Library Tutorial
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Advanced Library Skills for Physics Research
Advanced literature searching and information evaluation for upper level undergraduates and Master's students in Physics.
Free and Discounted Open Access Publishing
There are many Article Processing Charge (APC) discounts and waivers available to U of A researchers. If you are interested in publishing your research Open Access, please look at the Article Processing Charge Support page, you can also search for APC-free or discounted journals with our new Open Access Journal Search.
Evaluating Information
Use the CRAAP Test
Currency - Is it timely?
Relevance - Useful for your purposes?
Authority - Who? What is the source?
Accuracy - References to back it up?
Purpose - Why? Is there a bias?
Databases for Finding Articles
Note: There are many databases that cover physics and sub-disciplines of physics. Recommended databases each area of physics are covered below.
Physics and Interdisciplinary Databases
The following databases feature good coverage of physics
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arXiv.orgarXiv.org is an electronic archive and distribution server for open access research papers in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology and Statistics. It is the best place to find the latest research.
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Inspec Archive (1898-1968)A database covering material in the fields of physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computers and control engineering, and information technology.
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ScopusThe world's largest interdisciplinary literature index, including over 67 million journal records. Especially strong in science, engineering, technology, and medicine.
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Web of Science - All DatabasesA major multidisciplinary database for the sciences and the social sciences, as well as a great research metrics tool.
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Google ScholarGoogle Scholar is the largest interdisciplinary database. Make sure to use simple searches for the best results.
Medical Physics and Biophysics Databases
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PubMed (with links to UofA e-journals)PubMed (1946 to the present) covers the world's biomedical and health sciences journal literature. Includes links to full text licensed by the University of Alberta.
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Web of Science - All DatabasesAn interdisciplinary database that includes Medline and a number of biological sciences databases. Recommended for medical and biophysics.
Geophysics Database
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GeoRefGeoRef (1785 to the present) includes international coverage of the
earth sciences and all aspects of geology and geophysics including archaeology,
fossils, economics, education, engineering and environmental geology,
expeditions, instruments, land use, landfills, soils, geologic hazards, maps, magnetic fields, and medical and military geology.
Astronomy Databases
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Astrophysics Data System (ADS)ADS is a digital library portal for researchers in astronomy and physics. ADS contains more than 13 million records covering publications in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics, and the arXiv preprints.
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The Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center (CDS) PortalThe CDS Portal hosts the SIMBAD astronomical database; the VizieR astronomical catalogue service. and the Aladin interactive sky atlas. The CDS Portal searches these databases simultaneously using either object name or coordinates. CDS is best when searching for information and literature about specific astronomical objects.
Particle Physics Database
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INSPIREINSPIRE is an information platform for high energy physics, that also includes some coverage of related areas including condensed matter physics. It is previously know as SPIRES. Additionally, INSPIRE contains arXiv preprints relevant to particle physics.
Mathematical Physics Databases
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MathSciNetPublications from 1940 to the present. It provides subject access to journals and conferences publishing in all areas of mathematical sciences, including Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science as well as mathematically related research in Physics, operations research, Engineering, Biology and other disciplines.
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zbMATH OpenThis is the world's most comprehensive and longest-running abstracting and reviewing service in pure and applied mathematics.
For help, please contact:
Properties Databases
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Springer MaterialsThis is the worlds largest database for the identification of physical and chemical properties in Materials Science. It covers data from Materials Science, Physics, Physical and Inorganic Chemistry, Engineering and other related fields.
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CRC Handbook of Chemistry and PhysicsCoverage includes physical constants of organic compounds, properties of the elements and inorganic compounds, thermochemistry, electrochemistry and kinetics, fluid properties, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, and more. Also known as: Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.