Search tips
- Combine keywords and phrases with AND, e.g. vaccine AND autism
- Search alternate terms by placing the terms in parenthesis separated by OR, e.g. salt AND (controversy OR debate)
- Place quotation marks around phrases, e.g. "sonic attack"
When you are finding too many non-relevant results, you can sometimes make use of NOT!
Searching databases covering different disciplines
- PubMedAn index, with links to many full-text articles, managed by the National Library of Medicine. Includes many open access articles. In some cases, you can follow the "Get it! Cornell" link to find the full-text in the Cornell library holdings.
- ScienceDirectFull-text articles on a wide variety of science topics.
- Sociology SourceA key sociology database. A great complement to the science databases for science and technology studies.
- Web of ScienceWeb of Science goes beyond the sciences to include social science and some humanities articles. May be searched by subject, author, journal, and/or author address. May also be searched for articles that cite a known author or work (citation indexing).
- Worldwide Political Science AbstractsCovers political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, public administration, and public policy. For best results, place "quotation marks" around phrases.