PHL 195 Bailey W25: Science info in library database

Guide that accompanies community based learning project on carbon offsets

Science information in PCC Library databases

Library databases provide access to published articles on a wide range of topics, including scientific ones. There are two basic types of articles: 

  • Popular magazine and news articles.  These are written for the general public, and will summarize the results of scientific research studies.
  • Peer reviewed science research articles.  These are written by the scientists who conducted the research.  The articles are written for an audience of other scientists.

The PCC Library website provides access to hundreds of thousands of published magazine and journal articles, including research articles that have gone through rigorous peer reviewed vetting. If you are new to searching library databases, start here: 

See below information about peer review, recommended library databases for science research, and database search tips. 

Library databases for popular science articles

Database search tip: narrowing a topic

If you're getting too much information and too many unrelated results, your research topic may be TOO BROAD. Here are some tips for narrowing down your topic:

  • Add in additional search terms to give your topic some context.
  • Focus on a time period.
  • Focus on a geographic region.
  • Focus on a specific population (teenagers, children, college students, etc.).
  • Limit your search to full-text articles.
  • Limit your search to articles published in scholarly and/or peer-reviewed sources.

EXAMPLE:

Instead of: stress (too broad)

Try this: How have college students used meditation to help reduce stress?

Sample keyword searches:

"college students" AND meditation AND stress

"college students" AND meditation AND "stress reduction"

 

 

Library databases for science research articles

Database power search tips

1. Use quotation marks around two or more words in a search term to locate them as an exact phrase.

2. Break up your question into separate keywords and use different boxes for each idea.

3. Brainstorm synonyms and related concepts and include them in your search using OR.

4. Use an asterisk (*) to locate root words that have different endings.

  • will bring back child, childs, children, childrens, childhood

  • will bring back meditate, meditation, meditators, meditative