LibGuides: Genetics: Journals & Databases

Article Databases

Article databases list and classify articles from scholarly publications, primarily peer-reviewed journals. Different databases cover different ranges of publications, depending on their subject matter and the scope of the database. Databases link through to the Library's e-journals collections for full article access wherever possible.

PubMed
Covers biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books.
-Date range 1960 onwards
Web of Science Core Collection
Multidisciplinary, high-impact journals in science, social science, and the arts & humanities. Date range 1900 onwards.
Scopus
Multidisciplinary sciences coverage. Incorporates the ScienceDirect e-journals collection. Date range 1823 onwards.
BIOSIS Citation Index
A citation database covering all major areas in the life sciences, with broad coverage in molecular and cell biology, pharmacology, endocrinology, genetics, neurosciences, infectious diseases, ecology and organismal biology.
EMBASE
Coverage of journals in biomedicine, with a particular emphasis on pharmacology, drug research and toxicology. Emphasis on Evidence Based Medicine (EBM), systematic reviews and medical devices. Uses the EMTREE thesaurus for subject headings.
Medline
Date range 1947 onwards. Premier literature database for medicine, nursing, dentistry, and the preclinical sciences.
JStor Global Plants
A database of digitized plant specimens contributed from the collections of over 300 herbaria worldwide. It also includes a number of reference works and primary sources, such as collector's diaries and correspondence, and photographs.
Science Direct
Full-text, peer reviewed journals, books, and reference works. Covers a broad range of subjects in the Social Sciences and Humanities, Health Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering.
Zoological Record (Web of Science)
Provides comprehensive coverage of zoological literature from 6,500+ international journals, review annuals, monographs, meeting proceedings, books, and reports.
SciFinder (from CAS)
First time users must register (see below). A research discovery tool that allows you to explore the CAS databases for literature from many scientific disciplines including biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, materials science, and agricultural science.
SciFinder (from CAS) [registration]
First-time users must register at this site before accessing ScFinder.

Assess your findings

Evaluating and thinking critically about sources of information are important skills to develop and apply while undertaking research.

Not all information is reliable and appropriate for academic work, and not all information is relevant to your particular topic.

You should challenge and reflect on information that you find; don’t just accept everything you read.

Rauru Whakarare Evaluation Framework

Assess sources, based on:
OROKOHANGA - ‘The Origins’: The source of the information
MANA - ‘The Authority’ of the information
WHAKAPAPA - ‘The Background’ of the information
MĀRAMATANGA - ‘The Content’ and usability of the
information
ARONGA - ‘The Lens’ or objectivity of the information

Tutorial link

Work through this tutorial to develop your skills in evaluating information that you find online:

SIFT - Evaluating Information Tutorial

Even though the library databases are good sources of information, we still need to evaluate that information before we decide to use it. You can do this by asking the following questions:

Is the information relevant to your topic?
Who are the authors, are they experts in the field? Who do they work for? What else have they written?
What evidence is given, what references are given, and what methodology is used?
How is the study funded? Is there a bias?
When was the information written, is it still relevant? Has it been updated or amended in light of new evidence?

How to evaluate websites

Use the acronym BADURL to help you evaluate online sources:
B ... Bias
A ... Authority
D ... Date
U ... URL
R ... Relevance
L ... Links

Work through this tutorial to develop your skills in evaluating information that you find online:

TRAAP Test

Or apply these terms to assess if the information you have found answers your research question.

Timeliness

Relevance

Authority

Accuracy

Purpose

Download the TRAAP Test Questions

Here are some resources to help develop your evaluating skills:

For a simple 'commonsense' approach to evaluating claims made by the news media, read this short article by Doug Specht & Julio Gimenez from the University of Westminster, and pay close attention to the 6 'steps for reading like a scientist'.
If you need to verify a claim, you can check it on a fact-checking website. Check out this guide to Fact Checkers, curated by the University of California Berkley Library, for ideas on what websites to use if you are not sure.
Work through this excellent module on 'evaluating information and critical thinking' created by The University of Sheffield Library.
Check out this fun, short, easy game, created by a Canadian civics charity organisation 'CIVIX'. The game is designed to improve your verifying sources skills, by teaching you tricks for checking a claim, a source and an image: FAKEOUT

If the article you need is not online...

Try these options:

Library Search | Ketu
Search the journal title to see if Otago holds the hardcopy of the issue you need.
Interloans
If Otago does not hold the issue in hardcopy, submit an Interloans request for the article. Staff will try to get the article for you from another Library. Article requests are free.