Books
Use the SFU Library Catalogue to find books on your topic. For tips on effective searching, use the Library Catalogue Search Guide.
Looking for a book that SFU Library does not have? Place an interlibrary loan (ILL) and we will borrow it on your behalf from another library, free of charge.
Journal articles
These databases are the best places to start when searching for journal articles on Geography topics:
Web of Science
Search for journal articles, citation counts, journal impact factors, and more. Major multidisciplinary academic database.
GEOBASE
Search for journal articles in human and physical geography, earth sciences, ecology, geology, and environmental sciences.
Scopus
Search citations and abstracts for journal articles, conference proceedings, and other resources in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Can also be used for cited reference searches, citation analysis of research, and searching by affiliation.
Environment Complete
Search for journal articles in the area of environmental studies in this database.
Academic Search Complete
Multidisciplinary database.
Google Scholar
Searches scholarly literature across disciplines and sources. Includes some grey literature.
Additional Geography database lists
See the following guides for additional information:
- How to Find Journal Articles
- From citation to article: Find the full text of an article from an article citation
- What is a scholarly (or peer reviewed) journal? - Learn how to distinguish academic and popular sources.
Grey literature
Grey literature is information produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels, and can include reports, working papers, newsletters, government documents, speeches, white papers, urban plans, and so on.
This information is often produced by organizations "on the ground" (such as government and inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental organisations, and industry) to store information and report on activities, either for their own use or wider sharing and distribution, and without the delays and restrictions of commercial and academic publishing. For that reason, grey literature can be more current than literature in scholarly journals.
For guidance searching for grey literature, consult SFU Library's guide Grey Literature: What it is & how to find it.