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EconLit
What it is
EconLit is the American Economic Association's bibliographic database for economics literature. It indexes 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 author, title, affiliation, publication details, document type, keywords, subject classifications, named persons, and geographic descriptors. Its subject descriptors use the Journal of Economic Literature classification system, rendered as four-digit codes. Institutional access is offered through EBSCO, ProQuest, and Ovid, which provide the same data through somewhat 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 rather than listed as a set price. The web service has pricing on request, and EBSCO offers a trial request without stating its duration. The AEA identifies economics scholars as an intended audience.
For and against
For
- Covers over 2 million records.
- Updated weekly and spans 140 years of literature.
- Includes dissertations, books, and working papers.
- Search records by subject classifications and other fields.
Against
- Full-text links depend on library holdings.
- Full Text is available only through EBSCO.
- AEA member access has no full-text links.
- Institutional pricing is supplied by platform providers.
The verdict
EconLit offers broad, frequently updated economics indexing with several institutional access routes. Check provider pricing and full-text availability, since both vary by access route and holdings.
Who it suits
EconLit is suited to economics scholars and researchers seeking literature across journals, books, dissertations, working papers, and other listed publication types. Institutions can access it through EBSCO, ProQuest, or Ovid.
Plans and prices
EconLit for AEA Members
AEA-member login · bibliographic records only · no full-text links · courtesy service may be discontinued
Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit via EBSCO
Institutional database subscription · optional EconLit with Full Text available only through EBSCO
Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit via Ovid
Institutional OvidSP subscription · pricing supplied by Wolters Kluwer
Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit via ProQuest
Institutional subscription · pricing supplied by ProQuest
Read 15 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit (institutional subscription)
Available through EBSCO, ProQuest, or Ovid
Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
EconLit with Full Text
EBSCO only · Full-text journals alongside EconLit indexing
Read 8 Oct 2026 · aeaweb.org
On the record
- Classification
- EconLit subject descriptors use the Journal of Economic Literature classification system, with a zero added to make four-digit codes.aeaweb.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Controlled vocabulary
- The database uses subject descriptors based on the Journal of Economic Literature classification system.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Coverage
- The database includes peer-reviewed journal articles, working papers, PhD dissertations, books, book reviews, and collective volume articles.aeaweb.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- Coverage size
- The AEA says EconLit contains more than 2 million records covering roughly 140 years of economics publishing.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Document type: books
- EconLit indexes books and book reviews.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Document type: collective volumes
- EconLit indexes articles from collective volumes.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Document type: dissertations
- EconLit indexes PhD dissertations.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Document type: JEL reviews
- EconLit includes book reviews from the Journal of Economic Literature.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Document type: journals
- EconLit indexes peer-reviewed journal articles.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Document type: working papers
- EconLit indexes working papers in economics.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- EBSCO record count
- EBSCO describes EconLit as an abstracting and indexing database with 2,000,000 records.about.ebsco.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Full-text linking
- Libraries can link EconLit records to their subscribed electronic journals and may offer DOI pay-per-view links for unsubscribed articles.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Full-text package
- EconLit with Full Text bundles database records with more than 500 journals and is offered only through EBSCO.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Geographic coverage
- The AEA says the database covers work from leading institutions in 75 countries.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Geographic descriptors
- Articles and working papers can receive country, regional, and economic-group geographic tags.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- 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.aeaweb.org · read 8 Oct 2026
- JEL classification adoption
- An independent study says EconLit uses the JEL classification system to classify articles, dissertations, books, book reviews, and working papers.arxiv.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Journal coverage
- The AEA reports that more than 1,000 journals are indexed, representing nearly one million articles from 74 countries.aeaweb.org · read 15 Oct 2026
