Key Resources
For articles describing primary research using scientific methods, written by experts in the field or scientists, try these biomedical, biology and life sciences databases:
- Knovel Library This link opens in a new windowInteractive ebooks and databases for scientific and engineering information.
- Engineering Village This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive interdisciplinary database focused on engineering and computer science. Engineering Village contains the latest academic articles, conference papers and proceedings, dissertations, government reports, book chapters and more.
- Web of Science, Core Collection 1975-present This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science is an interdisciplinary database that indexes over 11,000 scholarly journals (1975-present). Use for citation tracking, finding seminal literature, data visualizations, author alerts, institutional affiliations, and impact factors.
- PubMed (NU customized) This link opens in a new windowMore than just medical literature, PubMed was developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and publishers of life sciences literature. PubMed consists of 34 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals and online books. While the database itself is a free web resource, the articles within are not always freely available. This link will prompt you to login with your Northeastern username and password to view articles from Northeastern-subscribed journals.
Tackling a new topic?
Try looking for a review article first. Review articles attempt to summarize the state of research on a scientific topic. While lengthy, & not generally including the very latest research, review articles are a great way to start to get a handle on a topic.
Don't overlook the literature cited at the end of the review - the bibliography contains a wealth of information about the key discoveries & main researchers in the field.
Most databases (including PubMed & Web of Science below) will allow you to limit your search to include only review articles or literature reviews.
Featured resource: JoVE
JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) is a science video resource that includes a variety of resources for use in the classroom and in the lab. It has two components:
- JoVE Science Education (Opens in new window)Teaching-focused videos including concept animations, ‘scientist in action’ videos to see concepts applied, and lab manual videos that cover preparation procedures for common labs
- JoVE Video Journals (Opens in new window)A peer-reviewed video methods journal, consisting of video demonstrations and detailed text protocols of new and standard methods in physical and life sciences. Students and researchers can see the details of experiments and concepts, in addition to text-based descriptions.
Below are a few links to components of JoVE relevant for Biology:
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