PubMed Central: free digital archive of full-text biomedical and life sciences journal literature from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Full-text articles for some journals are not available until one year after publication.
- Enter search terms for your research question in the search box
- Put parentheses ( ) around terms for the same concept
- Put ORs between terms for the same concept
- Put ANDs between concepts
- Put quotes ( “ ” ) around phrases
- Use an asterisk ( * ) to search for multiple words from the same root, e.g. distract* will find articles with the words: distract, distracted or distracting
Example:
(distract* OR "task interference" OR "divided attention") AND (concentration OR memory OR cognit*)
[Note: the words AND and OR must be CAPITALIZED in this database]
- To limit your search to research articles:
- Click on the Limits tab
- Scroll down to the “Limit by Article Type”, and click in the check box for “Research & Review Articles”
- To search, click on the GO button or press Enter
- To determine if articles are research studies:
Look for articles in scholarly journals that include the following sections:
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- Literature review: unlabeled introductory section that discusses previous research on the same topic
- Methods (may include "Procedure", "Participants", "Measures", etc.) - always labeled
- Results - always labeled
- Discussion - always labeled
- Select articles you are interested in by clicking in the check box to the left of each article citation
- You can organize all selected articles onto the Clipboard by clicking the “Send to” pull-down menu at the top of the results list and then select “Clipboard”
- To email selected (checked) articles, click the “Send to” pull-down menu at the top of the results list and then select “E-mail”
Google Scholar: Google’s academic search engine accesses a wide range of academic articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, and universities. Articles that are accessible in full-text include a link to the right side of the article title. The majority of sources are usually abstracts (summaries) of articles, which do not provide the full-text of the article (or a significant charge is required for the full article). In many cases, you may be able to retrieve the full-text of these articles by using the Skyline College Library Article Delivery Service.
· Put ORs between terms for the same concept
· Put quotes ( “ ” ) around phrases
· Example:
distraction OR "task interference" OR "divided attention" concentration OR memory OR cognition
[Note: the words AND and OR must be CAPITALIZED in this search engine]
ProQuest Biology Journals - on or off campus w/ library card
Full-text biology-related journal articles
Click on the link above to open a new database window or enter a basic search in box below.
- To search for more than one "concept", click on Advanced Search tab at the top of the page
- To search only for articles that include the full text (the whole article) in the database, check the "Full text articles only" box next to: "Limit results to:" (below the date range box)
- To limit the search to scholarly journals, check the "Scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed " box (below the "Full text articles only" box)
- To find research studies, click in the first search box and enter the words: study OR research
- In the second search box, type the search word(s) for the first concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept, e.g.: distract* OR "task interference" OR "divided attention"
(Use an * to search for multiple words from the same root, e.g. distract* will find articles with the words: distract, distracted or distracting.)
- On the third line, type the search word(s) for the second concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept, e.g.: cognitive ability OR processing speed OR cognition OR memory OR reasoning
- Once you find one article specifically on your topic, click on any relevant subject headings (at the bottom of the article page) to find more articles on that topic.
- To determine if articles are research studies:
Look for articles in scholarly journals that include the following sections:
-
- Literature review: unlabeled introductory section that discusses previous research on the same topic
- Methods (may include "Procedure", "Participants", "Measures", etc.) - always labeled
- Results - always labeled
- Discussion - always labeled
- To print or e-mail an article, click on the print or e-mail buttons at the top of the article.
EbscoHost databases - on campus or off-campus w/ library card
Wide range of articles (& other documents) from academic journals, popular magazines, e-books & other sources
Click on the link above to open a new database window or enter a basic search in box below
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Enter a basic single-concept search in the search box above; a new database window will open with search results (from off campus, library bar code number will be required before database results are shown) -OR- Click on the link above to open a new database window
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To search for more than one "concept", click on Advanced Search below the Search box (in the database window)
-
To find research studies, click in the first search box and enter the words: study OR research
-
In the second search box, type the search word(s) for the first concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept, e.g. parents OR mothers OR fathers. Use an * to search for multiple words from the same root, e.g. child* will find articles with the words: child or children. Use quote marks (“ ”) around search phrases (multiple words tha should be searched together), e.g. “child development”
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On the third line, type the search word(s) for the second concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept.
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Click the “Search” button to begin a search
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When the results page is displayed, click on an article title to see detailed information and a summary of the article.
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To see the full-text of an article, click on PDF Full Text or HTML Full Text at the left of the detailed information page
-
Once you find one article specifically on your topic, click on any relevant subject headings (near the top of the article page) to find more articles on that topic.
-
To find research studies:
Look for articles in scholarly journals that include the following sections:
-
Literature review: unlabelled introductory section that discusses previous research on the same topi
-
Method(s) (may include "Procedure", "Participants", "Measures", etc.) - always labele
-
Results - always labele
-
Discussion - always labeled
-
To print or e-mail an article, click on the print or e-mail buttons at the right of the article.
