Biology 191
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Top Recommended Databases
- Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
Search scholarly journals, books, and proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities and navigate the full citation network. Search across all author and author affiliations, track citation activity with Citation Alerts, and see citation activity and trends with Citation Report.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
ScienceDirect publications cover a wide range of subjects in engineering, physical sciences, life sciences, health sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
Note: Boise State does not subscribe to all content.
- BioOne Complete This link opens in a new window
Browse more than 200 subscribed and open-access resources in biological, ecological, and environmental sciences.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
A leading multidisciplinary research database. Includes full-text peer-reviewed journals, magazines, newspapers, and other valuable resources.
- PubMed This link opens in a new window
Search millions of citations and abstracts for biomedical and life sciences literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books with PubMed. Full text links may be present for some materials when available from PubMed Central or the publisher's website.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Browse scholarly journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and basic sciences from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication. JSTOR now includes Artstor, collections of high-quality images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences disciplines, curated from leading museums and archives around the world.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Search scholarly literature across a wide variety of disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other websites. Visit the Electronic Resources LibGuide-Google Scholar page to learn more about adding Find it at Boise State! library links to your Google Scholar search.
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Films on Demand is a digital video streaming service that offers access to educational videos from a variety of producers including A & E, PBS, the BBC, National Geographic, HBO Documentary Films, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, and more.
- Biological and Agricultural Index Plus This link opens in a new window
A database of full-text articles, indexing and abstracts from essential biology and agricultural research journals. Topics include botany, ecology, environmental science, food sciences, forestry, genetics, microbiology, soil science, zoology, and more.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
A collection of encyclopedias and reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
- Oxford Reference Online Premium This link opens in a new window
Online reference resources spanning 25 different subject areas.
Article Databases vs. Google
The purpose of reading, understanding, and synthesizing articles is that through that process you will learn that material. Your instructors will know if you Googled the information, and copied it into your work. Not only will your work be incorrect, but that is plagiarism. By going through the process of searching and reading articles you learn. What is the difference between Googling and using a Database?
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Databases |
Web pages |
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Databases contain authoritative information written by experts. |
Web pages are written by anyone, not always experts. |
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The articles in the databases contain facts that have been verified as much as possible. |
Web pages do not always contain facts that are verified. Often they are opinions or ads. |
| Some databases have citation tools that will help you cite the information. |
Web pages can be difficult to cite as there is often limited information. |
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Databases will save you time by finding valid information faster than a web search. |
Web pages are difficult to sift through to locate one that suits your needs. |
Popular Vs. Scholarly Articles
| Popular Magazine Articles | Scholarly Journal Articles | |
| Author |
Usually freelance journalists |
Experts in the field |
| Peer Reviewed? | No | Yes |
| References? | Not usually |
Yes, several citations up to several pages of citations |
| Publication Frequency | Weekly | Monthly/several times a year/once a year |
| Length | Shorter | Several pages up to several dozen pages |
| Advertising | Lots; general | Fewer; Subject-specific ads |
Search Tips
- Connect search terms with Boolean operators (AND/OR/NOT): brain AND (cancer OR neoplasm)
- Search phrases using quotation marks: "cell biology"
- Use asterisk to search for multiple word endings: biolog* will find biology, biologist, biologists, biological
Journal Titles Search
Search for Library Materials
Finding Publication Information
- Many databases contain information regarding the publication.
- Most publications have their own website--just Google the journal title!
- Use Ulrich's Periodicals Directory