Library: Biology & Biological Engineering (BBE): Finding Articles

Popular Databases

PubMed
30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books from 1946 to present (based on MEDLINE), with selected coverage back to 1809. From the United States National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.
Entries include links to MeSH terms and other NCBI resources, including molecular structure, DNA sequence, and protein sequence databases, as well as to PMC and other OA sources where available. This custom link will also include CaltechConnect functionality to access full text or request via DocuServe.

PubMed Tutorial
A brief introduction to PubMed on the "NCBI Resources" Library Guide.

Web of Science
Science Citation Index Expanded covers more than 8,500 notable journals encompassing 150 disciplines from the year 1900 to the present day.
Social Sciences Citation Index covers more than 3,000 journals in social science disciplines from the year 1900 to the present day.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index covers more than 1,700 arts and humanities journals starting from 1975 and 250 major scientific and social sciences journals.
Emerging Sources Citation Index covers over 5,000 journals in the sciences, social science, and humanities. Book Citation Index covers more than 60,000 editorially selected books starting from 2005. Conference Proceedings Citation Index covers more than 160,000 conference titles in the Sciences starting from 1990 to the present day.

Web of Science @ Caltech
A brief guide to getting started with Web of Science for members of the Caltech community. Link opens a separate LibGuide.

SciFinder-n @ Caltech
Information on using the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) SciFinder Discovery Platform at Caltech, which includes SciFinder-n, Analytical Methods, and Formulus. SciFinder-n is the interface to the CAS Content Collection, including Registry, References, Patents, Reactions, Commercial Sources, and Formulations. Please note: you cannot use a login/password from a previous institution. You must register for a new account with your @caltech.edu email address.

SciFinder-n Direct Login
If you already have a CALTECH SciFinder-n account, click here to log in. PLEASE NOTE you MUST register using your Caltech credentials in order to use SciFinder-n from the Caltech campus. If you had an account through a previous institution, it WILL NOT WORK.

Reaxys
Database for chemical compounds, bibliographic data and chemical reactions.Based on Beilstein, Gmelin and an "Organic" Patent Database (US 1976+ and EP, WO 1978+). Please note you must access either via the VPN or via the "Sign-in via your institution" link and select California Institute of Technology.

Reaxys Tutorial
A brief introduction to Reaxys (located on a sub-page of the Chemistry Library Guide).

Google Scholar
Google Scholar is not technically a database - it is a search engine. It only retrieves web links that match the conditions you put in. It does not have a limit on what it searches, and it doesn't provide any additional information about the results the way other databases do.
How can I add CaltechConnect options to Google Scholar results?
Sign into (or create) your Google account and navigate to Scholar settings.
Select "Library links" and search for "California Institute of Technology".
Check the box next to "California Institute of Technology - Caltech Connect" and then click "Save".
You should now see "Caltech Connect" on the right hand side of your search results.

Caltech E-Journals

Find eJournals

Caltech subscribes to many journals in electronic format. However, we may not have electronic access to all issues for a given title. For some titles, we may only have access for the past few years, or back to a certain volume or year. If we do not have access to an older issue of a title, check the Catalog. Also please note that we may have access to different years through different electronic sources.

About Journal Abbreviations

A tricky part of deciphering citations is figuring out the Journal Abbreviation. There are a few tools to help you do this:

CASSI - Chemical Abstracts Services Source Index is a listing of both journal abbreviations and full titles. You can use this to translate an abbreviation, or, knowing the full journal title, find its accepted abbreviation to use in your citation. However, it is limited to publications indexed by CAS.
Beyond CASSI features journal title abbreviations from early chemical literature and other historical reference sources that may not be listed in the CASSI Search Tool.
The journal homepage itself - read some reference lists from a current issue of the journal of interest.

About ACS Journal Citation Styles

The complete American Chemical Society (ACS) Style Guide (3rd Edition, 2006) is available online and also in print in the Reference Section of the Sherman Fairchild Library, call number QD8.5.A25 2006. Chapter 14 specifically deals with citations. Relevant information about citations presented here draws on that book, as well as general ACS publications.

A typical ACS journal citation follows the following basic style:

Bunnett, J. F.; Kearley, F. J., Jr.; J. Org. Chem., 1971, 36, 184-186.

The authors are listed last name, first initial(s).
The journal is italicized and listed in abbreviated form (more about that below).
The year is listed in bold font.
The journal volume is listed in italicized font.
The starting and ending pages are listed separated by a hyphen.

Sometimes you will see the title given between the author names and the journal abbreviation, but usually not. This is because titles can be very long and include non-standard symbols or fonts. You can find details in Chapter 14 of the ACS Style Guide. However, you should be able to locate the indicated article from the information given.

Not all ACS journals follow this format! It is always a good idea to double-check the journal homepage for format information! Some examples are linked here: