Find Articles via Subject Databases
How to Choose a Database
In deciding which database(s) to use, it is helpful to note:
- Who: Who is authoring these publications? Are these scholarly, popular, or industry sources?
- What: What can I find in the database? (e.g. articles, conference proceedings, data)
- When: When does coverage begin? How well is historical literature covered? Does it include articles published in the last year?
- Where: What is the geographical scope of the coverage? Does that match your research interest?
Recommended Subject Databases:
- PubMed for UC Davis This link opens in a new windowPubMed for UC Davis offers users vastly more full-text articles than does the public version of Pubmed.gov. Search results in the UCD version display "Get it at UC" buttons providing (with on-campus or VPN connection) access to articles in journals licensed by UC Davis or enabling patrons to request articles that are not immediately available online. PubMed comprises over 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. PubMed citations and abstracts include the fields of biomedicine and health, covering portions of the life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering. PubMed also provides access to additional relevant web sites and links to the other NCBI molecular biology resources. PubMed is a free resource that is developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
[Coverage: 1902-present] - Scopus This link opens in a new windowLarge interdisciplinary abstract and citation database to academic journal literature, conference proceedings and books with broad coverage across the sciences and social sciences, includes citation tracking tools (Citescore).
[Coverage: full coverage from 1996-present, with selected coverage as far back as 1823] - Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science Core Collection enables searching of top-cited peer-reviewed content across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities with "cited reference" search capabilities. "It is a curated collection of over 20,000 peer-reviewed, high-quality scholarly journals published worldwide (including Open Access journals) in over 250 science, social sciences, and humanities disciplines. Conference proceedings and book data are also available." There is also access to Journal Citation Reports which provide impact metrics like the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and Eigenfactor Scoring. Web of Science also has article, author and institutional citation indices. Includes EndNote Basic online citation management tool.
[Coverage: 1900-present]
- CAB Abstracts (CAB) This link opens in a new windowCitations and abstracts to the international agricultural literature, including veterinary medicine, human and animal nutrition, forestry, rural development, as well as other related topics such as tourism and human ecology. Covers over 11,000 journals & conference proceedings and selected books in agriculture. Produced by CAB (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux) International (CABI) with more than 11.6 million records as of 08/10/2016.
[Coverage: 1973-present] - Agricultural & Environmental Science Database This link opens in a new windowThis database covers environmental science topics from disciplines such as atmospheric science, biology, biotechnology, ecology, engineering, and microbiology. It also covers agricultural research including agricultural economics, animal and veterinary sciences, aquaculture and fisheries, farming and farming systems, food and human nutrition, forestry, and plant sciences. It includes Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and Digests and all the records from the National Agricultural Library's AGRICOLA database.
[Coverage: 1960-present]
Related Research Guides:
- Agricultural & Environmental Science Database This link opens in a new windowThis database covers environmental science topics from disciplines such as atmospheric science, biology, biotechnology, ecology, engineering, and microbiology. It also covers agricultural research including agricultural economics, animal and veterinary sciences, aquaculture and fisheries, farming and farming systems, food and human nutrition, forestry, and plant sciences. It includes Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and Digests and all the records from the National Agricultural Library's AGRICOLA database.
[Coverage: 1960-present] - Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) This link opens in a new windowUCD's most important database on the biology, ecology, technology and management of marine, freshwater, and brackish water environments and organisms. Database consists of the following subfiles: ASFA 1: Biological Sciences and Living Resources; ASFA 2: Ocean Technology, Policy and Non-Living Resources; ASFA 3: Aquatic Pollution and Environmental Quality; ASFA Aquaculture Abstracts; and ASFA Marine Biotechnology Abstracts.
[Coverage: 1971-present; varies by subfile,earlier for selected core titles] - Earth, Atmospheric and Aquatic Science This link opens in a new windowDatabase indexes literature across the earth, atmospheric, and aquatic sciences and incorporates the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts; Oceanic Abstracts; and Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts databases. Sources indexed include: scholarly, trade and industry journals; technical reports; conference proceedings; government publications; and magazines. Subject areas include: aquaculture, aquatic organisms, atmospheric pollution and dynamics, climatology, marine biology, meteorology, oceanography, and water quality.
[Coverage: 1950-present] - Oceanic Abstracts This link opens in a new windowOrganizes, summaries, and indexes worldwide technical literature on the marine and brackish water environments. Oceanic Abstracts covers marine biology and biological oceanography, physical and chemical oceanography, meteorology, geology, geophysics, geochemistry, marine pollution, conservation, environmental protection, fisheries, aquaculture, nonliving resources and technology, ships and shipping, navigation and communications.
[Coverage: 1981-present] - Zoological Record This link opens in a new windowPrimary database for wildlife researchers. The oldest continuing database of animal biology - designed to include all records of new species information and naming. Comprehensive coverage of zoology; including behavior, conservation and environmental science, ecology, evolution, genetics, habitat, marine and freshwater biology, nutrition, parasitology and disease, reproduction, taxonomy and systematics, veterinary studies, zoogeography and fossil records. Especially strong in new species reports and field studies.
