Education Resources Information Center

What Education Resources Information Center does

The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a free online digital library of education research and information, established in 1964 and operated as a program of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. It catalogs peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, reports, dissertations, and grey literature from over 1,900 sources spanning 16 education topic areas, and serves a global audience of education researchers, policymakers, educators, and practitioners who access content through the public website eric.ed.gov.

The platform's core technology is a bibliographic database paired with the proprietary ERIC Thesaurus — a controlled vocabulary of descriptors, synonyms, and deprecated terms used for indexing and precise literature retrieval (last updated January 2025). Supporting products include downloadable XML database files segmented by era (1965-1979 through 2020-2023) with monthly incremental updates, an embeddable JavaScript ERIC Widget for third-party sites, an Online Submission System for authors, and a Grantee Submission System that operationalizes compliance with the IES Public Access Policy effective January 2020. Distribution channels include the website, widget, social media, multimedia resources (videos, infographics, webinars), and bulk database downloads.

ERIC's business model is non-commercial: it is funded through U.S. federal appropriations, provides all resources at no cost to users worldwide, and generates no subscription, licensing, or usage revenue. IES grantees and contractors are mandated to submit peer-reviewed manuscripts and research deliverables under the Public Access Policy, with almost 700 publishers having entered agreements to submit on behalf of authors. The customer base comprises IES grantees and contractors (compliance-driven submitters), education researchers (primary searchers), policymakers (evidence consumers), and educators/practitioners (applied users), all served on a self-serve, direct-to-consumer basis.

Name

Education Resources Information Center

Legal name

Education Resources Information Center

Website

https://eric.ed.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

ERIC is a free U.S. Department of Education digital library providing public access to 60 years of curated education research, serving researchers, educators, policymakers, and federal grantees worldwide via its website and downloadable database.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Research Database

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

OER Repositories, Discovery & Metadata Services (EDAGAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs (EDAGAFAJ), Open Educational Resources (OER) & Curriculum Repositories (EDAFACAJ), Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Access Academic Publishing (MPAJABAG)

Keywords

• Education research database
• Digital library platform
• Education literature repository
• Controlled vocabulary thesaurus
• Grey literature indexing

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Public Access Database: ERIC is a free service funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the Institute of Education Sciences. There is no revenue generation as this is a government-operated public resource for education research dissemination.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ERIC is a free digital library of education research and information operated by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) within the U.S. Department of Education. It provides searchable access to over 1,900 journal and non-journal sources spanning 60 years of education literature across 16 topic areas, with a proprietary Thesaurus for precise retrieval, downloadable XML database files, an embeddable widget, multimedia resources, and an online submission system for IES grantees and contractors to comply with the Public Access Policy.

