Articles - BIOL 101 - Taylor - Maple Woods - LibGuides at Metropolitan Community College Kansas City

Science Databases

Tips:

Try searching for both the common and scientific names of your organisms.
JSTOR's contents are all scholarly journal articles. These will be high quality but may be harder to read if you are not used to academic writing.
Make sure you are not using an article aimed at younger readers.

Science Reference Center (EBSCO)
A comprehensive research database that provides easy access to a multitude of full-text science-oriented content. Contains full text for hundreds of science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, animations, images, and videos. Topics covered include: biology, chemistry, earth & space science, environmental science, health & medicine, history of science, life science, physics, science & society, science as inquiry, scientists, technology, and wildlife.
JSTOR
An archived database of articles from academic journals in many fields, especially history, sociology, political science, business, education, law, economics, ethnic studies, language & literature, philosophy, religion, music, art & art history, film studies, folklore, the performing arts, health, mathematics, and the sciences.

PLOS Biology
The Public Library of Science publishes open access scholarly research on STEM topics.

GreenFILE (EBSCO)
Provides information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. This collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.

General Databases

Academic Search Elite (EBSCO)
A core resource of scholarly information, with thousands of full-text journals, covering all majors and disciplines.
ProQuest Research Library
Provides full-text articles from scholarly journals, magazines, trade publications, and other sources. Wide range of subject areas, including the arts, business, education, health, law, multicultural, psychology, the sciences, and social science.

Ask Yourself . . .

Articles tend to focus on more narrow topics. While scholarly articles go through a peer review process, newspaper and magazine articles do no. Ask yourself the following questions when evaluating articles:

Is the author identified? Are author credentials listed? You can often find information about the author by doing a quick web search.
When was the article written? Is the information current?
Does the article answer your research question?
Look at the length of the article. Is it long enough to provide sufficient content?
What is the level of language: Easy enough for a child? Generally understood by an adult? Scholarly? Technical?
Is the information accurate? You can look at other sources to see if the author's claim is supported by experts in the field.
Does the article contain a list of references?
What is the purpose of the article: To inform? Persuade? Entertain?
What type of publication is it: Scholarly? Professional or technical? Periodical? Newspaper?