Best Bets
Not sure where to start your research? If you're looking for articles, here are some great databases to try:
- PubMedDeveloped and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Contents: Citations, abstracts, and full-text articles, biomedical literature, and books.
Need search tips? Take a look at our YouTube video on how to use PubMed. - Biological Abstracts (EBSCO)Produced by the Web of Science Group, this database covers biology and life sciences, including biological and biomedical research, pharmacological studies, and discoveries of new organisms. Contains specialized indexing including BIOSIS and MeSH terms.
Contents: Citations and abstracts.
Note: Access is limited to 10 users at a time.
- PLoS ONE: Public Library of ScienceAn international, peer-reviewed, open-access online publication for all scientific disciplines. Associated scientific content available at this site include PLoS Biology, PLoS Medicine, PLoS Genetics, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, PLoS Pathogens, and PLoS Computational Biology.
- JSTORIncludes archival journal collections in the Arts & Sciences and Life Sciences covering language and literature, history, economics, political science, and health sciences.
Contents: Full-text articles and books. - ScienceDirectSubjects covered include biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, environmental science, mathematics, medicine, neuroscience, nursing, physics, education, and psychology.
Contents: Abstracts and full-text articles from scientific, technological, and medical scholarly journals and reference books published by Elsevier.
Finding a Topic
Sometimes finding a topic can be easy: you may have heard a story on the news, read an article in a newspaper or science blog. If you haven't already seen something that interests you, you can turn to popular science sites for inspiration. If you find a useful article, you can follow up on their sources. Here are some places you can start:
- BBC EarthStories about recent scientific discoveries. Includes great photos!
- New ScientistA slightly more scientific source but still very readable! Look here for topics and articles.
- New York Times - Science SectionClear, well-written reviews of recent scientific research.
- Science NewsScientific research written in easy-to-understand language.
- Scientific AmericanEasy-to-read articles on recent discoveries in science and technology.
- SmithsonianWell-written popular science on a variety of topics.
Reading a Scientific Paper
If you haven't read an article from a peer-reviewed science journal yet, or if you have trouble making sense of them, check out the guide below. It has some great tips for reading and understanding science articles!
- How to Read and Understand a Scientific ArticleA clear guide to reading and understanding science articles. Written by Dr. Jennifer Raff at the University of Kansas.
