BME 301: Biomedical Engineering Design and Communication (Spring 2024) : Finding and Using Articles
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Biomedical Engineering Databases
- ScopusA multidisciplinary abstract and citation database that covers science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
- PubMedCovers the biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Also provides access to NCBI databases covering molecular biology. From the NIH's National Library of Medicine.
- Web of ScienceCollection of databases indexing selected scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, from journals, conference proceedings, symposia, and more.
- Google ScholarGoogle search for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all areas of research.
- Biomedical Database LibraryThe full list of biomedical engineering research databases available through the Libraries.
Using and Evaluating Sources
Finding papers that seem relevant to your research project is only the first step. The resources below can help you make sense of what you find, so you can use the information from your sources confidently and effectively.
- How to Read a Scientific PaperFeeling overwhelmed trying to make sense of scholarly articles? Start with this humorous guide. Includes the relatable "10 Stages of Reading a Scientific Paper".
- How to (Seriously) Read a Scientific PaperTips from researchers around the world on how to get the information you need from a scholarly article, navigate parts of a paper you don't understand, and deal with feeling overwhelmed.
- Evaluating Sources for Credibility and ValueThis guide will help you understand factors that influence the credibility of a scientific paper (and its authors) and determine if it is useful for your project.
- Writers' Handbook: Quoting and ParaphrasingThis guide from the Writing Center will help you incorporate information from your sources into your own writing without plagiarizing.
- Citing SourcesAn introduction to citations including common citation styles, citation information, and citation tools.
Getting Full Text
Follow 
(Find It button) or the "Find It at UW Madison" link in most databases to:
- access online full text (when available)
- see if the journal or book is available in print if it is not accessible online
- request a free pdf of the article or book chapter if full text is not available online (Request a Copy)
If you already have a citation, use this Citation Search to search for your article.