Find news

Most of the sources below contain fulltext with images.

news@nature.com - Nature Publishing Group
EurekAlert - American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
American Scientist - On Campus Only

New Scientist - Check out sections on Life, Health, Science & Society

Publisher's site - limited free content
Subscribed site - no images - Academic Search Complete

New York Times

NY Times - Science Topics
NY Times - Diseases, Conditions, and Health Topics
NY Times - Environment

SciDevNet - Science and Development Network - sci-tech in the developing world

ScienceDaily - Latest Science News
ScienceNews - On Campus Only

Scientific American - Publisher's site - LIMITED free content
Scientific American Archive - subscribed fulltext with images - 1993-present

Browse or search for specific issue
Click on Publications (upper left corner)
Under 'Mark Items for Search,' click on the link for Scientific American
View listing of all issues for easy browsing

Search by author, title, subject of article
Click on 'Advanced Search' (below search box)
Select 'Also Search within Fulltext of Articles' (includes embedded articles)
Specify date or date range of desired article
Then execute the search

Find background

Quick Lookups
Credo Reference - interdisciplinary - 300 sources - limit by subject, then by desired facet(s)
Oxford Reference Online - more than 100 dictionaries - limit by subject

Longer Explanations
AccessScience - online scientific dictionary & encyclopedia
Wiley Encyclopedia of Molecular Medicine - subscribed encyclopedia on knovel.com
Encyclopedia of Life Sciences - Science Reference qQH302.5 .E54 2002 - emphasis on cellular and molecular levels

Find books

Wellesley College Library Catalog
tip: in the library catalog, start with keyword > choose a useful book > Full Record tab - follow the subject links to find more on that topic
tip: 'Full Record' tab displays Library holdings for a print journal or serial ['Lib has']

Find journal articles

The following databases provide either full-text articles or citations (information about when and where the peer-reviewed article was published).

• Use the Find It! @ Wellesleylink from each citation to search one or more electronic journal sources or to search our Library Catalog.
• If Wellesley College cannot access the article, use the 'Find It' link to Interlibrary Loan, which automatically links the requestor to a form to submit for either
  • NExpress (several nearby libraries, often arrives in 1-3 days) or
  • ILL (thousands of libraries worldwide, arrives in 2 days - 2 weeks).

Scientific articles
JSTOR
- Online articles reach from vol. 1 to 3 to 5 years ago
- Focus on 'Articles' [Type] in English [Article language]
- Select Biological Sciences Subject Cluster [more than 160 journals]
- Off-Campus Link

Pub Med
- All aspects of biomedicine
- Many abstracts available 1970's-present
- Limited indexing without abstracts for pre-1967 entries
- PubMed Basics - PubMed Help

Web of Science
- 1900-present
- Interdisciplinary database
- Keyword/title and citation searching
- Many abstracts 1991-present
- Off-Campus Link

Find high-profile online journals/magazines

American Scientist - 1998-present - On-Campus Only
Nature Online - Journal articles and additional resources - 1987-present - Off-campus link

Science [online]
- Backfile 1880-2003 (JSTOR) - Off-campus Link
- Current five years (AAAS publisher) - Interdisciplinary weekly - 1997-present - Off-campus Link

Scientific American - Publisher's site - LIMITED free content
Scientific American Archive - subscribed fulltext with images - 1993-present

Browse or search for specific issue
Click on Publications (upper left corner)
Under 'Mark Items for Search,' click on the link for Scientific American
View listing of all issues for easy browsing

Search by author, title, subject of article
Click on 'Advanced Search' (below search box)
Select 'Also Search within Fulltext of Articles' (includes embedded articles)
Specify date or date range of desired article
Then execute the search

Key web sites

BioChemWeb.org - Virtual library of biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology
The Biology Project - Univ of Arizona - section on cell biology
Cell Biology Topics - Univ of Texas Medical Branch
Dolan DNA Learning Center - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Kimball's Biology Pages - Table of Contents
MIT OpenCourseWare - Biology courses - See Introduction to Biology sections
Model Organisms for Biomedical Research - NIH

How to Cite and Evaluate Sources

Citing Image Sources

• You must cite non-trivial images when you use them for academic purposes.
• Non-trivial images include copyrighted and licensed materials (e.g., Creative Commons license) that add value to the content of your work.
• When citing images, list the author's name (if known), image title, its source, and publication date.
• If you find the image online, include the URL and the date on which you accessed it.

You generally do not have to cite images IF

• you created them,
• they were published prior to or on December 31, 1922
• they are royalty free clip art, such as those provided by Microsoft Office.

When you are not sure if an image needs citation, it is best to exercise caution and cite the source.

More information on copyright here.

Citing sources

Sciences: Documenting Sources with CSE Style [Author-Year]
tip: scroll down to the CSE reference list, use the pulldown menu to view examples of CSE-formatted citations

Using CBE Style to Cite and Document Sources - Contains examples of Author-Year CBE Style

NOTE: CBE, the Council of Biology Editors, recently became CSE, the Council of Science Editors.

Evaluating web resources

General criteria
Accuracy: How factual is the web page? Are the facts well-documented?
Authority: What are the professional credentials of the authors? Can you recognize the difference between a webpage author and a webmaster?
Objectivity: Pros and cons? Are there conflicting interests? Is the page advocating a cause? Who is the intended audience?
Currency: Is the page being updated regularly? How current is it now?
Coverage: Does the page require special software to view it? Is there a fee to view it, or is it free? Is the information presented cited correctly?
Ease of Use: Is the page easy to navigate? Are directions straightforward? Is advertising clearly labeled?

More on Evaluation/Critical Thinking for Web Surfing

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Return to Research Guides by Subject: Biological Sciences

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