Research Guides: Biological Sciences *: Databases

General Databases

Biological Science Database This link opens in a new window
This interdisciplinary database offers abstracts and citations to a wide range of research in biomedicine, biotechnology, zoology and ecology and some aspects of agriculture and veterinary science. Supporting over two dozen areas of expertise, this database provides access to literature from over 6000 serials, as well as conference proceedings, technical reports, monographs and selected books and patents.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Interdisciplinary collection of journal articles, conference proceedings, and books. Collection of seven online database: Conference Proceedings Citation Index, Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Index Chemicus, Current Chemical Reactions, and Book Citation Index. Coverage is 1900-present.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature in science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Includes bibliometrics tools to track, analyze and visualize research.
ProQuest SciTech Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
This database combines full text journals with detailed indexing of global literature on natural sciences, engineering and technology. Areas covered include materials science, aerospace engineering, civil engineering, biology, aquatic sciences, environmental science, computer science and earth sciences in addition to many more. It fully incorporates ProQuest Natural Science Collection and ProQuest Technology Collection.
Environmental Science Database This link opens in a new window
The Environmental Science Database is a cross-disciplinary resource of full-text content of global literature across this field and related disciplines. It provides the most complete collection of resources available to support research and learning in environmental science and related fields. Content is selected from several specialist topic resources in disciplines such as engineering, biotechnology, bacteriology, atmospheric science, ecology, and biology.
BioMed Central This link opens in a new window
A suite of peer-reviewed, open-access journals in all areas of the biological sciences, includes titles such as BMC Biology, BMC Medicine, Malaria and BMC Infectious Disease. Good for finding high-quality, open-access literature on a variety of topics.
BioOne Complete This link opens in a new window
BioOne is a full-text online aggregation of over 80 high-impact, peer-reviewed bioscience research journals, covering the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences.
The titles are published by scientific societies and other nonprofit organizations, and most have, until now, been available only in print.
Company of Biologists This link opens in a new window
The Company of Biologists is a non-profit organization whose objectives are the advancement and promotion of research in, and the study of, all branches of biology. The site provides access to their four journals, plus information for traveling fellowships for biology graduate students and grant information for scientists and organizations.
General Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
General Science Full Text provides full text from more than 100 periodicals dating as far back as 1995, in addition to indexing and abstracts for nearly 300 periodicals dating back to 1984.
Subject coverage includes astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, conservation, health & medicine, oceanography, physics, zoology and much more.
Part of the OmniFile collection.
SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online This link opens in a new window
A model for cooperative electronic publishing of scientific journals on the Internet, conceived to meet the scientific communication needs of developing countries, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean countries, it provides an efficient way to assure universal visibility and accessibility to their scientific and other scholarly literature.
The SciELO collection is continually updated and currently includes 630 scholarly peer reviewed journals, from Spain, Portugal, several South American countries and Cuba, which predominantly publish the results of original research, and other original works, and contribute significantly to knowledge in the area covered by the journal. Subjects include Agricultural, biological, health and earth sciences, chemistry, engineering, geosciences, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, linguistics, and the arts. Coverage is from 1997, or from its first issue in the case of journals founded after that year.

Specialized Databases

American Museum of Natural History Research Library This link opens in a new window
This collection includes full text of current and back issues of the five AMNH scientific series in the areas of zoological systematics, paleontology, geology, evolution, and anthropology conducted by museum scientists and their colleagues.
Subjects: (under Science & Engineering) Biology and Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
arXiv.org This link opens in a new window
Started in August 1991, arXiv.org (formerly xxx.lanl.gov) is a highly-automated electronic archive and distribution server for research articles in the areas of physics, mathematics, computer science, nonlinear sciences, quantitative biology and statistics.
arXiv is maintained and operated by the Cornell University Library.
Biodiversity Heritage Library This link opens in a new window
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is a produced by a consortium of 12 major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions organized to digitize, serve, and preserve the legacy literature of biodiversity.
The items scanned are all open access. As the Library progresses, they are coordinating with additional organizations in Europe, the far East, Australia, and Brazil to add more materials from those areas. There are both books and journals included with over 59,000 titles.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press This link opens in a new window
This resource includes access to all six of their journals; their Protocols; and the Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology. This is especially strong for molecular biology topics.
Environmental Issues Online This link opens in a new window
Environmental Studies is an inherently multidisciplinary field, where solutions to real-world issues lie at the intersections of the social sciences, the biological and earth sciences, the humanities, legal studies and policy. This database will use text, archival primary sources and video to address major past and ongoing environmental issues—water challenges, air pollution, biodiversity, climate change, energy issues, consumption and waste issues, and land issues—in comparative, historical, global and interdisciplinary ways.
Journals@Ovid Ovid Full Text This link opens in a new window
Ovid MEDLINE covers the international literature on biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care. Information is indexed from approximately 3,900 journals published world-wide.
Databases include MEDLINE Books@Ovid, Health and Psychosocial Instruments, Ovid Healthstar, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Primal Pictures Silver and Platinum Package Perpetual Access, Global Health science as they relate to medicine and health care. Information is indexed from approximately 3,900 journals published world-wide.
PubMed@USC This link opens in a new window
PubMed provides access to millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. This version is customized for USC users to find the full-text of articles.
SciFinder This link opens in a new window
Articles, patents, and white papers describing chemicals. Includes information on structures, reactions, compounds, drug development, and manufacturing. Requires separate login. Go to USC's create an account page to register.
Springer Nature experiments This link opens in a new window
Step-by-step presentation of protocols with coverage including cell and molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, protein science, and imaging.
Springer Protocols (includes several series) This link opens in a new window
A database of lab protocols pulled from Methods in Molecular Biology and other sources covering a wide range of biological sciences focus areas. Good for finding well-established protocols for lab use.
Biological Methods, (1988)
Methods in Biotechnology, (1997 - 2007)
Methods in Molecular Biology,(1984 -)
Methods in Molecular Medicine, (1996 - 2008)
Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology, (2001 -)
Neuromethods, (1985 -)