Guides and databases: Biosciences: Databases

Key databases for Biosciences

Highlighted are key indexing and abstracting services for literature searching within the Biosciences. This list is not comprehensive and a range of other resources will also be relevant.

BIOSIS Citation Index
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to BIOSIS Citation Index. Get a comprehensive view of life sciences research, including the most important discoveries, significant influences and relevant connections. Biosis Citation IndexSM combines critical life sciences research with powerful citation indexing.
EMBASE
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Comprehensive pharmacological and biomedical database renowned for extensive indexing of drug information.
MEDLINE (Ovid version)
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of journal articles from the National Library of Medicine. Covers medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. Includes EPub Ahead of Print citations.
PubMed
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to PubMed. Please view the instructions on how to see findit@UCL links in PubMed when offsite. PubMed is an index of biomedical literature, including all data from the Medline database from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the US National Library of Medicine (NLM).

Interdisciplinary databases

Web of Science
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Web of Science. Defaults to a ‘Core Collection’ search, covering the main Web of Science journals database; select 'All Databases' option from the drop down menu to cross-search all of UCL's subscribed Web of Science products, including Biosis, MEDLINE etc.
SCOPUS
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Scopus. Multi-disciplinary database containing references to journal articles, conference proceedings, trade publications, book series and web resources. Please use IE 8 or higher, Google Chrome or Firefox browsers.

I would advise searching at least one of these databases as part of any literature search. Both are significant in terms of content and subject scope. Remember to check 'help' pages provided in each database, as the search operators and defaults for combining your search terms differ. Expect a large number of duplicate papers if you search both.

These services offer citation searching features and are key for bibliometrics.

Specialist and full text services

The following services offer focused subject resources and in some cases, full texts of journal articles. This list is indicative. For more, please go to the Library database A-Z list and use the subject drop down box at the top to narrow down to databases in your subject area. Subject lists include Biology, Botany and Zoology. There are also lists for Biomedicine, Chemistry, Pharmacy and Neurology.

See also other resources for Biosciences on this guide.

AGRICOLA Articles
Includes journal articles, book chapters, short reports, and reprints based on the catalogue of the US National Agricultural Library.
Biology Database (ProQuest)
Providing access to a wide range of biology topics from approx 400 titles, with more than 325 available in full text.
BioMed Central Journals
BioMed Central publishes 233 peer-reviewed open access journals. Including access to Arthritis Research & Therapy, Breast Cancer Research, Genome Biology and journal of biology. Covering all areas of Biology and medicine.
BioOne Complete
Collection of full-text bioscience research journals focusing on biological, ecological, and environmental sciences
Ecological Flora of the British Isles
Flora consisting of data on over 2200 species of higher plants that occur in the British Isles, together with a bibliography of sources. Browsable by species, vernacular name, synonym, ecological characteristic, phytophagous insects and associated fungi.
H1 Connect
Create a free account to access the H1 Connect content. Index of top research papers in the biological and medical sciences, based on recommendations and ratings from well over 1000 leading scientists. Papers are arranged into "faculties" or topic areas.
GEOBASE
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Index of literature in the fields of physical and human geography, geology, oceanography, geomechanics, mineralogy, ecology and development studies.
GeoRef
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of literature in the geosciences. See GeoRef InProcess for provisional content.
JISC Journal Archives
JISC Journal Archives offers one platform for searching the archives of over 600 multidisciplinary journals.
JSTOR
Archive of important scholarly journals. Core resource. Accessibility statement for JSTOR.
PrimateLit
Index of scientific literature on nonhuman primates for the research and educational communities.
ProQuest Central
ProQuest Central is the largest multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. Over 160 subjects areas are covered including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more. Accessibility statement for ProQuest Central.
Science Citation Index Expanded
Indexes 8,300 major journals across 150 disciplines.
Science Database (ProQuest)
Focusing on both the applied and general sciences and with coverage dating back to 1986, ProQuest Science Journals features over 1,145 titleswith more than 965 available in full text.
Springer Protocols
Laboratory protocols in the life and medical sciences. Accessibility statement for SpringerLink.
Zoological Record
Zoological Record is the world's oldest continuing database of animal biology. It is considered the world's leading taxonomic reference and has long acted as the world's unofficial register of animal names. The broad scope of coverage ranges from biodiversity and the environment to taxonomy and veterinary sciences.

What is a database?

Access UCL databases

Library databases A-Z
Browse or search our databases by title, or use the Subject drop down box at the top to narrow down to databases in your subject area.

Guides for searching databases

Guide to using Ovid databases
See the Ovid guide for Medline, EMBASE and other databases.
LibrarySkills@UCL PubMed guide
LibrarySkills@UCL Scopus guide.
LibrarySkills@UCL Web of Science guide.
ProQuest databases

FindIt@UCL

Where you see the Findit@UCL icon, click on it to link to the full text.

Sometimes you will see a link to the publisher's site. Unless the article is open access, you might find that you can't reach the full text.

Clicking on the Findit@UCL link instead will link you to the full text via UCL's subscription access, if available.