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Information about journals in your field.

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UofA databases that can help you to find citing articles for those papers you already know about.

Reference uses a Journal title abbreviation? Search for the full title with PubMed Journals.

Library services for the Sciences: FAQs

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You might also like to take a look at:

  • Guide for postgraduates and staff
  • Scientific writing guides
  • Guide to patents
  • Keep track of your reading and references with EndNote
  •  Tutorial: finding information for advanced level students
  • Tutorial: how to find books and journals (beginners)
  • Instructions to Authors in the Health Sciences: information on getting your article published for over 3,500 journals
  • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Information Sources

    Contents

    Recommended databases

    ResourceAboutStrengths
    /specialty
    Academic Onefile Broad coverage, not always of top-shelf journals. Strengths in physical sciences, technology, medicine, & social sciences. General
    Academic Search Premier Broad coverage of all academic areas, not always of top-shelf journals.

    General

    Animal behaviour

    Agricola Useful for simple searches, covering agriculture and associated disciplines. Mostly 1970+.
    Agriculture
    AANRO
    Australian Agriculture and Natural Resources Online Database

    Incorporates Australian Bibliography of Agriculture (ABOA), Australian Rural Research in Progress (ARRIP) and Streamline.

    Australian content

    Agriculture

    Natural resources management

    Agriculture & Natural Resources

    Australian agriculture. From 1975+

    Agriculture

    Natural resources management

    Australian content

    ANR-IndexAustralian agriculture and natural resources.

    Agriculture

    Natural resources management

    Australian content

    ANR-Research ArchiveArchived Australian primary production projects including water and vegetation studies as well as agriculture.

    Australian content

    Natural resources

    Agriculture

    APA-FT
    (formerly APAIS)

    Australian database covering mostly social sciences, and scientific topics of public interest. Many of the journals it indexes are not academic, so it should be used with caution. From 1978+ and full text from 1995.

    Australian content

    Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts

    Part 1: Biological Sciences and living resources (ASFA1) Covers all aspects of aquatic biology. 1971+

    Part 3: Aquatic pollution and environmental quality (ASFA3) Covers all aspects of aquatic pollution with special emphasis on biological aspects. 1990+

    Aquatic biology

    Botany (aquatic plants)

    Ecology

    Australian science index Print source. Very useful for older Australian material. The index is a bit inconsistent, so check all synonyms. More information...

    Older Australian materials

    General

    Print

    Bibliography of genetic variation in natural populations
    Produced by Fred Allendorf, from University of Montana This database is big on fish genetics

    Fish genetics

    Biosis Previews

    Key database covering millions of citations to life sciences journal articles from 1980 to the present.

    Key database

    Agriculture

    Aquatic biology

    International with Australian content

    Animal behaviour

    Botany

    Chemistry

    Biochemistry

    Ecology

    CAB Abstracts Information on agriculture and ecology. From 1910+

    Key database

    Agriculture

    Aquatic biology

    Botany

    Ecology

    Ei Compendex Web

    (Computerized engineering index)

    Covers a wide range of engineering topics. Includes material on environmental engineering, and genetic engineering. From 1980+

    Environmental engineering

    Genetics

    CSIRO indexPrint source. Useful for older Australian material. It covers CSIRO published papers, reports, and translations made from foreign journals. More information... Older Australian materials
    Current Contents ConnectCovers a wide range of disciplines including Agriculture, Biology, Environmental Sciences, Clinical Medicine, and Life Sciences. Very up to date. General
    ENDANGER: Threatened species in Australia: a select bibliographyPublished & unpublished material on Australian threatened flora and fauna and related topics. Sources include books, chapters in books, journals, newspapers, conference proceedings, theses, and some non-book material.Australian content
    Fluid Abstracts: Civil EngineeringPrint database covering all aspects of flowing fluids in the natural environment. 1991-1999. More information...

