search terms. If you don't see the red PDF symbol or the yellow full text icon next to each of your results, go back and repeat your search with the full text box checked. Use the slider on the side to change the year. A good rule of thumb is to keep your research as recent as possible no matter what your topic is about. The last 10 years is a good metric. Academic databases contain articles from journals, magazines, newspapers, and even media like podcasts or videos, making them an ideal place to dig deeper into your research. Academic Search Complete is a database that contains articles that are appropriate for college level work. Some of the articles in Academic Search Complete are peer reviewed or scholarly journals, but not all. To narrow your results to only peer reviewed articles, check this box for academic journals. The numbers and the parentheses are the number of results you would see if you narrowed only by this category. More is not better when it comes to the amount of results. Try to aim for an amount that makes it feasible for you to glance at the summary for each one. With premium sources with secure sign-ins like this one, remember that you can't copy and paste the URL from your browser. If you need a link to get back to this page, use permalink from the right toolbar. This will prompt you to sign in if you use it from off-campus. The best way to save articles is to use the options from the sidebar to email it to yourself or print. If you have questions or would like a librarian to help you research your topic with Academic Search Complete, stop in during our hours or connect with a librarian through our 24-hour chat service.