BIO 3120: Poster assignment (Dr. Canam)

(1) Biosis Previews

Biosis Previews includes scientific literature (scholarly articles, conference proceedings, etc.) covering the breadth of the life sciences disciplines (botany, ecology, genetics, microbiology, molecular biology, zoology, etc.). Coverage from 1969-2019.

Biosis Previews is an index -- it includes records of the published literature and will help you locate full-text documents. Use  to locate your article.

The Basic Search operates much like a Google search: your search is free-form and results are relevancy-ranked. By default, related terms are included in a Basic Search, so word variants are also included in results (e.g., singular and plural forms of a word; some scientific and common names will be included in results if you use one or the other as your search words).



Use the Multi-Field search to wield more control over your results: limit your search words to appear only in the title of results, or search by author, species (organism), or gene name. Results are displayed with the most current items at the top of the page, and it is not possible to rank your results by relevancy.

(2) Biological & Agricultural Index Plus,
(3) Academic Search Complete

In comparison to Biosis Previews, Biological & Agricultural Index Plus is a smaller database with exclusive focus on the life sciences literature. Simultaneously search it and Academic Search Complete, which is a multidisciplinary database with some coverage of the scientific literature. Some full-text content is available in these databases.

(4) Scopus

Scopus is a multidisciplinary database with coverage of the scientific literature. Use  to locate your article.

By default, results are sorted with the most current publications at the top of the list. To see the most relevant results based on your search words, change how the results are sorted by using the "Sort on" option on the search results page.

(5) PubMed

PubMed is a free search portal provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Accessing full text requires subscription (via Booth Library), although some content is made freely available due to government open access policies. Use the "Available @ EIU" filter, as shown in the screen shot above, to see only results with full-text content available to campus users. PubMed searches the biomedical literature.

(6) JSTOR

Like Academic Search Complete, JSTOR is a multidisciplinary database. JSTOR is short for Journal Storage. This database contains deep backfiles of scholarly literature that has been retroactively digitized for easy access. Locate articles published all the way back in the 1800s through to the present. Recently published articles may be embargoed (full-text access withheld for the most current 6 months to 5 years, or occasionally longer).

Use JSTOR to find "the basics" of the scientific literature: in earlier publications, scientists reported on more rudimentary scientific principles as compared to the more complex research articles that are published today.

(7) Google Scholar

Google Scholar searches only the scholarly literature, and results include journal articles, book citations, and more, with the occasional high school science project finding its way into the mix. Advanced search functionality is much more primitive than the above-mentioned library databases, and results tend to focus on quantity over quality. Nonetheless, Google Scholar can be a useful resource in locating scientific literature. Use it in combination with library databases to optimize your search results.

When off campus, link into Google Scholar from Booth Library (use the link above or find it on our A-Z database list). You'll have to sign in using your EIU NetID and password. Then, you'll have full access to hundreds of electronic journal subscriptions in addition to content that's available on the free web.



Access the interlibrary loan article request form here.