Skyline College Library

Physiology Research Links Page

Article Databases
Catalog for Finding Books
General Health Reference Information
APA citation format for article from a database


Search Preparation

Before searching for articles on a topic, you should prepare for your search by:

• developing a clear, specific research topic or research question, and
• dividing the research topic in "concepts" (different subtopics or elements)

For example, a specific research question might be: 
What recent research studies have been done on the effects of distraction on concentration or memory?

This research question can be divided into two or three "concepts":

1. research studies
2. distraction
3. concentration or memory

For each concept, related search terms should be used.
Place an “OR” between each search term for the same concept. Some databases or search engines may require quotes around phrases

1. research OR study
2. distraction OR "task interference" OR "divided attention"
3. concentration OR memory OR cognition

For more help on how to do search preparation, see Skyline Library's Planning a Search Page.

Magazine & Journal Databases (to access articles):

PubMed Central: free digital archive of full-text biomedical and life sciences journal literature from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Full-text articles for some journals are not available until one year after publication.

• Enter search terms for your research question in the search box
  - Put parentheses ( ) around terms for the same concept
  - Put ORs between terms for the same concept
  - Put ANDs between concepts
  - Put quotes ( “ ” ) around phrases
  - Use an asterisk ( * ) to search for multiple words from the same root, e.g. distract* will find articles with the words: distract, distracted or distracting
  Example:
  (distract* OR "task interference" OR "divided attention") AND (concentration OR memory OR cognit*)
  [Note: the words AND and OR must be CAPITALIZED in this database]

• To limit your search to research articles:
  - Click on the Limits tab
  - Scroll down to the “Limit by Article Type”, and click in the check box for “Research & Review Articles”

• To search, click on the GO button or press Enter
• To determine if articles are research studies:
  Look for articles in scholarly journals that include the following sections:

• Literature review: unlabeled introductory section that discusses previous research on the same topic
• Methods (may include "Procedure", "Participants", "Measures", etc.) - always labeled
• Results - always labeled
• Discussion - always labeled

• Select articles you are interested in by clicking in the check box to the left of each article citation
• You can organize all selected articles onto the Clipboard by clicking the “Send to” pull-down menu at the top of the results list and then select “Clipboard”
• To email selected (checked) articles, click the “Send to” pull-down menu at the top of the results list and then select “E-mail”

Google Scholar: Google’s academic search engine accesses a wide range of academic articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, and universities. Articles that are accessible in full-text include a link to the right side of the article title. The majority of sources are usually abstracts (summaries) of articles, which do not provide the full-text of the article (or a significant charge is required for the full article). In many cases, you may be able to retrieve the full-text of these articles by using the Skyline College Library Article Delivery Service.

· Put ORs between terms for the same concept

· Put quotes ( “ ” ) around phrases

· Example:
distraction OR "task interference" OR "divided attention" concentration OR memory OR cognition
[Note: the words AND and OR must be CAPITALIZED in this search engine]

ProQuest Biology Journals database on campus or off-campus w/ library card
Full-text biology journals; psychology and social science journal database may be searched simultaneously

• To search psychology and social science journals in addition to biology journals, click on: “Databases selected” (just below the orange and green tabs), then click in the check box to select: “ProQuest Psychology Journals”, and then click the “Continue” button
• To search for more than one "concept", click on Advanced Search tab at the top of the page
• To search only for articles that include the full text (the whole article) in the database, check the "Full text articles only" box next to: "Limit results to:" (below the date range box)
• To limit the search to scholarly journals, check the "Scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed " box (below the "Full text articles only" box)
• To find research studies, click in the first search box and enter the words: study OR research
• In the second search box, type the search word(s) for the first concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept, e.g.: distract* OR "task interference" OR "divided attention"
  (Use an * to search for multiple words from the same root, e.g. distract* will find articles with the words: distract, distracted or distracting.)
• On the third line, type the search word(s) for the second concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept, e.g.: cognitive ability OR processing speed OR cognition OR memory OR reasoning
• Once you find one article specifically on your topic, click on any relevant subject headings (at the bottom of the article page) to find more articles on that topic.
• To determine if articles are research studies:
  Look for articles in scholarly journals that include the following sections:

• Literature review: unlabeled introductory section that discusses previous research on the same topic
• Methods (may include "Procedure", "Participants", "Measures", etc.) - always labeled
• Results - always labeled
• Discussion - always labeled

• To print or e-mail an article, click on the print or e-mail buttons at the top of the article.

Academic OneFile on campus or off-campus w/ library card
An excellent general academic journal database.

• To search for more than one "concept", click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar near the top of the page
• To search only for articles that include the full text (the whole article) in the database, make sure the "documents with full text" box under "Limit the results" (below the text entry boxes) is checked
• To limit the search to scholarly journals, check the "peer-reviewed publications" box under "Limit the results"
• To find research studies, click in the first search box and enter the word: study OR research
• In the second search box, type the search word(s) for the first concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept. Use an * to search for multiple words from the same root, e.g. tast* will find articles with the words: taste or tasting.
• On the third line, type the search word(s) for the second concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept.
• Once you find one article specifically on your topic, click on any relevant subject headings (near the bottom of the article page) to find more articles on that topic.
• To find research studies:
  Look for articles in scholarly journals that include the following sections:

• Literature review: unlabeled introductory section that discusses previous research on the same topic
• Methods (may include "Procedure", "Participants", "Measures", etc.) - always labeled
• Results - always labeled
• Discussion - always labeled

• To print or e-mail an article, click on the print or e-mail icons on the task bar near the top of the page.
  
  

PubMed (Medicine abstracts): Medline database-- the most extensive medical journal database available, including abstracts (summaries only- not full-text articles) and some free full-text medical journal articles from 1966 to the present.

• To search for more than one "concept", click on Advanced Search to the right of the search box near the top of the page
• Change fields to “Title/Abstract”
• Follow same process as described above by entering search terms for each concept in separate search boxes. Type an OR between synonymous words for the same concept. For example:

• cardiovascular system OR blood pressure OR heart rate
• exercise OR physical activity OR aerobic

• The majority of sources are usually abstracts (summaries) of articles, which do not provide the full-text of the article (or a significant charge is required for the full article). In many cases, you may be able to retrieve the full-text of these articles by using the Skyline College Library Article Delivery Service

Science Magazine on campus or off-campus w/ library card
One of the world's leading scientific journals, published weekly. Issues from 1997 to present.

• Enter search words in “Enter Keyword” search box at left
• Change “Full text” to: “Title/Abstract”
• Click the “Go” button
• To view a full article, from the results page, click: Full Text » or PDF »

***To request the full-text of an article for which only an abstract is available, use the Article Delivery Service.

Books:

The PLS Online Catalog is the online catalog to find books in Skyline Library and in all libraries in the Peninsula Library Sytem. After clicking on the link above to access the catalog, follow the steps below:

• Type search words (title, author and/or subject) in the first search box & click Submit.
• The search results will show books and other materials in all libraries in the PLS system.
• To Limit your results to books at Skyline College Library, scroll down to Limit to: Location: pull-down menu below the search boxes, scroll down in the Location: pull-down menu, select Skyline College & then click the Submit button.

General Health Reference Information

Medline Plus Health Information
General health information from the National Library of Medicine

Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy
"The Merck Manual" is "the textbook of medicine most widely used by health care professionals." 1999 edition.
Browse the Table of Contents for Psychiatric Disorders or Neurologic Disorders

MedicineNet.com: Diseases & Conditions
Quality information on an extensive number of diseases and conditions. Do not click on "Sponsored Results".

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last revised: 9-28-11 by Eric Brenner, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA