Biology: Major Indexes and Databases
PubMed
1950s-current. A major source for scholarly biomedical literature.
Tips:
- If a phrase is not recognized by the Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) feature then instruct PubMed to bypass ATM and search for a phrase by enclosing it in quotes " ".
- PubMed assumes the AND operator between concepts. When using Boolean operators, enter them in uppercase.
- Truncation turns off ATM and the automatic explosion of a MeSH term. For example, heart attack* will not map to the MeSH term Myocardial Infarction.
- To focus your search by using controlled vocabulary, consult the MeSH Browser.
- To find the full title of a source journal when you have an abbreviated title, search the PubMed Journals Database.
- More tips at Searching PubMed.
- Go shortcut = go/pubmed
Web of Science (Science Citation Index)
1985-current. Together, the Science Citation Index and the Social Sciences Citation Index cover several thousand scholarly journals worldwide. The Science Citation Index segment covers core science and technology research journals. Special features include cited article searching and discovery of related articles through common terms. This is a subscription resource; for off-campus access, enter your Middlebury username and password when prompted. (For references to articles published 1974-1989, use SciSearch via Dialog on Library computers; ask the Science Librarian for assistance.)
Tips:
- Enclose phrases in quotes " " .
- Truncate terms using an asterisk * .
- For more tips, see Web of Knowledge Help or the online Tutorial.
- Go shortcut = go/wos
