**Publisher/Provider:** Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education — hosted by EBSCO for licensed access
**Subjects Covered:** Education, pedagogy, curriculum design, educational technology, higher education, policy, psychology of learning, and teacher preparation

Overview

ERIC is a comprehensive index and digital library of education research and practice materials sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). It provides citations, abstracts, and many full‑text documents covering journal articles, research reports, policy papers, conference proceedings, and teaching guides. The EBSCOhost interface enhances access with advanced search features, peer‑review filters, and export tools linking to ERIC’s open archive or subscribed content.

Scope and Content

• Records: More than 1.6 million citations and abstracts dating from 1966 to present.
• Full Text: Approximately 750,000 documents (PDFs) available directly from ERIC.
• Sources: Journal articles from 900+ education‑related periodicals and non‑journal materials (reports, guides, curricula, government publications).
• Indexing: Includes ERIC “ED numbers” for documents and “EJ numbers” for journal articles.
• Coverage Areas: Teacher education, curriculum, leadership, higher education, learning theory, special education, and STEM teaching.
• Update Frequency: Monthly.

Strengths

• Produced by the U.S. Department of Education; authoritative and widely recognized.
• Comprehensive coverage across all levels of education—from early childhood to post‑secondary and adult learning.
• Open access integration—many documents freely available on ERIC.gov.
• Peer‑review filtering and advanced EBSCO search options.
• Strong inclusion of grey literature (conference papers, technical reports, policy studies).
• Supports citation exports and subject thesaurus searching.

Limitations

• Some records include citations or abstracts only without full text in EBSCO.
• Older scanned documents may vary in quality or formatting.
• Primarily focused on U.S. education; limited global coverage.
• Overlap with Education Source and Academic Search Ultimate.
• Does not include citation metrics or usage analytics.

Best For

• Education majors and teaching students researching pedagogy and classroom practice.
• Faculty developing STEM education and outreach initiatives.
• Researchers and administrators studying educational policy and reform.
• Students in psychology or human development exploring learning theory.

Complementary Databases

Overall Evaluation

ERIC is the definitive index for education research and practice, offering unmatched depth and historical continuity. For South Dakota Mines, it supports STEM education initiatives, teaching assistant training, and assessment research. It should appear prominently on A‑to‑Z lists and education‑related LibGuides as the primary education database, with direct links to both the EBSCO interface and ERIC.gov for open‑access materials.

Ask Digby – Library Help

Need help evaluating sources or accessing databases? Ask Digby, the Devereaux Library’s friendly prairie dog mascot! Digby can assist with off‑campus access, citation tools, and choosing the right databases for your research.

📧 Email: library@sdsmt.edu

🌐 Chat: Ask Digby

🔗 Library Catalog (Primo): https://sdsmt.primo.exlibrisgroup.com

📍 Devereaux Library, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City, SD