Find 4-6 primary research articles in this session

1. Stating your research statement/question: ...Example Research Statement
    - Identify the main search concepts in your statement
    - Breakdown the search concepts into broader, narrower, synonymous terms

2. Browsing journals and Searching for journal articles

A.  Browsing journals  and AccessScience (Encyclopedia)   for topic ideas
 
B.  Searching Journal Databases for Biology  topics
--Checklist: What are Peer Reviewed Research Journals

3. Accessing Full-Text journal articles. If the pdf full-text is not available, do the following:
-- Click on the Check for Full Text link below the citation record of your article.
-- Interlibrary Loan: If full-text is unavailable, click on the Submit Interlibrary Loan Request link.  Note: You will need to login to your MyInterlibraryLoan to proceed

3. Journal Finder - Find a good article? Look at the references given in the article.  Access a given article by seeing if the library has the journal.  Use the Journal Finder link in the blue navigation column of the library website.

4. Forward Citing - Have a good article on your topic?  Find journal articles that cite your article using Google Scholar.  This is useful for finding related articles, but to also give a sense of how "popular" a given article's research findings are in relation to similar research.

Getting Started  - Research Statement

The following simple search statement can be broken down to searchable terms.  Identify main concepts brake them down to synonymous, broader, or narrower terms.

Searchable Terms can be combined by the Boolean search term AND

climate change

Global Warming
Greenhouse effects
Climate modification
extinction
distribution
range

carnivores /large mammals

carnvivora
carnivores
carnivory
meat eaters
predatory animals
mammals
mammalian
polar bears

 

Size

morphology
body mass
body size

•  Journal Databases for Biology http://www.smcvt.edu/library/subject/biology.asp
  All of the databases and indexes below may be reached from the link above this page. 
  
   

  Try the Biology MetaSearch - it is a good tool for starting your research.  Use the individual databases listed below once you have have an understanding of your topic Biology MetaSearch:    Title Keyword Full Text Author      More Search Options

Science Databases

Academic Search Premier	Info
ProQuest Biology Journals	Info
Science Direct	Info
JSTOR	Info
BioOne.1	Info
MEDLINE	Info
AGRICOLA	Info
Academic OneFile	Info
Google Scholar	Info

Academic Search Premier
Interdisciplinary full-text database containing articles from many major Life Science journals.

Example Searches: Account for different spelling and topic terminology in your searches.  Always try a number of different searches.  Note the different results below:

mammal* and "global warming" = 47 hits

mammals and "climat* change" = 138 hits

mammal* and "climat* change" = 207 hits

Why is there a difference in results of the search below? mammal* and "global warming" and "climat* change" = 27 hits mammal* and ("global warming" OR "climat* change*") = 372 hits

mammals and climatic change and carnivor* =11

carnivor* and "climat* change" = 31

body size and carnivor* and (climate change or warming)

[your searches will often be too narrow and you will miss relevant articles OR your searches will be too broad and there is too much material to weed through.  Be comfortable strategizing ways to broaden and narrow your searches]

Other "hints"
- You may restrict your searches to Full text and Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals
- You may save or email your searches in your MyEbscohost

 

Print Reference Materials for the Sciences can be found in the section: Q.  Species can be found in QL.   Botany and Plant topics can be found in QK and SB-SD.  Medicine in the R's

• Species Reference -  QL section for print

  Grizimeks Animal Encyclopedia
  QL 3 .g7813

Electronic and Print Science Reference Sources

Access Science 
Published by McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology.  Excellent authoritative science articles authored by experts in their fields.  Includes dictionary and full length articles.

Biology

Medicine

• General Biology Journals

Bioscience
Academic Search Premier  1992 to present  

American Scientist
Academic Search Premier  2002 to present  

American Scientist
Academic Search Premier  1975 to present  

Environmental Science & Technology
American Chemical Society Web Editions  1996 to present  

National Wildlife
Academic Search Premier  1990 to present  

Nature 

New York Times - Science Desk

*Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: PNAS
National Academy of Sciences  1915 to present 

Science

Science News
Academic Search Premier  1975 to present  

Scientific American
Academic Search Premier  1995 to present 

*Quarterly Review of Biology
EBSCOhost EJS  Your Access: March 2002 to present 

• Molecular Biology  Journals
   
• Cellular Biology Journals

• Genetic Journals
   
• Evolution Journals 

Go to Journal Finder to find more Science Journals

Last update: 02/04/2009