Search ERIC  using FirstSearch   (instructions)

or search ERIC   via interface provided by CSA

or search ERIC using the version sponsored by the Department of Education

Other Federal Education Related Sites

U.S. Department of Education Home Page

Cross-Site Index to Federal Education Information

About ERIC

Since its inception in 1966, the ERIC database has grown to become the single most important research tool for the field of education. In 2003/2004 changes to the government contracts which support it resulted in indexing delays. Those gaps and delays are now largely in the past, but the changed format of the database may impact some searchers.

Since the 2004 changes, coverage is more complete for most publications, with every article being indexed. The information about each article includes the peer review status of the journal. ERIC no longer produces microfiche of their document listings, so items published since 2003 will not be available in that format. Many are available as .pdf—look for the link in results listings. Others might need to be searched in the Library Catalog or on the publisher's web site. ERIC often provides links to the latter.

MSU educational researchers needing complete coverage of recent research should also check the commercial publication Education Abstracts.

Finding Items listed in ERIC

Citations from ERIC with EJ accession numbers are journal articles and can be located at MSU by looking for the journal name in the Library Catalog. As you use the index, notice the "FIND TEXT AT MSU" link, which will often take you directly to the article or journal needed. For detailed information consult the "Finding the Full Text of Articles After Searching an Index" section of our "Tips for Finding Articles" guide.

Citations from ERIC with ED accession numbers are ERIC documents. Most documents from 1966-2003 are available at MSU by looking for the ED number in the microfiche collection on 2 West of the Main Library. About 75% of the ERIC Documents from 1993 to the present are also available online from ERIC, look for the ERIC Document Link to Full Text as you search.

FirstSearch is part of a state-wide initiative to offer a variety of databases on the web. It includes all of ERIC and allows you to print or send your results via email. A small percent of the journal articles are available full text within the FirstSearch system; most others can be found by using the "FIND TEXT AT MSU" links or checking the Library Catalog for the journal title.

CSA is a powerful search interface. Researchers who are doing a complex search of the ERIC database should use ERIC through this software. One useful feature—CSA has loaded information about the peer review status of all the journals for all the years ERIC indexes. Users can sort results sets to show only peer-reviewed items. CSA provides links to MSU holding via "FIND TEXT AT MSU." When those links fail check the Library Catalog for the journal title.