What Is Highbeam Research? What Are Alternatives to It?

Introduction
Highbeam research was paid search engine which was shut down in 2018. Highbeam search engine featured newspapers, academic journals, trade magazines, and encyclopedias. The search engine operated for over six years, from 2012 to 2018. But there are so many alternatives to Highbeam research in the present day. This article will tell you about the best alternatives to Highbeam research.
What is Highbeam research?
Highbeam Research was a cutting-edge internet research tool that provided users full rights to various reliable published data. Before its shutdown in 2018, Subscribers could easily access and choose from approximately 80 million trustworthy papers. These papers were drawn from over 6,500 publications, comprising journals, periodicals, newspapers, and archives. Moreover, Highbeam updated its archives regularly, with hundreds of fresh pieces updated to the databases every day.
Every membership to the search engine included a comprehensive array of research tools. It allowed clients to collect, organize, and categorize their research. Moreover, researchers set up notifications to get recently introduced material.
What are the alternatives to Highbeam research?
According to the researchers of PhD dissertation help firm, Recent advancements in technology led to the proliferation of many search engines for research. These search engines are much better and more advanced than Highbeam research. Some search engines are even free, while a few search engines require a paid subscription. Here are some of the alternatives to Highbeam research:
1. Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a free search engine that focuses on research material and scholarly publications. Researchers can access books, journal articles, magazine articles, abstracts, and theses. It is a great tool for researchers who want to search the relevant literature. Google scholar allows the researchers to access the links of research material from credible sources. Google scholar features approximately 200 million articles from various databases. Although Google Scholar does not have the same attributes as other databases, such as advanced filters for narrowing your research, it is a great tool for conducting preliminary research. You can find the relevant research material on Google Scholar by doing the following things:
- Enter the relevant keywords for the topic you want to search for the material
- Set relevance by date, material type, and time range
- Open the link of the article or material and read the abstract
- Generate citations of the relevant article
Google scholar basic keyword research for finding the relevant sources. It does not have advanced features, but it is the top choice for researchers searching the relevant material. It is a much better alternative than Highbeam research, and it is free.
2. Semantic Scholar
Semantic scholar is a direct competitor of Google Scholar. It is a better alternative to Highbeam research. Semantic scholar keeps expanding its paper collection. However, these academic publications are confined to computer science and nanotechnology. The semantic scholar has partnered with Microsoft to implement Artificial Intelligence-based search features. It is expected to be a game-changer and quickly and effectively processes data. A semantic scholar has access to metadata and citation metrics. Also, semantic scholar classifies and categorizes publications with greater precision. This AI-powered search engine uses complex filters to find publications and journal articles.
3. ProQuest
ProQuest is a paid subscription search engine available for higher education institutes. It encompasses a collection of numerous databases that enable researchers to access research material. ProQuest retrieves research material from credible and reliable sources. It has more than 90,000 authoritative sources from which it draws research material. The search engine consists of 6 billion digital pages and includes the world’s largest database of articles and theses. ProQuest has more than 450,000 eBooks. It also provides access to the digitized archives encompassing historical documents and transcriptions from the museums and Royal archives.
ProQuest is a great alternative to Highbeam research and other search engines. It encompasses advanced features and a vast amount of research material. This wealth of information enables careful investigation of practically any study topic from many angles and in various media. It recognized the ability to organize data for easy access and retrieval by academics, scholars, and members of the public to enable precise content search. These ProQuest solutions find the correct content at the right moment. ProQuest’s tools simplify research processes by providing automatic reference assistance and document sharing. Moreover, researchers have access to ProQuest’s online platforms for collaboration and from anywhere.
Here are some key databases of ProQuest:
- Criminal Justice Periodicals
- Education Journals
- Health and Medical Sciences Journals
- Science Journals
- Social Science Journals
- Nursing and Allied Health Source
- eBook central
What makes ProQuest the greatest alternative to Highbeam research and other search engines?
ProQuest is the best search engine compared to Highbeam research and other search engines due to its advanced features. It uses Artificial Intelligence based algorithms to retrieve research materials from multiple databases. Here are some features that distinguish ProQuest from other search engines:
- Researchers can narrow down their search limits through keywords, selecting the database and journal
- Researchers can search material generically or make their search specific by selecting the type. For instance, scholarly journals, books, and dissertations.
- Autocorrect and auto-completion features of ProQuest facilitate the search process.
- ProQuest algorithm retrieves the most exact and relevant material
- Researchers can use both basic and advanced features of ProQuest
Microsoft Academic
Microsoft Academic is also a better alternative to Highbeam research. It launched the search engine powered by Artificial Intelligence Technology. Researchers can easily find the relevant sources for their research. It uses Application Programming Interface (API) to provide a friendly user interface to users. In collaboration with Microsoft Research A12, Microsoft aims to improve the search efficiency of Microsoft Academic further. It will enhance the advanced search features, and researchers will be able to search the relevant sources effectively. Microsoft has access to approximately 160 million publications. Researchers can access the research papers and journal articles with high citation metrics.
Conclusion
The search as mentioned above engines is a great alternative to Highbeam research. Highbeam research was expensive and relied on redundant technologies. As a result, it led to the search engine’s disclosure, whereas technology has progressed faster over the years. Researchers prefer Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, and ProQuest to find relevant sources from credible databases.