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Plant and Soil Sciences Guide

Research help geared towards the different areas in Plant and Soil Sciences.

Find Books, Theses, and Dissertations

Books often provide a more systematic overview of a research topic than is usually found in articles. Theses and dissertations usually have helpful literature reviews that are more detailed than most articles.

Find Articles and More- Try These Databases First

Find Articles and More - Other Databases

General Search Tips

  • Search Connectors 
    • AND    : narrows the search by finding records with both terms
    • OR      : broadens the search by finding records with either term
    • NOT    : narrows the search by finding records with 1st term but not 2nd
       
  • Truncation
    • Using the asterisk (*) to stand in for all word endings

e.g. forest*  for forest, forests, forestry, forester, etc.

  • Searching by Phrase
    • Place an exact phrase in quotes
       
  • Subject Terms
    • Special indexing terms that may differ from one database to another
    • Found in each record and also on the left by clicking on  “Subjects”
    • Once subject terms for a database have been identified, can change search fields from “Select a Field” to “SU Subjects” (exact wording can vary by database)
       
  • Limit by Year
    • Can be done on the initial search screen or (in EBSCO databases) by using the slider on the right in the results
       
  • Sort by Relevance
    • This is the default in EBSCO databases, but not in Scopus. In Scopus you can change sorting on the results page.