Researching in the Sciences can be a bit different than research you've done in other classes. Most scientific research you use should be recent (within 5 years). Here are a few tips to help you find worthwhile things:
Unless you need to search an individual journal title, you will be using a database to conduct your search. The databases contain numerous (1000s) of individual titles that you can search at one time. The library databases are paid subscriptions and can only be accessed by PA Students, faculty and community.
You should not just use JStor for this project!
The following are recommended databases for your paper/project:
| Access Science | A good database to start with if you are still defining your topic or learning the basics of a subject area. Gathers and synthesizes vast amounts of information, and organizes it to give you fast, easy and accurate access to authoritative articles in all major areas of science and technology. |
| Scientific American Online | Scientific American is a scientific magazine specializing in articles that bridge knowledge between professional scientists and the public. This online version of the journal carries the full-text of Scientific American back to 1993. Our archive includes all the results from Scientific American as well as their special publications. |
| Proquest Science Journals | This science specialized database indexes over 2.7 million articles from the applied and general sciences. You will need to pay attention to your search terms because simply entering your topic may result in too many hits. Try adding some specifics such as geographic location or major researchers in the field. |
| ScienceONLINE | ScienceONLINE is the online repository for the journal Science. The online version contains articles going back all the way to 1880! Science is one of the world's premier journals offering cutting edge original research in all areas of the Natural Sciences. Searching the database is a little cumbersome and can require some patience. See a librarian for help! |
| ScienceDirect | ScienceDirect is a comprehensive scientific database containing articles from over 2500 different scientific journal titles in many diverse fields. You can help narrow your search by choosing advanced search and limiting your search parameters to the abstract and title as well as the appropriate subject field. You will find the more detailed you get, the more accurate your results. We receive the current 5 years of articles in full-text. |
| HighWire Press | Hosted by Stanford University, HighWire Press indexes over 1300 journals in the Sciences. It is recomended that you start a search in the abstract and title fields. Your results will indicate the link to the article and any associated costs. Many of the articles are free. Before paying for any articles, try the journal finder or speak to a librarian. |
| Directory of Open Access Journals | The Directory of Open Access Journals provides searching in over 2000 open access (i.e., free) journals in scientific and scholarly areas. In order to search for articles, use the link on the left-hand side. This database covers other areas beside Science, but has been fruitful in the past. |
To see a chart of all the databases the OWHL subscribes to, visit the E-Resources A-Z page.