These are the top databases for finding articles for your projects in BIMM101.
Resources with a triton icon mean that you need to have your off-campus computer configured for access.
BIOSIS coverage is from 1926 to present and includes around 6,000 journals, conference proceedings, books, & technical reports in all aspects of biological sciences. The BIOSIS Citation Index database is an excellent database for all biological information, including marine biology, biological oceanography, marine ecology, developmental biology, and molecular biology. The platform also includes a version called BIOSIS Previews which lacks some cited-reference search abilities.
Covers over 5,700 journals in the biomedical and health sciences and years covered late 1940's - present, with additional older medical literature selectively added. Search using keywords or the controlled vocabulary called MeSH. PubMed will automatically match your keyword terms to MeSH terms. For additional tips, see the Library's PubMed page.
Indexes over 18,000 journals in all subjects (coverage back to 1900 for science and social science journals), as well as 80,000 books and more than 180K conference proceedings. Includes the popular "cited reference search" to identify papers which have cited a previously published work or author. Can also sort by "times cited" and find related articles based on commonly cited works.
BrowZine is a journal browsing service for computers or tablets that uses a bookshelf style display for journals you can browse online via our subscriptions. You do need to be connected to the VPN or campus network.
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Reading scientific articles is a skill that you develop. Unlike a book chapter or magazine article you might read from start to finish, scientific journal articles (particularly research articles) are organized in a way that facilitates a more selective reading process, i.e. skimming and/or reading sections in a different order.
There is no single way to correctly read a scientific article. Even the researchers you're working with (PI, postdocs, grad students) may their own way of breaking down and reading articles, both within and outside of their field. Along with asking about their practices, here are some other resources:
In most of our databases, you'll see this button next to each reference: 
Clicking the Get it at UC button may open up the article automatically, or you will see options to get the article:
- Online, if available (usually displays automatically, if not use the "Get it Online from" section to link to article)
- In print ("Find a Copy")
- Via interlibrary loan ("Request it" section) if we don't have the article.
Most of the research articles you will find via the databases listed at right will be peer reviewed. Here are some types of articles to watch out for that may not have gone through peer review:
