Research Guides: Biological Sciences Subject Guide: Find Journal Articles

Google Scholar Search Tips

How to use Google Scholar to find full text articles that the library has paid for?

Go to Google Scholar website.
Click on the title of an article in Google Scholar. If the library has subscribed to that journal, you can access the article directly, when you are on campus (If you are off campus, you will need your MSU NetID and Password to access the article, or you can install VPN).
Click on “Find It@MSState Libraries”. This will open up a dialog box. The Find It button will either connect to the library's online catalog or take you to the InterLibrary Loan request page.

To learn more about searching Google Scholar, check the Google Scholar for Academic Research guide.

Database Search Tips

Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases (“molecular genetics”).

Use Boolean operators to conduct effective searches. There are three Boolean search commands: AND, OR and NOT.

AND command looks for all of the search terms. This searching ensures that all terms are in the results.
OR command looks for one term or the other. This searching will return a large number of results.
NOT eliminates results that contain the specified term.

Looking for journal articles?

To find journal articles, you will need to use the library's online databases . In the databases, you can conduct keyword, author, title, or subject searching.

Always use the Find It button for possible full text online.
If no full-text available online, then use the Find It button to connect to the library's online catalog to see if the library has the journal in print format, so you can locate it in the library.
If the library doesn't subscribe to the journal, you can request the needed article via the inter-library loan service.

Research Databases

The following article databases have useful information related to biological sciences. For best results when off-campus, first log into the MSU Virtual Private Network before clicking on a database.

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Designed for academic institutions, this database is a resource for scholarly research.It supports high-level research in the key areas of academic study by providing journals, periodicals, reports, booksand more.
Biological Abstracts (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Biological Abstracts is a collection of bibliographic references for life science and biomedical research literature, covering peer-reviewed article abstracts from more than 4,300 U.S. and international journals.
BioOne.1 This link opens in a new window
BioOne brings together over 140 society and institutional publishers under one easy to navigate platform. Full-text journals cover the following subject areas: biology; botany; ecology; entomology; mammalogy; microbiology; ornithology; paleontology; and zoology.
Environment Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Environment Complete offers coverage in the areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, and affiliated areas of study. The database includes both full text and indexing for journals and books.
Tutorial: http://support.ebsco.com/help/?int=ehost&lang=en&feature_id=Databases&TOC_ID=Always&SI=0&BU=0&GU=1&PS=0&dbs=eih
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature including scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings.
Tutorial: http://info.scopus.com
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Provides a Google search of scholarly content and literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, abstracts and articles. Set Google preferences to access full-text via the MSU Libraries many databases and journals.
Tutorial: http://library.msstate.edu/content/templates/?a=884

Additional Databases:

AGRICOLA (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Containing bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library, this source provides access to more than 5.2 million citations. The citations are comprised of journal articles, book chapters, theses and much more, all relating to the field of agriculture. Access to AGRICOLA on EBSCO provides a familiar interface for this database.
SciFinder-n [*Registration required see MORE] This link opens in a new window
SciFinder-n is a research discovery application that provides integrated access to a comprehensive and authoritative source of references, substances and reactions in chemistry and related sciences.
*In order to use the web version, faculty, staff and students are required to create an account at the registration link: SciFinder Registration
This MUST be done prior to logging into the above database link. You may only register for an account on campus.
PubMed This link opens in a new window
PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine comprising more than 26 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.
Tutorial: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK3830/

Library update: Recent database changes

Biological Sciences Subject Guide

Google Scholar Search Tips

Database Search Tips

Looking for journal articles?

Research Databases