SJSU Research Guides: BIOL 54: Human Understanding: Finding Articles

Step-By-Step Guide to Searching Library Databases for Articles

Step 1: Write down your research question or statement (this may be your thesis)

Example: Can we use light therapy to diagnose Parkinson's disease?

Step 2: Identify the 2-3 nouns that are the most important from that research question or statement

Keywords from previous example: Light therapy, Parkinson's Disease

Step 3: Search in a library database (suggestions below) using the 2-3 nouns you have identified. Combine keywords and phrases to search for the specific aspects of your question

What to type into search box from example above: light therapy Parkinson's
Got too many results? Add in another word or consider replacing one of those words with the scientific name and/or synonyms for the words you circled
Not enough results? Remove a word or try replacing one of those words with the scientific name and/or synonyms for the words you circled
Finding articles published between 2010-2016: Use the limiters on the left-hand side to limit the publication date to 2010-2016

Step 4: Read the title and abstracts of the articles that sound relevant

Step 5: Get the entire article

In Biological Abstracts and Web of Science: Click on the "GetText" icon
In Google Scholar: Click on the PDF or HTML link (if available), or "SJSU GetText" link
- To see the SJSU GetText link for full-text access when off-campus, set your preferences in Google Scholar. Watch the Google Scholar video tutorial for a step-by-step view of this process.

Step 6: Make an Interlibrary Loan Request if the article is not available by clicking on "Make A Request"

Biology Databases - Your Best Bets

Use a combination of keywords and phrases to search for the specific aspects of your question.

REMEMBER: A primary source of literature will generally have a "methods" section.

ALSO HELPFUL: Learn how to read a scientific paper (especially as a beginner) and use this worksheet to help you take notes to understand the article and to avoid plagiarism.

Biological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Indexes original research articles in biological and biomedical journals. Includes traditional areas of biology such as botany, zoology, and microbiology, as well as related fields such as biomedicine, agriculture, pharmacology and ecology, interdisciplinary fields.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Scholarly literature search engine. Set your library preferences: On the Google Scholar homepage, go to Scholar Preferences. At Library Links, locate San Jose State University. Add those links, then save the preferences.
PubMed This link opens in a new window
Searches MEDLINE, the leading database of journal articles in the health sciences, including medicine, nursing, the allied health sciences, public health, and the basic sciences. Coverage is 1946 - present.
ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles and ebooks in science, technology and medicine (STM), arts, humanities and social sciences. Click on "Journals and Books" link on the website to filter by subscribed, open access and complimentary access to know what is available to you. Note: You may see a screen from Elsevier asking: “Are you a Human”. It's okay to click on the box. It's a verification process to prevent automated traffic (BOTS) from abusing excessive downloads of PDFs.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
This abstract and citation database covers thousands of scholarly journals, books, and conference proceedings. Covering a broad range of disciplines, Scopus enables one to track, analyze, and visualize research. Output data at the institutional and author levels are available. Authors will find h-index, Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), and citation counts helpful in demonstrating the impact of their work.
Web of Science (and ESI & JCR) This link opens in a new window
Web of Science is a citation database that covers three major tools: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. The complete database covers thousands of scholarly journals from 1975 to the present across a broad range of disciplines. Included in the subscription: Journal Citation Reports and Essential Science Indicators (ESI). Use the ESI Help Guide and JCR Help Guide to learn more. Also included is the Grants Index which is found under the Web of Science core collection drop down menu.