Product overview

ERIC is a digital library platform operated by the Institute of Education Sciences, providing free access to a comprehensive collection of education research and related resources. The core offering consists of the ERIC Digital Library containing millions of education documents, supported by the ERIC Thesaurus for controlled vocabulary-based searching. Additional components include a downloadable ERIC Database (XML format), an embeddable ERIC Widget for third-party websites, ERIC Multimedia (videos, infographics, webinars), and the Online/Grantee Submission System enabling authors and federal grantees to contribute content. The platform indexes journals (via ERIC Journals List) and non-journal sources (via ERIC Non-Journals List) across 16 education topic areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ERIC Digital Library The main ERIC digital library platform providing free access to a comprehensive collection of education research documents, journal articles, and grey literature searchable via the ERIC website, with peer-reviewed and full-text filters.
• ERIC Thesaurus A controlled vocabulary and classification system used to index and search ERIC content, with descriptors, synonyms, and dead terms for precise literature retrieval. Last updated January 2025.
• ERIC Database (Downloadable XML) Downloadable XML database files of ERIC records organized by year ranges (1965-1979 through 2020-2023), updated monthly with new records and annually with master file refreshes (latest annual update January 2024).
• ERIC Widget Embeddable JavaScript widget that allows third-party websites such as LibGuides and educational resources to provide access to ERIC resources and search functionality, automatically updated as new content is released.
• ERIC Multimedia Collection of videos, infographics, and recorded webinars designed to educate researchers, students, and educators about ERIC tools, including the 60-year anniversary video and the Guide to the ERIC Metrics Reporting Portal.
• Online Submission System Web-based system for individual authors and IES grantees/contractors to submit education research documents for inclusion in the ERIC collection.
• Grantee Submission System Specialized submission pathway for Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grantees and contractors to comply with the IES Public Access Policy, requiring submission of peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication.
• ERIC Journals List Comprehensive catalog of peer-reviewed journals indexed by ERIC, with sources organized by topic area and PDF documentation of currently cataloged journals.
• ERIC Non-Journals List Catalog of non-journal sources including grey literature, reports, conference papers, and other educational materials from federal agencies, universities, and research organizations.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Almost 700 PublisherscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2020Publishers of almost 700 journals and publications have entered agreements with IES to submit grantee work to ERIC on behalf of authors, facilitating compliance with the Public Access Policy effective January 2020.
• Institute of Education Sciences (IES)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerERIC operates as a program within IES, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. IES establishes the public access policy requiring grantee submissions.
• U.S. Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerERIC is an investment of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, providing the official library of education research.
• National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIES National Center whose publications are indexed in ERIC and submits work on behalf of grantees.
• National Center for Education Research (NCER)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIES National Center whose publications are indexed in ERIC and submits work on behalf of grantees.
• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIES National Center whose publications are indexed in ERIC and submits work on behalf of grantees.
• National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIES National Center whose publications are indexed in ERIC and submits work on behalf of grantees.
• What Works ClearinghousecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAn IES investment under NCEE that provides evidence reviews in ERIC, helping educators identify effective education practices.
• 10 Regional Educational LaboratoriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAppalachia, Central, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast & Islands, Northwest, Pacific, Southeast, Southwest, and West - IES-funded labs that submit research to ERIC.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• JSTOR: JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources serving researchers and educators. Like ERIC, it is a curated, searchable repository of scholarly content indexed with controlled vocabulary, but covers multiple disciplines rather than specializing in education.
• ProQuest: ProQuest operates one of the largest aggregations of academic and educational research databases, including the Education Collection directly overlapping with ERIC. Both serve researchers, educators, and students seeking peer-reviewed literature in education.
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): DOAJ is a curated directory indexing open access scholarly journals across disciplines including education. Like ERIC, it focuses on quality-controlled open access content with metadata-driven discovery, though ERIC additionally includes grey literature and reports.
• EBSCO Information Services: EBSCO provides academic research databases (including Education Source) used by libraries worldwide. ERIC and EBSCO Education Source overlap in indexing peer-reviewed education journals and providing controlled-vocabulary search for the same researcher and librarian customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Google Scholar: Google Scholar is the dominant free academic search engine indexing scholarly literature broadly. It overlaps directly with ERIC's discovery function for education research but offers wider cross-disciplinary coverage and modern search UX without ERIC's curation layer.
• Web of Science (Clarivate): Web of Science is a premium subscription-based citation database covering sciences, social sciences, and arts/humanities including education. It overlaps with ERIC on indexed education journals and citation-based discovery but operates as a commercial incumbent with paid access.
• Scopus (Elsevier): Scopus is a comprehensive abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, including education journals. It serves the same researcher and institutional customer segments as ERIC but as part of a broader multidisciplinary portfolio behind a subscription paywall.

Others

• Crossref: Crossref is a DOI registration agency and metadata infrastructure provider underpinning scholarly publishing discovery. It is an enabling peer to ERIC, providing the persistent identifiers and citation metadata that ERIC records reference and that integrate with ERIC's search infrastructure.

Regional players

• PubMed Central: PubMed Central is the NIH-operated free full-text archive of biomedical and life-sciences literature. It is structurally analogous to ERIC — a U.S. federal open-access research repository with mandated submissions, controlled vocabulary (MeSH), and free public access — though focused on biomedicine rather than education.

Emerging players

• Semantic Scholar: Semantic Scholar is an AI-powered academic search tool from the Allen Institute that indexes scholarly literature with semantic search and citation analysis. It competes with ERIC for researcher attention with modern AI features that ERIC's legacy interface lacks.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ERICinfo
• Facebookfacebook.com/SearchEduResources

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Education Resources Information Center