    Fluid flow

    Ocean engineering

    GeoBase Covers ecology, plus physical and social geography. From 1980+

    Key database

    International with Australian content

    Aquatic biology

    Botany

    Ecology

    GeoRef References to the world's literature in geology. A huge database on the earth sciences including palaeontology and evolution. From 1785+  
    Government Reports Announcements (and annual index)Print resource listing work done for the U.S. government, and on U.S. government grants. Print version,  from 1971+

     
    Medline / PubmedMedical & biomedical sciences. We generally recommend using PubMed over Medline.

    Need help using Pubmed? Try the homegrown BSL PubMed tutorial or the official PubMed tutorial

    Alternatively you can use:

    Medline via ScienceDirect
    Medline via Web of Knowledge

    Genetics

    Chemistry

    Biochemistry

    Meteorological and Geoastrophysical AbstractsPrint resource that covers the atmospheric environment. Coverage: 1950-1998. More information...
    Oxford JournalsSearch all Oxford Journals directly, 
    PsycINFO Covers all aspects of psychology including animal behaviour. From 1980+
    Older information available in print as Psychological abstracts from 1927+
    Animal behaviour
    Reef
    (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Province Database)
    References to published and unpublished materials relating to the GB Reef, and the Marine Park Authority. 1982+ Australian content
    ScienceDirect Search ScienceDirect (Elsevier) journals directly.
     
    SciFinder Web & Scholar Anything even remotely to do with chemistry is included here. Full searching from 1967 onward, and more limited searching from 1907-1966.

    Chemistry

    Biochemistry

    Ecology

    Scopus A huge database of citations covering life sciences, medical sciences, and other science and social science topics. Best for 1996 onwards. It's useful for finding finding citing articles to papers you know about already. Brief guide on searching Scopus.

    Key database

    Cited reference searching

    General

    Australian content

    SpringerLink Search all Springer Journals directly
     
    Streamline (Australia's natural resources database) Covers all aspects of natural resources management of land, vegetation and water in Australia. Some international material included if written by Australians. 1982+

    Australian content

    Natural resources management

    Water and Climate BibliographyComprehensive coverage of all aspects of water.
    Academic references pertaining to climate change and freshwater resources.
    Water
    Water Resources AbstractsComprehensive coverage of all aspects of water. 1992+

    Aquatic biology

    Ecology

    Web of Science

    Find papers that cite known works. Online from 1980+.

    Print version, Science citation index covers 1970-1993.

    Key database

    Cited reference searching

    General

    Australian content

    Wiley Interscience Search all Wiley journals directly
     
    Zoological Record Comprehensive coverage of zoological topics including peer reviewed and popular literature. Includes humans as hosts for animals, anthropological aspects of zoology, and evolution. Online version 1978+. Print version 1870+.

    Key database

    Zoology

    International with Australian content

    Animal behaviour

    Aquatic biology

    Ecology

    Tips for finding useful articles!

    • Use alternative spelling, e.g. behavior vs behavior

    • Brainstorm alternative terms and include them in your search (e.g. common vs scientific names)

    • Get to know truncation. Truncation is where you cut off a word at a particular point, so that your search will cover all endings of the word, e.g. fish* will find fish, fishes, fisheries, fishing... The most common truncation symbol is the asterisk *, but it does vary depending on which database you're searching - always check the help pages.

    • Only the most relevant databases are listed here. You may also want to take a look through other resource guides to view resources recommended for other areas (e.g. Environmental studies, Geology or Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dentistry (for animal dentition).

    Advice and assistance

    To find out about advanced search techniques, or to discover more about the range of Library resources, please contact Ursula Henderson, Research Librarian for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

    For general advice or assistance with using the Library please ask at the Research Help Desk, call us on +61 8 8303 5372 or send an email to library@adelaide.edu.au. Detailed services and resources information can be found on the Library A to Z. There is also an ever expanding range of online tutorials and demonstrations