EconLit
The American Economic Association's index of economics.
At a Glance
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- Coverage
1.5M+ records of economics literature — journals, working papers, dissertations, and books — classified by the JEL (Journal of Economic Literature) codes
- Access
institutional subscription (via EBSCO, ProQuest, Ovid)
- Free alternative
- RePEc / IDEAS
- Regional
global.
Our Take
EconLit is the authoritative index for economics, and its distinguishing feature is the JEL classification system, which lets you search the field by its own subject taxonomy rather than fuzzy keywords. It’s the natural complement to SSRN and RePEc, which carry the working-paper frontier. It’s subscription-based; the free RePEc covers much of the same literature. Use it as the curated economics index, especially via JEL codes; pair with SSRN and RePEc for the latest working papers.
Power Tips
- Search by JEL codes for precise, complete coverage of an economics subfield — the discipline’s own taxonomy beats keyword guessing
- combine EconLit with SSRN and RePEc so you catch both published work and the working-paper frontier (Issue 4).
Alternatives & Complements
RePEc / IDEAS · SSRN · Scopus · Google Scholar.
Figures last verified: August 16, 2026