Image from "How to Read a Book" by Paul N. Edwards.
This illustration demonstrates the tendency of scholarly information to be organized so that more general or broad information is found at the beginning and the end (say, the introduction and conclusion sections) while more specific information (such as methodologies) is found in the middle. Knowing this structure can help us read strategically.
Pick a subject-specific database from the list below to search only literature in a particular field of study. This is a great way to get more focused results.
Pick an interdisciplinary database from the list below to search across multiple subjects and disciplines. This is a great way to get the broadest possible pool of results.
Modern scholarship in the sciences takes many forms, with journals that can include dynamic data representations, streaming media and open access to full text. Below are some important sources of alternative academic literature in the life sciences.
Imace (c) CC BY Nicole Gustavsen,
You can use Boolean logic as part of your search strategy to easily scope your searching to bring back more relevant results. The AND operator is used to narrow results, while the OR operator is used to expand them. You can also use the NOT operator to exclude particular search terms from a pool of results. Other tools include quote search (search for a phrase "in quotes" to find that exact phrase), and wildcard (search for all possible endings of a word at once using the asterisk: wild* brings back wilds, wildcard, wilderness, wildland, etc).