Find Research

This page is the main gateway to scholarly research for Vector Technology Institute. Use these open access tools to find peer-reviewed articles, scholarly books, theses and dissertations, and repository-based research outputs aligned with VTI programmes.

Jump to: Start Here • Scholarly Articles • Peer-Reviewed Journals • Books & Ebooks • Theses & Dissertations • Research Repositories

Start Here (Quick Picks)

For most assignments and capstones, start with these tools first. They are broad, reliable, and help you locate full-text open access research quickly.

Tip: Combine tools: use Google Scholar/BASE/CORE for breadth, then confirm peer-review via DOAJ or the journal’s editorial information.

Scholarly Articles (Search Tools)

Use these search tools to locate journal articles, conference papers, and technical research reports. Where possible, filter for “PDF” or “full text” and verify peer-review status.

  • Google Scholar – Best general tool for locating articles and citations across disciplines.
  • BASE – Excellent for repository-based full-text research across universities and institutes.
  • CORE – Strong for open access full-text articles aggregated from global repositories and journals.
  • DOAJ – Use to find peer-reviewed open access journals and browse by subject.
  • arXiv – Preprints in computer science and related fields (not formally peer-reviewed; use with caution and seek final published versions when available).

Peer-Reviewed Journals

These are peer-reviewed open access journals and journal platforms relevant to ICT, software engineering, cybersecurity, and applied technology.

  • IEEE Access – Peer-reviewed open access journal covering engineering and computer science; strong for applied research.
  • DOAJ (Journal Directory) – Use DOAJ to confirm journal peer-review status and locate discipline-specific journals.

How to confirm peer-review: Look for editorial policies, review procedures, and indexing. DOAJ provides a helpful quality filter for open access journals.

Books & Ebooks

Use these sources to find open access scholarly books, edited volumes, and research reports that support coursework and programme development.

  • Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) – Directory of peer-reviewed open access academic books; search by computing, data, and management topics.
  • OAPEN Library – Full-text open access scholarly books from academic publishers; complements DOAB by providing direct access to book files.
  • Open Research Library – Open access book collection (primarily scholarly monographs) useful for broader research reading.

Theses & Dissertations

Theses and dissertations are valuable for deep methodology, literature reviews, and capstone-level research. Use these portals to find open full-text works.

Tip: Use keywords like “capstone”, “implementation”, “case study”, “network security”, “software testing”, or “information systems” to find applied work.

Research Repositories

Institutional repositories provide open access research outputs from universities and research institutes. These are especially useful for Jamaica/Caribbean context and high-quality grey literature.

  • UWI Mona DSpace (Institutional Repository) – Jamaica/Caribbean research outputs including theses, articles, and reports.
  • UWISpace (UWI Institutional Repository) – Research outputs across UWI campuses, including technology and management.
  • CORE (Repository Aggregator) – Useful for finding repository items when you don’t know which institution hosts the work.
  • BASE (Repository Search) – Strong discovery tool for repository-hosted theses, articles, and reports.
  • Zenodo – Open repository for research outputs including datasets, software, and reports; useful for reproducible research and technical projects.
  • Figshare – Repository for research data, figures, posters, and supplementary outputs (licensing and quality vary by item).

Looking for resources aligned to your programme? Visit Programmes for curated lists by programme.