[Coverage: 1864-Present]
- PubMed for UC Davis This link opens in a new windowPubMed for UC Davis offers users vastly more full-text articles than does the public version of Pubmed.gov. Search results in the UCD version display "Get it at UC" buttons providing (with on-campus or VPN connection) access to articles in journals licensed by UC Davis or enabling patrons to request articles that are not immediately available online. PubMed comprises over 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. PubMed citations and abstracts include the fields of biomedicine and health, covering portions of the life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering. PubMed also provides access to additional relevant web sites and links to the other NCBI molecular biology resources. PubMed is a free resource that is developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
[Coverage: 1902-present] - BIOSIS Previews This link opens in a new windowBIOSIS Previews is a database for researching the biological sciences literature. Designed by biologists for keeping up with the literature across pure and applied life sciences including agriculture and medicine. Excellent features for searching by taxonomic categories and broad concept codes (subject categories). More than 27 million records in all life science areas, including agriculture, biochemistry, biomedicine, biotechnology, ecology, environmental biology, genetics, microbiology, plant biology, veterinary medicine & pharmacology, and zoology. Indexes over 6,000 journals, serials, books and book chapters, conference proceedings and patents.
[Coverage: 1926-present] - Embase This link opens in a new windowEmbase is a biomedical and pharmacological database containing bibliographic records with citations, abstracts and indexing derived from biomedical articles in peer reviewed journals, and is especially strong in its coverage of drug and pharmaceutical research and conference abstracts.Embase contains over 22 million records spanning 1974-present, with over 1 million records added annually. Each record contains the full bibliographic citation, indexing terms, and codes; and 80% of all citations in Embase include author-written abstracts. The Embase journal collection is international with over 7,500 active peer-reviewed journals more than 90 countries. All MEDLINE records produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) are included, as well as over 5 million records not covered in MEDLINE. Broad biomedical scope covering the following areas:
Drug therapy and research, including pharmaceutics, pharmacology and toxicology
Clinical and experimental (human) medicine
Basic biological science relevant to human medicine
Biotechnology and biomedical engineering, including medical devices
Health policy and management, including pharmacoeconomics
Public, occupational and environmental health, including pollution control
Veterinary science, dentistry, and nursing
Psychiatry and mental health, including substance dependence and abuse
Forensic science
Alternative and complementary medicine
[Coverage: 1974-current (for EMBASE records); 1966-current (for MEDLINE records)] - Food Science and Technology Abstracts (FSTA) This link opens in a new windowFSTA (Food Science and Technology Abstracts) is an extensive specialist database covering scientific and technological literature relating to food, beverages and nutrition. Carefully selected food and health research and information is collated, summarized, and indexed for efficient searching. It is managed by a team of expert scientists within IFIS, a not-for-profit organization with an ongoing commitment to learning and development and a reputation for scientific integrity, accuracy and excellence. FSTA covers topics relating to aspects of the food chain including all the major food commodities plus biotechnology, microbiology, food safety, additives, nutrition, packaging and pet foods. It's used by researchers, industry practitioners, and students around the world to keep up-to-date with the latest findings in their fields. FSTA offers in excess of 1,200,000 highly informative summaries of research articles, patents, standards, reviews, conference proceedings and reports, and is used by academics and professionals throughout the world. IMPORTANT: default UCD Search Type is set to Advanced Ovid Search.
[Coverage: 1969-present] - CINAHL Complete: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature This link opens in a new windowCINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) provides comprehensive coverage of the English language nursing literature. CINAHL Complete indexes over 5,000 journals on nursing, biomedical, allied health and consumer health literature. Also includes continuing education modules, evidence-based care sheets, lessons providing overviews of disease and conditions, and research instruments.
[Coverage: 1937-present] - SPORTDiscus This link opens in a new windowSPORTDiscus is the world's leading database in sport, health, fitness and sports medicine. SportDiscus has over 1.7 million qualified references from thousands of international periodicals, books, e-journals, conference proceedings, theses, dissertations, and websites that focus on different areas involving sport, including: sport sciences, engineering, psychology, administration, sociology, history, coaching, training, physical education, physical fitness, health and recreation.
[Coverage: 1800-present]
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new windowAPA PsycInfo is published by the American Psychological Associations and provides comprehensive indexing and abstracts of the international psychological literature from the 1800s to the present. Documents indexed include journals, articles, books, dissertations and more. 90% of the 3,000+ titles indexed in APA PsycInfo are peer-reviewed.
