If I were to ask you to do some research for an essay, you'd probably assume I was referring to digging up some academic journal articles, right?  The connection between scholarly articles and essays is undeniably strong, and with good reason: the peer review process involved in publishing such articles ensures their high quality.

Nevertheless, there is a vast world of information beyond journals. For many assignments it may be acceptable to cite government reports, think tank analysis, ebook chapters, and even news articles...

<Click here to learn about non-journal info sources using Universal Basic Income as a search example...>

 

Are you contemplating a research project that involves data on Chinese publicly traded firms?  Or how about global commercial loan data? 

If so, don't procrastinate!  We have grant-funded, short-term dataset subscriptions that are perfect for both topics, and both are set to expire soon...

<Read on for info about CSMAR and DealScan!>

I'm very pleased to announce that we've renewed our subscription to the Frost & Sullivan database for another year. 

For those who are new to it, F&S is our main source for market research focused on emerging technology products, markets, and strategies.  

To give you a sense of the type of content you'll find in F&S, consider these recent additions to the collection of over 50,000 reports, grouped by industry...

<Read on for examples of the great reports in this valuable database!>

I'm very pleased to announce that SFU researchers have access to the Thomson Reuters DealScan datatset via WRDS for one year (to March 31, 2021)!

DealScan provides data on deals in the global commercial loan market, with detailed coverage of loan terms & conditions back to 1988, and selected coverage to 1981.

<Read on for details!>

Frequent readers of the BUEC Buzz -- and most students in the classes I visit -- will know that I consider the use of good news sources to be imperative for business research.

You really can't deal with strategies, marketing plans, investments, etc. without being on top of all that is changing in our world... and that means exploring beyond the curated-for-clicks content of most social media.

And frequent readers will also know that one of our best news sources here at SFU is Factiva which covers over 33,000 news publications from around the world, including the Wall Street Journal. 

<Read on to learn about Factiva's new content, and about the time-saving Factiva Expert Search feature!>

I am very pleased to announce that SFU researchers -- including alumni! -- now have access to Data Planet: a huge collection of data from more than 80 providers. 

 

<Read on for sample charts on cannabis, renewable energy, Vancouver housing, and other treats to whet your appetite!>

O

ur IBISWorld database received a much needed refresh earlier this year. 

The content hasn't really changed -- it's still a great collection of over 2100 regularly updated industry reports -- but browsing & searching to find those reports is now a smoother, more efficient process. If you haven't used IBISWorld lately, explore and let me know what you think!

<Read on for links to a few sample reports, and details on the under-used "BEP" part of the database!>

Heads-up that our subscriptions to both BoardEx and RepRisk will expire at the end of this month. These datasets were both paid for through one-

time faculty research grant funding, so there is very little chance of an extension to either subscription. 

<Read on for details about the North America module of BoardEx via WRDS and the Premium Edition of RepRisk via WRDS.>

Just a brief post to let you know that our Vividata database has been updated with Fall 2019 data from their Survey of the Canadian Consumer.

For those who haven't used Vividata yet: it's an invaluable source of information on Canadians’ opinions, demographics, and activities, as well as their product, service, and media purchases, with brand-level data in many cases.

<Read on for details about this powerful database!>

SFU researchers now have trial access to Data Planet -- a very broad collection of datasets from both public and private sources on topics relevant to economics and business (and beyond). We'd really appreciate it if you could check it out and share your opinions.

<Read on for details -- and access to the trial!>