The library session introduces a variety of resources in a very short amount of time. Please check with the reference librarian as you work on the project. Hopefully the “hints” below will be helpful.
How can you find science/medical sources using the library databases?
Remember that you will need scholarly journal articles and these are obtainable through the library databases listed in this Guide.Scopus, Medline or PubMed, and Science Direct identify articles that are only published in scholarly journals. Health Reference Center and Scopus identify scholarly and general articles so you must limit the search to scholarly or peer-reviewed journal articles or in Scopus to articles.
Begin your search using keywords which describe your topic. Connect keywords using and to narrow and focus the search statement –both concepts must appear in each article reference. More than two concepts can be used, for example: gender and lung volume.
Skim the titles of the articles and then read the abstracts for more detail. If an article looks good, check the subjects, descriptors, or other terms assigned by the database to describe the content of the article. Incorporate some of these terms into your search strategy. Also think of other ways to describe your topic, scientific terms or medical terms (check a science or medical dictionary).
Finally, if an article is on-point, click on the authors’ names for additional articles by them. When you have the full article, review the list of references that the authors provide since some of these article titles might be helpful to you, too. You will then need to check the journals list for availability. On the library homepage it is referred to as "Journals."
Which database is best to use?
Many times more than one database will work well for a research topic. But a good rule of thumb is:
Biology/Science
Medicine
Remember that there is overlap with the databases as to the journals covered.
***Another option is to search Scopus which includes biological journals and Medline (PubMed). It also works well with RefWorks.
How reliable are the sources of information?
The databases above identify journal articles that have been written and reviewed by scholars and researchers and then published in well-known and respected journals. These are reliable sources of information. Contrast this with the Internet where anyone can put up a web page. Remember, you must critically evaluate any web site.
What if the Library does not have the journal article that you need?
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a service that will request articles (or books) that the Library does not own. Generally, articles are sent to you electronically in PDF format. Books tend to take longer to receive due to transport and should be returned by the lending library's due date. ILL is available at no cost and up to 5 requests can be submitted per week. Two weeks must be allowed for receipt of material. Plan ahead and Interlibrary Loan should be a terrific resource for your project.