BIO 306 - Basic Horticulture: Home
Finding research for your plant research assignment
This guide provides some resources and other information that will help you find good articles for your writing assignment. This page has direct links to databases and journals that cover horticulture and similar topics. The other pages will have information about how to find different types of information, like journal articles and extension publications. If you are having trouble coming up with relevant search terms, take a look at the Video Tutorials page of this guide, and if you want more information about how to properly cite the information you find, take a look at the Citations and References page.
Don't hesitate to reach out to me, your subject librarian, if you get stuck or have questions that aren't answered in this guide. Happy searching!
Best bets for finding research
Looking for journal articles? The databases listed below are some recommended options for tracking down mostly articles. If you need a refresher on how to best use them, contact me!
- BIOSIS Previews This link opens in a new windowBIOSIS Previews, accessed via Web of Science, combines journal content from Biological Abstracts with supplemental, non-journal coverage from Biological Abstracts/RRM (Reports, Reviews, Meetings). Specialized indexing helps you discover more accurate, context-sensitive results. Use Web of Science to perform a cited reference search, where you can look up an article and see how many times it has been cited. Users may encounter content in this database the library has not purchased.
- Web of Science (Core Collection) This link opens in a new window
NOTE: If prompted, please enter your MU credentials. Do not select “Institutional Sign In.” Clearing web browser cookies and cache may also fix access issues.
Use Web of Science to perform a cited reference search, where you can look up an article and see how many times it has been cited. The Web of Science Core Collection includes the following databases: Science Citation Index (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1900-present), Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present), Conference Proceedings Citation Index (1990-present), Book Citation Index (2005-present), Emerging Sources Citation Index (2005-present), Current Chemical Reactions (1985-present), Index Chemicus (1993-present). Users may encounter content in this database the library has not purchased.
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowEnvironment Complete is a leading full-text database for environmental studies. It provides hundreds of top environment journals and monographs covering agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, public policy, sustainability and other related subjects. It also includes millions of records and an environmental thesaurus.
- AGRICOLA This link opens in a new windowContaining bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library, AGRICOLA provides millions of citations relating to the field of agriculture. Citations are comprised of journal articles, book chapters, theses, patents, software, audiovisual materials and technical reports to support agricultural research.
- Treesearch by US Forest ServiceFrom the Treesearch website: "This site is an online system for sharing free, full text publications by Research and Development scientists in the USDA Forest Service. Included in Treesearch are scholarly works authored by the agency’s scientists and published by journals, in conference proceedings, or in books. Treesearch also offers scholarly works published by the agency which may or may not have been authored by agency researchers."
In-class library presentation
Here is a powerpoint of the slides I presented in class on Tuesday, March 12, for those who would like it. I've also included a PDF version as an alternative.
Get to Full Text with Find It!
Most literature indexes do not have the actual journal articles included within them. Instead, these indexes just contain information about the article, e.g. titles, authors, abstract.
When you find an article of interest in an index, click the "Find It" button by that entry to get to the full text. If we have a subscription, "Find It" will provide a link to the journal article. (Or if we have the print, it will provide a link to the catalog with the location and call number.)
(A few databases, like Academic Search Complete, include full text for some articles. These databases may allow you to search only for articles available in full text, but be aware that you are only searching a small portion of the articles we actually subscribe to.)
