It’s no secret that Inspec is a valuable resource for engineering and technology research. Curated by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, this database provides end users with abstracts and indexing to technical and scientific research in the physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and electronics, and computer science and control fields. Inspec is a publisher-neutral database that enables the discovery of more than 22 million records from hundreds of global publishers.
Of those 22 million records, more than 12 million of them contain physics coverage. This includes journals such as the Journal of Computational Physics, the Journal of Statistical Physics, the Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, and many others. And while Inspec’s engineering content is a notable and widely used resource among academic and corporate researchers alike, the database’s physics records are not something to be overlooked. Heavily rooted in the pure and applied sciences, Inspec is an essential tool for science students, research and development professionals, and other physics fieldworkers. In this blog, we dive deeper into the physics subject area covered by Inspec and detail its value to further development of the field.
Who is using Inspec for physics?
Academic end users can rely on Inspec as a trustworthy source of credible information that inspires confidence in the researcher – knowing that the content is expertly curated with extensive coverage. Inspec has made its presence known within the academic as a beneficial tool for engineering students and academics. But its reach doesn’t just stop there. Physics and other applied science majors, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, can utilize Inspec to further their education and exploration. Typically motivated by course assignments, undergraduate students can use the database to inform their projects by locating indexed content including journals, conference papers, preprints, books, dissertations, patents, videos, and reports. In addition to this, graduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral students can make use of Inspec as a baseline for predicting and contributing their own unique research to the field.
Additionally, Inspec has a home within the corporate space. The comprehensive index of sources within the physics subject area can help users who hold a corporate research and development role. Using the physics information provided within the database, R&D workers can enhance their company’s product development by accessing information on current and emerging trends in the field and other areas. Not only that, but professionals can leverage Inspec in the competitive intelligence space. Inspec allows corporate users to gain information on what products are being brought to the market and increase their overall brand awareness. As companies get into a more highly technical space, they will not only be able to use the database to understand what products their competitors are developing, but also what standards and processes are being used to create these products. This information is valuable for corporations to be able to stay on par or ahead of competing companies.
Another part of the Inspec database is Inspec Analytics. This resource allows users to monitor and compare trends in physics topics and the organizations publishing in these fields. The upgraded version of this tool – Inspec Analytics Plus – exposes more metadata points to the users, including citations and funding bodies. In the academic space, students can use Inspec Analytics to develop strategies on research projects, compare their institution with collaborators or competitors, and find collaboration opportunities to demonstrate the impact of their work. Corporate end users can utilize Inspec Analytics to stay up to date on current global research trends, discover new topics related to their field, and identify the best conferences and journals to publish their research.
What value does Inspec bring to the physics field?
Aside from informing users within the academic and corporate space, Inspec acts as a baseline for further research development within the physics field. Researchers in the field can access and utilize Inspec as a reliable resource for current physics discourse and confidently accept this information as true. With human-curated indexing by subject specialists, users can count on Inspec to ensure the quality and integrity of data. Additionally, the granular subject classification hierarchy and controlled term indexing allow users to limit their search to predetermined sections of the database – making finding relevant research easy and time efficient. With all of these tools, Inspec acts as a steppingstone for professionals to assuredly contribute their own findings to the current body of knowledge.
What’s more, is that physics is the backbone of many other applied, technical, and pure science – making Inspec’s physics content a truly invaluable resource for end users across markets. For example, a researcher can digest physics information from Inspec and apply it in a way that influences a separate scientific discipline such as chemical engineering, pharmaceutical development, or biotechnology. Inspec additionally assigns multiple classifications to articles within the database, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of research within the field. End users can quickly and efficiently access information that connects physics information to other results within related fields across the database.
What are the benefits of using Inspec via EBSCO?
The IET has a close relationship with EBSCO, making access to Inspec via EBSCO’s research platforms beneficial to end users across all markets. Inspec has more than 3,500 unique classification codes – 2,300 of which are in the physics field – that help viewers conduct efficient searches by limiting results to predetermined sections of the database. EBSCO leverages these codes to connect users to additional relevant content and further drive analysis of collateral. In addition to this, if purchasers hold subscriptions to other EBSCO collections, then they can have access to Inspec within the same platform. This means access to full text, cover to cover titles provided by EBSCO and any gaps within groundwork are filled. This can be particularly useful for literature reviews and building out a full research landscape.
Inspec is an instrumental resource for researchers and students within the applied, pure, and technical science fields – especially physics. Whether searching for content for an academic project or exploring current trends within the field for product development, Inspec is a tool that provides users with high-quality information from a reputable organization. The database is a fundamental asset and is the starting point of meaningful research in the field. Inspec is a source of truth that evokes confidence in its users to contribute their own findings to the physics field and beyond.