Engineering & Physical Sciences Librarian
Librarian
Health Information
- CDC: Centers for Disease Control and PreventionThe CDC's homepage, where multiple health and safety topics are covered.
- Access Medicine This link opens in a new windowA reference tool for professionals, academics, and students for authoritative, regularly updated medical information.
- Mayo ClinicA private medical center based in Rochester, Minnesota. They profile different diseases and health conditions on their website.
- Medline PlusHealth information written for the public from the National Library of Medicine. Freely accessible.
Peer-Reviewed Resources
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowScholarly sources on all aspects of the environment, including agriculture, pollution, resources, and much more.
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowIndex to journals in psychology and related disciplines, 1887-present.
- PubMed This link opens in a new windowSearches the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE database, as well as other biomedical / life sciences sources. Users may also search PubMed Central, which is the National Library of Medicine's freely available collection of biomedical and life sciences journal articles. Coverage starts in the 1800s and continues to present day.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowIndexes tens of thousands of scholarly journals across all disciplines, as well as conference proceedings, monographs, and more. Pulls data from several different databases, but is traditionally strong in the sciences. Coverage (in Science Citation Index Expanded) starts in 1900 and continues to present day. Previously known as Web of Knowledge.
Dealing with scientific jargon
It's ok if you don't recognize all of the words in a scientific paper. This is actually a common occurrence! A few tips:
- You don't have to read linearly (that is, from the first sentence, in order, all the way to the last).
- Ask yourself: what question does this paper ask? What's the main point?
- Look for section headings (see below) of interest.
- How to (seriously) read a scientific paperThis is an older (from 2016) but still relevant piece from Science. Scientists at every stage, from students to professors and industry professionals, were asked: how do you read a scientific paper? Their responses are many and diverse.
Understanding the different parts of a scientific paper
Usual parts of an academic paper:
- Abstract - summarizes the research and findings
- Introduction - includes background, history, and rationale for the project described
- Methods - "what did the authors do, and how did they do it?"
- Results - findings of the work
- Discussion - "what does it all mean?" as well as limitations of the work
- Conclusion - summarizes results, and often includes suggestions for future work