Washington and Lee University LibGuides: Biology: Home

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Scopus This link opens in a new window
Described as the largest citation-and-abstract database in the world, Scopus features broad coverage of scientific, technical, medical, and social sciences literature, as covered in about 14,000 peer-reviewed resources, as well as academic Web sites from the Scirus database. Scopus also functions as a citation-indexing tool.
Entries dating from 1996 include complete reference (bibliography) listings, while earlier entries (back to 1966) include only citations and abstracts.
Combining Terms You can search for entries containing two or more terms by combining them with "AND" in the search statement. Example: college AND stress
Phrases Search for a multi-word phrase by placing the terms within double quotation-marks. Example: "binge drinking"
Wildcards/Truncation The search system will automatically search for singular and plural forms of a term that is entered. Example: cell will find cell and cells.
A question-mark (?) will replace a single character in a search term. Example: analys?s will find analysis and analyses.
An asterisk (*) can replace any number of characters in a search term. Example: behav* will find behavior, behaviour, behavioral, behaviors, behaviorism, etc.
Citation Indexing Note that most entries include a "Cited By" option, which allows you to see publications which have cited the item you are viewing.
Full Text Many entries in the database include "View at Publisher" links, intended to lead you to the complete text of articles, etc. on publisher Web site. In many cases, we actually will not have access to these materials.
PubMed This link opens in a new window
The premiere index to the journal literature of medicine and related fields. It covers over 3,800 journals from the U.S. and 70 foreign countries and provides access to over 11 million citations in MEDLINE, PreMEDLINE, and other related databases, with links to participating online journals. The database is updated daily. Coverage extends back to 1966.
Birds of the World This link opens in a new window
The electronic version of Birds of North America. Provides detailed scientific information for each of the 716 species of birds nesting in the USA and Canada. Each of the "species accounts" contain conservation and management issues, breeding and wintering maps, migration routes and habits, feeding habits, details of life at the nest, information on breeding, life span, mortality, disease. BNA Online also includes recordings of sounds and calls.
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition This link opens in a new window
Full-text nursing and allied health scholarly journals

This database provides nearly 550 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition also features the AHFS Consumer Medication Information, which covers 1,300 generic drug patient education sheets with more than 4,700 brand names.
Health Source: Consumer Edition This link opens in a new window
This database is the richest collection of consumer health information available to libraries worldwide, providing information on many health topics including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine and general health. Health Source: Consumer Edition provides access to nearly 80 full text, consumer health magazines.
Alt-HealthWatch This link opens in a new window
This database focuses on the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated approaches to health care and wellness. It offers libraries full text articles for more than 180 international, and often peer-reviewed journals and reports. In addition, there are hundreds of pamphlets, booklets, special reports, original research and book excerpts. Alt HealthWatch provides in-depth coverage across the full spectrum of subject areas covered by complementary and alternative medicine. This database features indexing and abstracts going back as far as 1984, and full text going back as far as 1990.

Find Books

Books are great for getting a broad overview on a topic. Much of the information in books, particularly in STEM areas, is much more outdated than that found in journal articles, but using books can help you in the following ways:

You can learn the "language" of your topic, i.e., the most common terms, ideas, and turns of phrase. This will help with your searching.
You may determine who the important scholars are in the field.
You will have a baseline of information to work with as you do your searching for more current journal articles.

Remember, it takes many year to get a STEM book written, published, and on the library's physical or virtual shelf.

Link to PRIMO search for Biology Reference books (available online during COVID-19)

Videos

These videos are provided courtesy of JoVE through June 15, 2020 due to the COVID-19 school closures.

JoVE Core Biology
Hundreds of foundational concepts are explained through high-impact animations and real-life experimentation.
more...less...
JoVE Core series brings biology to life through over 300 concise and easy-to-understand animated video lessons that explain key concepts in biology, plus more than 150 scientist-in-action videos that show actual research experiments conducted in today’s laboratories.
JoVE Introductory Biology Lab Manual
Comprehensive, curriculum-focused videos for both instructors and students in introductory biology lab courses.
JoVE General Lab Techniques
This collection exhibits how to use standard pieces of laboratory equipment essential in many experiments.
JoVE Basic Methods in Cellular and Molecular Biology
This collection demonstrates how to execute basic techniques commonly used in cellular and molecular biology.
JoVE Developmental Biology
This collection introduces the field of developmental biology and cover five areas: developmental genetics; molecular developmental biology; stem cell biology; organogenesis; and aging and regeneration.

Citation Styles

Zotero, offered either as a Firefox plug-in, Google Chrome connector, Safari connector, or a standalone desktop download, provides all the functions of a standard citation manager. It aids in data collection, organization, and collaboration.

This free, downloadable citation manager captures screen images and citation data from web pages, databases, and online catalogs.

Learn more

Zotero's standalone desktop citation manager is downloadable for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

New, free, mobile apps are also available for Zotero.

Scientific Style and Format by Council of Science Editors
ISBN: 9780226116495
Publication Date: 2014-05-07
For more than fifty years, authors, editors, and publishers in the scientific community have turned to Scientific Style and Format for authoritative recommendations on all matters of writing style and citation. Developed by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), the leading professional association in science publishing, this indispensable guide encompasses all areas of the sciences. Now in its eighth edition, it has been fully revised to reflect today’s best practices in scientific publishing. nbsp; Scientific Style and Format citation style has been comprehensively reorganized, and its style recommendations have been updated to align with the advice of authoritative international bodies. Also new to the eighth edition are guidelines and examples for citing online images and information graphics, podcasts and webcasts, online videos, blogs, social networking sites, and e-books. Style instructions for physics, chemistry, genetics, biological sciences, and astronomy have been adjusted to reflect developments in each field. The coverage of numbers, units, mathematical expressions, and statistics has been revised and now includes more information on managing tables, figures, and indexes. Additionally, a full discussion of plagiarism and other aspects of academic integrity is incorporated, along with a complete treatment of developments in copyright law, including Creative Commons. nbsp; For the first time in its history, Scientific Style and Format will be available simultaneously in print and online at www.scientificstyleandformat.org.nbsp;Online subscribers will receive access to full-text searches of the new edition and other online tools, as well as the popular Chicago Manual of Style Online Forum, a community discussion board for editors and authors. Whether online or in print, the eighth edition of Scientific Style and Format remains the essential resource for those writing, editing, and publishing in the scientific community.
Citing Medicine, 2nd edition by Karen Patrias; Dan Wendling
Call Number: Electronic Resource
Citing Medicine provides assistance to authors in compiling lists of references for their publications, to editors in revising such lists, to publishers in setting reference standards for their authors and editors, and to librarians and others in formatting bibliographic citations.