If you’re about to tackle a science research paper, here are some online reference books (eBooks), databases, and web sites that should help you out!
eBooks & Research Databases
The Gale databases are often a great place to start. Everything you find (books, magazine & newspaper articles, pictures, etc.) within these databases have the citations done for you! Log in with the Gale password, then sign in at the top with your Google account so you can highlight, annotate, and save your articles to Google drive. Here are a few that will be the most helpful:
- Gale in Context: Science
- Gale eBooks– all of our research eBooks are here; try the Science or Medicine categories…or just type your topic into the search bar at the top
- Salem eBooks – includes Principles of Botany and Principles of Microbiology (same password as the Gale databases)
- Academic OneFile – primarily academic journals
- Gale Health & Wellness – great for Kinesiology!
- if you’re doing an opinion essay, you might want to check out Opposing Viewpoints
- OR, do a PowerSearch, and search all of the databases & eBooks at the same time!
For a complete list of databases, check out the Library’s Online Resources section and click on Research Databases.
Recommended Web Sites
Hint: when you’re searching Google, trying adding the word “scholarly” after your search terms OR start your search in Google Scholar!
- Science Research Portal – use this like a “Science Google” – once you do a search, you can limit by date range, type of article, and more!
Science and innovation ~ Government of Canada’s Science & Innovation landing page. Check out the links for areas of research, including the Federal Open Science Repository of Canada- National Institute of Health – this is a list of all the branches/institutes (e.g. Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, General Medical Sciences, etc) – choose the most relevant one and then look for “Education” on their web site)
- Science.gov ~ a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results
- NOVA ~ from PBS; the highest rated science series on television and the most watched documentary series on American public television.
- PLOS ONE ~ features reports of original research from the natural sciences, medical research, engineering, as well as the related social sciences and humanities that will contribute to the base of scientific knowledge. Every article that they publish is open-access – freely available online for anyone to use.
- Science Research Publishing ~ an academic publisher of open access journals. It also publishes academic books and conference proceedings. SCIRP currently has more than 200 open access journals in the areas of science, technology and medicine.
- Nature ~ click on the “Explore content” drop-down list.
- Scientific American ~ remember that we have the Scientific American magazine in the library too! Click on The Sciences as a starting point.
- Discover magazine ~ remember that we have the Discover magazine in the library too!
Tools
- advanced Research Notes Worksheet for organizing info~ use this worksheet to collect and organize your research notes. It will make it easier to write your paper later AND keep an accurate list of your sources for your Works Cited
- 3U Bio plant project tips
- Works Cited & Parenthetical referencing:
- Citation Maker (APA)
- Sample Works Cited (APA) with List of Images Used
- parenthetical reference & works cited cheat sheet – APA ~ examples of what citations and parenthetical references should look like for a variety of types of sources
- How to include & cite tables and figures – APA
For more details about APA referencing, check out Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (APA) or the new APA Reference Manual (Writing with Style 808.06615 SZU).
- Evaluating resources using the CRAAP test
- Plagiarism Pitfalls~ it is CRUCIAL for you to properly track, reference, and cite your sources. This handout is a reminder of what to watch out for to avoid unintentionally plagiarizing your papers.
