A Research Guide for Business
About this guide
This guide was created by expert librarians from Steely Library and business faculty, to kickstart your research, guiding you to recommended databases and other resources in business.
Databases
The selected databases are Steely Library and business faculty approved and are your best bets for researching most topics in business.
Resources to Find Scholarly Articles
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Business Source Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive business articles database covering more than 8,500 scholarly, professional, and trade periodicals in all areas of business. Includes books, case studies, Datamonitor company and industry profiles, conference proceedings, country reports (from CountryWatch, EIU, Icon International, and others), market research reports, SWOT analyses, profiles of the most-cited authors, and more. Sole electronic resource for full text Harvard Business Review and California Management Review.
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ABI/Inform Global This link opens in a new window
Search worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more.
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Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
Public company financials and bond information. Contains industry overview reports on metals and mining, manufacturing, consumer goods and services, oil and gas, technology and more. Also includes Country Insight which contains in-depth country information including social, political and business information. Coverage is international.
**Migration update: On July 1, 2025 the Mergent Online platform will be retired and replaced by Mergent Market Atlas. NKU has complimentary access to the new platform, so try it! -
IBIS World This link opens in a new window
Business reports in five categories: industry market research, industry risk ratings, company research, global industry research, and economic and demographic data.
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Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new window
Newspaper with emphasis on business and economics. Coverage: Full-text, 1984 - present.
Data-Specific Databases
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Statista This link opens in a new window
Provides statistical data for 170+ industries including market and consumer data and reports. The portal integrates facts from a wide range of sources categorized into industries, broad topics, countries, and digital markets.
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WRDS (Wharton Research Data Services) This link opens in a new windowWRDS provides access to selected databases in the fields of finance, accounting, economics, management, marketing, and public policy. Data sets that are included: Compustat, TAQ, and CRSP.
There are two access methods:
*Day Pass Access: Using the link above, NKU students, faculty and staff can use WRDS via the web. Enter your NKU email and agree to the terms. WRDS will send an email with the Access Pass link. No permanent disk storage is available for this access. Access must be requested each new day that you wish to use the service.
*Individual account: For long-term research projects and access to disk storage, NKU users (NKU email required) complete the registration form. An administrator will review your request and approve account access.
Please note that you may need to check your NKU quarantine file to release WRDS emails.
Looking for more relevant databases? Check out our full list of business research databases.
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