Biology Research Guide

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!

"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.

• 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

• 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