Reimagining an academic library staple for the way students research today

How do you improve on a resource that has earned a reputation as the library’s “go-to” for academic research?

ProQuest Central is widely used, broadly trusted and valued for its ability to support research across disciplines and academic levels. Students turn to it as a starting point. Faculty recognize its credibility. Librarians rely on it as a full-text foundation that works across curricula.

ProQuest Central has earned its reputation through both scale and structure. It brings together scholarly journals, news, trade publications, reports and case studies to help users understand a topic from multiple perspectives. It is adaptable, reliable and consistently useful — qualities that make it an essential part of many library collections.

However, as students are increasingly expected to engage with information with greater disciplinary awareness, deeper analysis and stronger research judgment, we saw the opportunity to take ProQuest Central to the next level for academic libraries. ProQuest Central Premium builds on what has made ProQuest Central that “go-to” resource and extends the experience to support emerging student needs.

ProQuest Central Premium Spans Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Research

As students move beyond introductory coursework, research expectations shift, with assignments requiring engagement with disciplinary conversations. ProQuest Central Premium supports this transition by integrating content and user experiences from eight ProQuest One discipline solutions. These additions introduce greater subject depth with multiformat content that caters to specific fields – including business, education, psychology and sustainability – into a research environment students already know.

With ProQuest Central Premium, a student researching business ethics can encounter scholarly analysis alongside case studies and industry reporting. An education student can connect theory, policy and applied research in a single session.

For libraries, this approach delivers depth without complexity. Discipline-specific resources are surfaced in ways that support teaching and learning while maintaining a unified discovery experience. For faculty and students, the disciplines framework enables them to easily access the content most important to them, without sacrificing a multidisciplinary lens that supports serendipitous discovery.

How ProQuest Central Premium Elevates Information Literacy

As the research journey shifts from finding sources to engaging with material, ProQuest Central Premium supports users with the Academic AI-powered ProQuest Research Assistant.

ProQuest Research Assistant works hand in hand with authoritative content, offering help at important stage s of the research process.

• • It guides students in developing better search strategies and encourages deeper engagement with documents by highlighting main ideas and key themes, then taking them directly into the text for close reading and investigation.
  • It helps clarify complex concepts by assisting students in exploring findings and conclusions.
  • It recommends additional topics, enabling users to expand their research.
  • A visualization feature takes the user further with a graphical overview of document topics that unfold into detailed subtopics.

This embedded guidance makes advanced research more approachable without diminishing academic rigor. It also supports the instructional role of academic libraries: by encouraging closer reading and more intentional searching, ProQuest Research Assistant reinforces information literacy practices.

How ProQuest Central Premium Advances the Work of All Types of Researchers

One of the longstanding strengths of ProQuest Central is its versatility. ProQuest Central Premium builds on that foundation by supporting students at different stages of research maturity, notably through the inclusion of bibliographic indexes that aid in discovery of relevant literature across disciplines. These authoritative abstract and index (A&I) resources offer a handy starting point for novice researchers, while advanced researchers gain precision searching for thorough literature reviews.

For faculty, this continuity supports coursework across levels and disciplines. For librarians, it offers a way to strengthen research support campus wide without multiplying platforms, training demands or administrative overhead.

What ProQuest Central Premium Brings To the Party

ProQuest Central Premium is an evolution of an already strong foundation. It preserves what has made ProQuest Central exceptional — breadth, credibility and ease of use — while adding discipline focus and research support that reflect changing expectations for student work.

By integrating ProQuest One discipline solutions and authoritative A&I resources, ProQuest Central Premium helps students move from exposure to engagement, and from gathering sources to working with them more thoughtfully.

For libraries, the value is clear: deeper support for research and learning, delivered without disruption. Not a departure from what works, but a purposeful extension of it.

Learn how ProQuest Central Premium builds on a trusted foundation to deliver even more.