What does the acronym ERIC stand for?
Education Resources Information Center
What is ERIC?
ERIC is a comprehensive, easy-to-use, searchable, Internet-based bibliographic and full-text database of education research and information. It is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education. For a brief overview, access the video About ERIC:
Who uses ERIC?
ERIC has five main user groups: academics, researchers, educators, policymakers, and the general public. Access our 
Who Uses ERIC infographic for more information on ERIC’ user groups.
Do I need a subscription to use ERIC?
The ERIC website is offered free for public use by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. There is no membership or subscription required. To discover all the features and functions available for free on the ERIC website, access the video:
What is the history of ERIC?
ERIC was founded on May 15, 1964. Learn more about the history of ERIC here. For basic information about ERIC, access the video:
Where can I find additional information about ERIC?
The Multimedia page has links to a wide variety of videos, infographics, and recorded webinars on the topics of ERIC Basics, Searching ERIC, the ERIC Thesaurus, the ERIC Collection, and Awardee and Online Submission. Students, professors, and academic librarians may be interested in the following video on the support products developed with their needs in mind:
Does ERIC include materials for education policymakers?
ERIC catalogs a wide variety of materials from journals and non-journal sources that can help support the work of policymakers. This webinar explains what policymakers need to know about ERIC, including the kinds of relevant full-text resources that are available and how to find these materials easily on the free ERIC website:
How is the IES version of ERIC different from other access options?
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) sponsors the ERIC digital library and provides it free of charge to the public. IES funds and oversees all activities associated with acquiring and cataloging content in ERIC, and providing an easy-to-use website, search engine, and research tools. IES also makes the ERIC metadata available to the public. Many third-party providers download the metadata and provide it on their own search platforms. They might bundle ERIC with other databases to offer access on a subscription basis or provide it through other models. For more information, access the following video:
How can ERIC help me write an education research paper?
ERIC is widely used by students, researchers, faculty members, and others who are responding to course requirements or developing reports for their work. The video below gives step-by-step instructions on how to narrow your topic, use search filters, and take advantage of the ERIC Thesaurus to target specific resources:
Does ERIC have an API?
Yes. ERIC implemented an Application Programming Interface (API) to help researchers, developers, and third-party providers gain flexible access to ERIC metadata. You can search the ERIC collection and export the metadata to a variety of programs for analysis and data display or download to a database. The API provides a range of options for using ERIC’s freely available metadata. Access the ERIC API here. For more information check the FAQ section on Searching ERIC with the API and access our recorded webinar:
For a short overview of the ERIC API, access the following video:
For guidance on using the API to export search results, access this video:
How do I cite an article from ERIC?
Access the following video for guidance on how to cite materials in the collection:
How can I get permission to use an article in my research?
ERIC does not hold copyright to the materials cataloged in the collection. Contact the copyright holder for further assistance. For additional information, access the ERIC Copyright Policy and the following video that highlights ways to obtain copyright permission for content cataloged in ERIC:
How can I get in touch with a publisher or author found in ERIC?
You can typically find publisher contact information in the ERIC record or visit the publisher website through the Direct Link available in many of the records. ERIC does not maintain a directory of authors but author links to third-party sites, such as ORCID, are available in a growing number of ERIC records.
Can I embed ERIC on my website or Libguide?
Yes – and to make this easier for users, we have created a widget you can embed on your site: https://eric.ed.gov/?widget
I am looking to weed my microfiche collection. Which ERIC records should I keep?
The list of documents between the years 1966-2004 that are currently available on microfiche, but not online, can be found here. Note that ERIC has restored some (but not all) of the documents that were taken offline due to readability issues:
What are the fields in an ERIC record?
The 2021 Guide to the ERIC Record depicts the ERIC record structure and provides a description of most fields. The recorded webinar below presents an overview, takes a deeper look at fields that are not self-explanatory, and answers frequently asked questions. Note that the webinar includes the Reference Count field that is no longer used in ERIC, and it does not discuss two recently added fields: Related Records and Data File URL. The Related Records field identifies ERIC documents that report on the same research study. The Data File URL field, is used by awardees and others to enter a link to their Data Management Plan:
How can I contact ERIC?
You can send an email using the Contact Us form found in the upper right corner of each ERIC website page, or email us at ERICRequests@ed.gov. The ERIC help desk is happy to provide general search assistance, tips for using the ERIC website, and to answer any questions that you may have about ERIC.