[Coverage: 1840-present] - PubMed for UC Davis This link opens in a new windowPubMed for UC Davis offers users vastly more full-text articles than does the public version of Pubmed.gov. Search results in the UCD version display "Get it at UC" buttons providing (with on-campus or VPN connection) access to articles in journals licensed by UC Davis or enabling patrons to request articles that are not immediately available online. PubMed comprises over 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. PubMed citations and abstracts include the fields of biomedicine and health, covering portions of the life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering. PubMed also provides access to additional relevant web sites and links to the other NCBI molecular biology resources. PubMed is a free resource that is developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
[Coverage: 1902-present] - BIOSIS Previews This link opens in a new windowBIOSIS Previews is a database for researching the biological sciences literature. Designed by biologists for keeping up with the literature across pure and applied life sciences including agriculture and medicine. Excellent features for searching by taxonomic categories and broad concept codes (subject categories). More than 27 million records in all life science areas, including agriculture, biochemistry, biomedicine, biotechnology, ecology, environmental biology, genetics, microbiology, plant biology, veterinary medicine & pharmacology, and zoology. Indexes over 6,000 journals, serials, books and book chapters, conference proceedings and patents.
[Coverage: 1926-present]
- Compendex This link opens in a new windowCompendex is the broadest and most complete engineering literature database available in the world with over 22 million indexed records from 77 countries across 190 engineering disciplines.
[Coverage: 1884-present] - IEEE Xplore This link opens in a new windowDigital library providing full text access to technical literature in electrical engineering, computer science, electronics, and related disciplines from IEEE journals, transactions, magazines, letters, conference proceedings, standards, IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) publications, and select AIP/AVS journals.
[Coverage: 1988-present, select journals 1950-present] - INSPEC This link opens in a new windowInspec was created by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and is one of the world's most definitive bibliographic scientific engineering research databases, containing over 15 million abstracts and indexing records. Inspec is on the Engineering Village platform and can be searched together with Ei Compendex. By searching both engineering research databases together, engineers gain access to the broadest engineering source available with a single database search experience.
[Coverage: 1898-present] - Materials Science & Engineering Collection This link opens in a new windowInterdisciplinary database with full-text sources and indexing of global literature supporting materials science research, including metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, and biomaterials and dealing with areas such as corrosion, molding and casting, treatment, recycling, testing, finishing, welding, and forming. Includes widest and deepest bibliographic abstracting for new technologies and engineering research, including civil, mechanical, environmental, earthquake, mechanical, and transportation.
- SciFinder [Registration Required] This link opens in a new windowYou must (register for a SciFinder account) before you can use the database (connect to the VPN to access registration page from off-campus).
SciFinder is the most comprehensive bibliographic database for scholarly research in the field of chemistry. It contains over 59 million citations and indexes over 50,000 journals, covering all aspects of chemistry, including chemical aspects of: biology and life sciences, engineering and materials science, food science, geology, medicine, physics, and polymer science. SciFinder also allows searching of chemical substances, chemical reactions, and includes some property data and spectra. It is the online version of Chemical Abstracts.
[Coverage: 1907-present, with selected pre-1907 material]
[Cited Reference Searching: 1996-present, allows you to identify who is citing an article]
NOTE: Commercial use of your University account is strictly prohibited. SciFinder can only be used by UC students, faculty and staff.
- MathSciNet This link opens in a new windowMathSciNet is the most comprehensive resource for the international literature of mathematics and statistics. Covers approximately 1800 mathematical journals.
Warning for off-campus users: MathJax causes browsers to report errors when processing the TeX encoded symbols when using the VPN. Use the MathSciNet Preferences tab to turn MathJax off and display the TeX coding or use the proxy server.
[Coverage: 1940-present] - Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science Core Collection enables searching of top-cited peer-reviewed content across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities with "cited reference" search capabilities. "It is a curated collection of over 20,000 peer-reviewed, high-quality scholarly journals published worldwide (including Open Access journals) in over 250 science, social sciences, and humanities disciplines. Conference proceedings and book data are also available." There is also access to Journal Citation Reports which provide impact metrics like the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and Eigenfactor Scoring. Web of Science also has article, author and institutional citation indices. Includes EndNote Basic online citation management tool.
[Coverage: 1900-present]
How to Access the Full Text of an Article
"Get it at UC" Button
Most databases provide a description of articles and other resources to help you find what you need by searching through the indexed literature within their website. Included as part of the item record is the “Get it at UC” button. Clicking this button will direct you to a copy of the full text of the article.
Interlibrary Loan Request
If we do not own a journal or book, you can submit an interlibrary loan (ILL) request to have the book or article (e)mailed to you for free from another UC library. Learn more about how to request books or articles.
Database Search Tips
1. Limits/Filters: To focus your search, utilize database features that allow you to specify criteria such as date and publication type, e.g. peer reviewed journals.
2. Sort Order: Note how your search results are organized – many databases sort by date (most recent articles first) rather than relevance.
3. Subject Terms/Descriptors: Pay attention to the subject terms associated with relevant articles because they can lead to other sources on your topic.
4. Get an Article: If the full article is not available, look for . Use interlibrary loan to request copies of books, articles and other items that are not available through Get it at UC.
5. Not Satisfied? If you are not finding relevant results about your topic, try different combinations of search terms, or select another search tool.