Interdisciplinary Professional Programs (InterPro) : Literature Searching
Get Help from PSET Team
Physical Science & Engineering Team | Science & Engineering Libraries
Email: pset@library.wisc.edu
Ariel Andrea | Chemistry
Dave Bloom | Steenbock Library
Anne Glorioso | Steenbock Library
Erin Thomas | Steenbock Library
Literature searching
As a researcher at UW-Madison, you have access to a wealth of information! We subscribe to thousands of journals and hundreds of databases, and we have a vast print collection. Don't be stopped by paywalls; if you can't find the article in our collections, we can almost always get you a copy through interlibrary loan.
Please contact us at AskSEL@library.wisc.edu if you need assistance. We can help you construct efficient searches, set alerts, find full text of articles, and identify journals for publishing your work.
Searching Databases
You can access databases from the library home page. Use the dropdown menu at the Catalog button to navigate to Databases. We subscribe to many databases that index scientific literature.
There are several ways to access databases:
1) Search by the title of the database (for example, 'PubMed')
2) Use the Browse by Subject/Type page to discover databases that index literature on your research topic
3) Visit the Top 10 Databases page to access commonly used databases.
The databases listed below are popular starting points for most science topics:
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Google ScholarAccessing Google Scholar (a free public resource) through our link will help you bypass paywalls.
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PubMedAccessing PubMed (a free public database) through our link will help you bypass paywalls.
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ScopusLarge, multidisciplinary database that covers science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Includes tools to track, analyze, and visualize research.
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Web of ScienceA collection of databases that index the world’s leading scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, as published in journals, conference proceedings, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions across the globe.