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EconLit

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Spec score 8.4 #9 of 35 in Academic Research Databases

What it is

EconLit is the American Economic Association’s bibliographic database for economics literature. It covers peer-reviewed journal articles, working papers, PhD dissertations, books, book reviews, and articles in collective volumes. The database contains over 2 million records, covers literature published over the last 140 years, and is updated weekly. Searchable record fields can include title, author, affiliation, publication details, document type, keywords, subject classifications, named persons, and geographic descriptors. Its subject descriptors follow the Journal of Economic Literature classification system, using four-digit codes. Institutional subscriptions are available through EBSCO, ProQuest, and Ovid, which provide the same data through different interfaces. Full-text links depend on library holdings; EconLit with Full Text is available only through EBSCO. AEA members have courtesy access to bibliographic records, but that service has no full-text links and may be phased out. Institutional pricing is supplied by providers; EBSCO offers a trial request without stating its duration.

Spec sheet

What it does
EconLit is the American Economic Association’s bibliographic database for economics literature.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Purpose
EconLit is a bibliographic database of economics literature published by the American Economic Association.Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Intended users
The AEA describes EconLit as a reference tool for economics scholars, while ProQuest lists researchers, academics, product managers, advertisers, product development specialists, and public policy professionals among those interested in the literature.Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Trial
EBSCO’s EconLit page offers a request-trial option but does not state a trial duration.Read 8 Oct 2026 · ebsco.com
Support
The AEA directs institutional subscribers to contact their information service provider for help with proprietary search interface questions or support.Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Classification
EconLit subject descriptors use the Journal of Economic Literature classification system, with a zero added to make four-digit codes.Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Controlled vocabulary
The database uses subject descriptors based on the Journal of Economic Literature classification system.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Coverage
The database includes peer-reviewed journal articles, working papers, PhD dissertations, books, book reviews, and collective volume articles.Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Coverage size
The AEA says EconLit contains more than 2 million records covering roughly 140 years of economics publishing.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Document type: books
EconLit indexes books and book reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Document type: collective volumes
EconLit indexes articles from collective volumes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Document type: dissertations
EconLit indexes PhD dissertations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Document type: JEL reviews
EconLit includes book reviews from the Journal of Economic Literature.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Document type: journals
EconLit indexes peer-reviewed journal articles.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Document type: working papers
EconLit indexes working papers in economics.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EBSCO record count
EBSCO describes EconLit as an abstracting and indexing database with 2,000,000 records.Read 15 Oct 2026 · about.ebsco.com
Full-text linking
Libraries can link EconLit records to their subscribed electronic journals and may offer DOI pay-per-view links for unsubscribed articles.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Full-text package
EconLit with Full Text bundles database records with more than 500 journals and is offered only through EBSCO.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Geographic coverage
The AEA says the database covers work from leading institutions in 75 countries.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Geographic descriptors
Articles and working papers can receive country, regional, and economic-group geographic tags.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
JEL classification adoption
An independent study says EconLit uses the JEL classification system to classify articles, dissertations, books, book reviews, and working papers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · arxiv.org
Journal coverage
The AEA reports that more than 1,000 journals are indexed, representing nearly one million articles from 74 countries.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Journal selection
Journals are selected for substantial peer-reviewed economics content, including equivalent economics emphasis in interdisciplinary titles.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Limit: author-name normalization
The same study reports that EconLit does not standardize author names, which can cause publication rankings to underestimate researchers using variant names.Read 15 Oct 2026 · researchrepository.ucd.ie
Limit: institutional access
The same account reports that a university library did not subscribe to EconLit, forcing the researchers to substitute another database.Read 15 Oct 2026 · maer-net.org
Limits
Collective volume article records do not include abstracts, and non-English articles are omitted unless the volume includes an English summary.Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Maker founded
The AEA was organized in 1885 and incorporated in 1923.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Maker headquarters
The AEA is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with a publications office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Maker legal status
The American Economic Association is a nonprofit, nonpartisan scholarly association.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Maker membership
The AEA says it has more than 17,000 members from academia, government, and business.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Member access limitation
EconLit for AEA Members does not provide full-text links, and the AEA says the courtesy service may be phased out due to limited use.Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Ovid coverage
Ovid lists EconLit coverage from 1886 to the present, with bibliographic records and abstracts.Read 15 Oct 2026 · wolterskluwer.com
Ovid update frequency
Ovid lists monthly updates and approximately 65,000 records added annually.Read 15 Oct 2026 · wolterskluwer.com
Praise: canonical status
An independent meta-analysis methods account calls EconLit a canonical database for economists conducting systematic searches.Read 15 Oct 2026 · maer-net.org
Praise: scholarly breadth
An independent Economic and Social Review study describes EconLit as a comprehensive economics-journal bibliography and used it as its main publication-data source.Read 15 Oct 2026 · researchrepository.ucd.ie
ProQuest abstracts
ProQuest says more than 80% of current EconLit records include abstracts.Read 15 Oct 2026 · about.proquest.com
ProQuest working-paper links
ProQuest says EconLit links to full text for about 40,000 economics working papers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · about.proquest.com
Provider platforms
The AEA distributes the same EconLit data through EBSCO, ProQuest, and Ovid, whose interfaces differ.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Scale and updates
EconLit says it contains over 2 million records, covers literature published over the last 140 years, and is updated weekly.Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Search fields
EconLit records expose fields including title, author, affiliation, source, publication data, document type, identifiers, keywords, subject classifications, named persons, and geographic descriptors.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Support model
The AEA directs institutional subscribers to their information-service provider for help with proprietary search interfaces.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
Update schedule
The AEA states that EconLit is updated weekly.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org

Plans and prices

EconLit for AEA Members Free AEA-member login · bibliographic records only · no full-text links · courtesy service may be discontinued Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit (institutional subscription) Priced on request Pricing supplied by platform providers Available through EBSCO, ProQuest, or Ovid Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit via EBSCO Priced on request Institutional database subscription · optional EconLit with Full Text available only through EBSCO Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit via Ovid Priced on request Institutional OvidSP subscription · pricing supplied by Wolters Kluwer Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit via ProQuest Priced on request Institutional subscription · pricing supplied by ProQuest Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit with Full Text Priced on request Pricing supplied by EBSCO EBSCO only · Full-text journals alongside EconLit indexing Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org

Every EconLit plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Over 2 million records, updated weekly.
  • Covers literature published over 140 years.
  • Includes dissertations, working papers, books, and articles.
  • Search fields include subjects and geographic descriptors.

Limits

  • Institutional prices are supplied by providers, not listed.
  • Full-text links depend on library holdings.
  • Full Text is available only through EBSCO.
  • AEA member access has no full-text links and may be phased out.

Who it suits

EconLit suits economics scholars and other researchers looking across a broad range of economics publications. Institutions can access it through EBSCO, ProQuest, or Ovid, while AEA members can use the courtesy bibliographic service.

Verdict

EconLit combines extensive economics literature coverage with detailed searchable record fields. The access route matters: full-text availability depends on provider and library holdings, while member courtesy access is bibliographic only.

Where Specifiction places it

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