Primary research in the sciences is typically published as articles in journals.  Locating desired articles is made extremely easy with "databases," essentially computerized indexes of articles.  By searching these scholarly databases, you are limiting your search to scholarly journal articles.  Different databases cover different areas of research.  These three are excellent choices for biology and life sciences:

BIOSIS Previews

Coverage:

• peer-reviewd journals, meetings, conference proceedings, books, and other literature
• related to the life sciences
• from 1926 to present

BIOSIS Training - Introduction & search techniques in video tutorials   from Thomson Reuters, the company that produces BIOSIS.

Zoological Record

Coverage:

• peer-reviewd journals, meetings, conference proceedings, books, and other literature
• related to zoology and animal biology
• authoritative record of taxonomy & nomenclature
• from 1864 to present

Zoological Record Training - Introduction & search techniques in video tutorials from Thomson Reuters, the company that produces Zoological Record.

Web of Science 

"Who has cited whom?"  A Citation Index that finds articles that cite a given article.  Useful for researching papers that build on each other.  Also useful for analyzing impact factors and bibliometrics.

Coverage:

• peer-reviewd journals, meetings, conference proceedings, books, and other literature
• sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities
• from 1900 to present

Web of Science Training - Search techniques in video tutorials from Thomson Reuters, the company that produces Web of Science.

Click here for a list of more Biological Sciences Article Databases.

Tutorials & Searching Tips:

• The Bio 5A Tutorial explains citations and how to use BIOSIS.  Everyone is welcome to view!

• Video: How to Narrow a Search for Scholarly Articles.  You can apply these techniques to any scholarly database.

Thanks to Larry Sheret (Western State College of Colorado) for sharing this tutorial.

• How to Read a Scientific Paper (Thanks to Purdue Libraries!)

• Google Scholar is a useful search engine, especially if you're not sure which database to choose.  It will return scholarly articles and books. If you are connected through UCR (either on campus or connected from off-campus), UC-elinks will appear to the right of the items accessible by UCR.

• For more information on citing your sources and citation styles see: Cite Your Sources.

More Tips:

• Most databases will let you create an account.  Then you can save your searches and articles and even set up alerts.

• Citation Management software lets you organize citations from your research.  EndNote, EndNote Web, and Zotero are examples.  UCR Libraries give workshops on using these products.  (See also this Tip of the Week.)  Most databases will let you export the citation to your citation management software with just a few clicks!

• If you're interested in the whole journal, see Find Journals and other Periodicals or Electronic Journals.