Which business and management journal database is best?

The following graphic from JISC-ADAT (Academic Database Assesment Tool) illustrates why there is no definitive answer to questions like:  

• Is ABI Inform (Proquest) or Business Source Premier (EBSCO) better?

The ADAT screenshot below shows the results of comparing:

• ABI Inform (Proquest) – over 3000 business and management publications – many in full-text
• Business Source Premier (EBSCO) – over 6000 business publications – many in full-text
• Scopus – over 18,000 top journals (all subjects) bibliographic information only

Journal database comparison from JISC ADAT - Click on image and then select ABI/INFORM, Business Source Premier and Scopus to re-create

Comparing ABI Inform and Business Source Premier: While there is an overlap between these two, searching just one of these databases will ignore a large number of publications/titles that is available in the other.

Comparing ABI Inform, Business Source Premier and Scopus: Most top academic journals are covered by Scopus, but these are just part of what is available through ABI Inform and Business Source Premier. Even considering just the publications/titles covered by Scopus, only about half of the titles are covered by both ABI Inform and Business Source Premier.

Related Manchester Business Answers 24/7 (FAQ) Questions:

• Why are there different databases providing journal articles?
• Where can I find journal articles for my research topic?
• Where can I find information about doing a literature search?

It is best to explore different journal databases – you will probably find what is best depends on the type of results you are seeking.