Research Guides: A Guide to Biology Research: Research Databases

Michael Schwartz Library

Steps to Locating Articles on a Topic

1. Search in the appropriate Research Databases using subject terms for your topic.

2. If the article you want is not available in full text in the database or the link is broken, search for the journal title in the A-Z Journal List.

3. If CSU doesn't subscribe to that journal in print or online format (i.e. it is not in our Journal List), you may request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Core Biology Research Databases

BIOSIS Previews This link opens in a new window Combines journal content from Biological Abstracts with supplemental, non-journal coverage from Biological Abstracts/RRM (Reports, Reviews, Meetings).
MEDLINE with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Contains medical-related articles as well as other biology-related information
PubMed This link opens in a new window
Published by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health
Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
See how many times an article has been cited and track a paper both forward and backward in time. Includes biology and other subjects

Additional Biology Research Databases

AGRICOLA This link opens in a new window
BIOSIS Citation Index This link opens in a new window Includes cited references to primary journal literature on biological research, medical research findings, and discoveries of new organisms.
Environment Complete This link opens in a new window
GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
JSTOR Global Plants This link opens in a new window A collection of digitized plant specimens

Native Plants of North America

General Science Databases

PLOS
ScienceDirect
Search for full text of articles of journals that are subscribed to by CSU.
SpringerLink
Search for full text of articles of journals that are subscribed to by CSU.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Indexes, abstracts, and full text for many scholarly publications covering all academic areas of study.

Subject Guide

Peer Reviewed Articles

Peer-reviewed articles are also known as "scholarly" or "refereed" articles. Before being accepted for publication in a journal, they have been reviewed by a panel of experts in that field or on that topic. Peer-reviewed articles are the best available.

A search in Academic Search Complete and other select research databases can be limited to peer-reviewed journal articles by checking off the "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" box under "Limit your results."