BIO 390 - Fall 2024 - Biology Research Guide - NEIU Libraries Research Guides at NEIU Libraries

The Top 3 Tips for Accessing Online Resources at NEIU

If you remember only 3 things, let it be these:

Always, always, always start your research at the NEIU Libraries home page.
Our catalog and A-Z databases list provide special links that identify you as an NEIU student.
Use your NEIU NetID and password to log in to library resources if off campus.
UTS refers to this as your "User ID" (as opposed to the NEIU ID number, which they call the "University ID"). Neither of these is your email address. Leave off the @neiu.edu.
Frustrated? Ask for help!
Sometimes our systems can be a little confusing. Not finding what you need? Contact me!

Basic Database Searching

"Database"?

NEIU Libraries subscribes to dozens of search tools that are not freely available online. We pay annual subscription fees for these resources. You can access them anytime, from anywhere with your NEIU NetID and password.

Why use these?

The content can be limited to peer-reviewed or scholarly journals, which is what many instructors want you to use in academic papers.
Databases offer advanced search features that make searching more efficient.
Many of the subscriptions include full text articles.

How do I choose?

Consider the level of the course.
Consider the type of information you want.
Consider how many references you need.

Database Comparison

Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window References to articles from over 10,000 full text journals on a wide range of academic areas. Included is a searchable collection of images plus videos from the Associated Press from 1930 to the present.
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Covers nearly any topic
Includes works for the general public and for experts
Content may or may not be peer-reviewed/scholarly
Many of the articles are available immediately in this full-text database

Biological Abstracts This link opens in a new window References to articles on all disciplines in the life sciences, 1926 to present. You do not have to create a Clarivate account to use this database. If you end up on this page, scroll down to the Institutional Sign In section and choose OpenAthens Federation.
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Covers only journal articles related to the life sciences
Includes works for experts mostly
Content likely to be peer-reviewed/scholarly
Articles are not immediately available in the database itself, though different types of links will help you retrieve them

Types of Sources

Original research, whether presented as
- conference presentations
- dissertations
- peer-reviewed/scholarly journal articles
Typically includes sections like Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion
Found through article databases such as:

Summary and synthesis of original research, whether presented as
Typically includes "Review" in the article and/or journal title
Also found through article databases like primary sources
Most books fall into this category, and they can be found in the library catalog

Tips for finding review articles:

Search for the word "review" in the article or journal title
Use limiters to restrict a search to review articles
- Availability of this option depends on the database

Example from PubMed:

Article Type limiters in the PubMed database

Simpler summaries in the forms of
- dictionaries
- handbooks
- encyclopedias
Often provide citations to primary and secondary sources
Found through reference databases such as:

Credo Reference: Academic Core This link opens in a new window
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Gather background information on your topic from hundreds of full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and subject-specific titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos.