UCF Research Guides: Biology: Find Journal Articles

Essential Databases

These databases are a great place to begin your search for peer-reviewed articles relating to Sociology. The search interface is easy to use and they search specifically in Biology-related titles.

Biological Science Collection (ProQuest) (1946+) This link opens in a new window
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"This database includes the renowned Biological Sciences, MEDLINE, and TOXLINE databases and provides full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, and government publications. The database includes specialized, editorially-curated A&I resources providing access to the extensive variety of biology’s cutting edge research, with applications to medicine, technology and the environment."
Contains the following sub-databases:
Algology Mycology & Protozoology Abstracts (Microbiology C)
Animal Behavior Abstracts
Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) 1: Biological Sciences & Living Resources
Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) Aquaculture Abstracts
Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) Marine Biotechnology Abstracts
Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B)
Biochemistry Abstracts 1
Biochemistry Abstracts 3
Biological Science Journals
Biotechnology Research Abstracts
Calcium & Calcified Tissue Abstracts
Chemoreception Abstracts
Conference Papers Index
Ecology Abstracts
Endocrinology Abstracts
Entomology Abstracts
Genetics Abstracts
Health & Safety Science Abstracts
Human Genome Abstracts
Immunology Abstracts
Industrial & Applied Microbiology Abstracts (Microbiology A)
MEDLINE®
Neurosciences Abstracts
Nucleic Acids Abstracts
Oncogenes & Growth Factors Abstracts
Plant Science
Toxicology Abstracts
TOXLINE®
Virology & AIDS Abstracts
BioOne (2000+) This link opens in a new window
Full-texts of high-impact bioscience research journals, an innovative collaboration between scientific societies, libraries, academe and the private sector.
Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics) This link opens in a new window
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Provides citation indexing of top high-impact journals with powerful tools such as cited reference searching and Author Finder, 256 categories thoroughly cover the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Citation Indexes for finding articles that cite a given author or citation.
- Science Citation Index Expanded (1965+)
- Social Sciences Citation Index (1965+)
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975+)

Citation Connection is now available. This includes:
- Data Citation Index (1900+)
- Derwent Innovations Index – Patents Database (1963+)
- Book Citation Index: Scholarly Books (2005+)
- Conference Proceedings Citation Index (1990+)
- Index Chemicus (IC) (1989+)
- Current Chemical Reactions (1993+)
- Current Contents Connect (1998+)

Great Databases but...

Below are databases direct from journal publishers. They contain a lot of articles in Biology, but DO NOT begin your search here. The search interface for these articles is very basic. You need to have a good set of keywords or search terms to use before attempting to use these databases.

Life & Biomedical Sciences (SAGE Journals) This link opens in a new window
Browse journals by discipline: Cell Biology; Life Sciences; Neuroscience; Pharmacology & Toxicology
Nature Journals (Springer-Nature) This link opens in a new window
NPG publishes journals and online databases across the life, physical and applied sciences and, most recently, clinical medicine.
Oxford Academic This link opens in a new window
Oxford Academic access to scholarly and academic books and journals. It combines the full book and article content from Oxford Journals, Florida Scholarship Online, Oxford Scholarship Online, and Oxford Handbooks Online.
In July 2022, books from Oxford Scholarship Online, University Press Scholarship Online, Oxford Handbooks Online, the AMA Manual of Style, migrated to Oxford Academic. You can now search across these OUP books and journals under the Oxford Academic.
Oxford Journals Online (OUP) (1827+) This link opens in a new window
Selective full text (1996+) of Oxford University Press journals covering a variety of disciplines:
-- Arts & Humanities -- Law -- Medicine & Health -- Science & Mathematics -- Social Sciences
Science Direct (1997+) This link opens in a new window
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Full text scientific, technical and medical research journals, eBooks, Reference works, handbooks and book series published by Elsevier.
Springer Nature Link This link opens in a new window
Providing researchers with access to millions of scientific documents from journals, books, series, protocols and reference works.
Disciplines include:
- Architecture & Design
- Astronomy
- Biomedical Sciences
- Business & Management
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Earth Sciences & Geography
- Economics
- Education & Language
- Energy
- Engineering
- Environmental Sciences
- Food Science & Nutrition
- Law
- Life Sciences
- Materials
- Mathematics
- Medicine
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Social Sciences
- Statistics
Taylor & Francis Journals (T&F) This link opens in a new window
a one-stop site hosting international journals published by Taylor & Francis and Routledge
You can search and browse the journals and reference works on Taylor & Francis Online for free. Use advanced search to restrict to "Only content I have full access to" unless you want to request articles through Interlibrary Loan since UCF's subscription only includes some journals, one reference work, and none of the abstract databases.
Journal subject coverage includes:
- Area Studies
- Arts
- Behavioral Sciences (includes Archive Collection)
- Bioscience
- Built Environment
- Communication Studies
- Computer Science (includes Archive Collection)
- Development Studies
- Earth Sciences
- Economics, Finance, Business & Industry
- Education (includes Archive Collection)
- Engineering & Technology (includes Archive Collection)
- Environment & Agriculture
- Environment & Sustainability
- Food Science & Technology
- Geography
- Health & Social Care
- Humanities
- Information Science
- Language & Literature
- Law
- Mathematics & Statistics
- Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Allied Health
- Museum & Heritage Studies
- Physical Sciences (includes Chemistry Archive Collection)
- Politics & International Relations
- Social Sciences
- Sports & Leisure
- Tourism, Hospitality & Events
- Urban Studies
Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new window
-Now linking to Wiley Online Homepage. For Publications, click link for Journals, Reference Works, or Online Books below search box
-Full text of Wiley's scholarly journals and many eBooks covering a variety of disciplines.
-See also Wiley-IEEE eBooks
Disciplines include:
- Agriculture, Aquaculture & Food Science
- Architecture & Planning
- Art & Applied Arts
- Business, Economics, Finance & Accounting
- Chemistry
- Computer Science & Information Technology
- Earth, Space & Environmental Sciences
- Humanities
- Law & Criminology
- Life Sciences
- Mathematics & Statistics
- Medicine
- Nursing, Dentistry & Healthcare
- Physical Sciences & Engineering
- Psychology
- Social & Behavioral Sciences
- Veterinary Medicine

Also Worth a Look

Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
This multi-disciplinary database provides active full text for more than 3,100 journals, including active full text for nearly 2,750 peer-reviewed journals.
AGRICOLA (ProQuest) (1970+) This link opens in a new window
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AGRICOLA is a bibliographic database, produced by the National Agricultural Library, consists of worldwide literature citations for journal articles, monographs, proceedings, theses, patents, translations, audiovisual materials, computer software, and technical reports pertaining to all aspects of agriculture and related fields. Since 1985, the CAB Thesaurus has been used to select controlled vocabulary terms for subject indexing. Library of Congress Subject Headings are used as controlled vocabulary for cataloging records.
Annual Reviews (1932+) This link opens in a new window
Annual Reviews publishes authoritative, analytic reviews in more than 45 focused disciplines in the sciences and social sciences.
bioRxiv: the preprint server for biology This link opens in a new window
"bioRxiv (pronounced "bio-archive") is a free online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences."
Subject Areas:
- Animal Behavior and Cognition
- Biochemistry
- Bioengineering
- Bioinformatics
- Biophysics
- Cancer Biology
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genetics
- Genomics
- Immunology
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biology
- Neuroscience
- Paleontology
- Pathology
- Pharmacology
- Physiology
- Plant Biology
- Scientific Communication
- Synthetic Biology
- Systems Biology
- Zoology
BIOSIS Citation Index This link opens in a new window
Covers all major areas in the life sciences, with broad coverage in molecular and cell biology, pharmacology, endocrinology, genetics, neurosciences, infectious diseases, ecology and organismal biology
Cell: An Image Library This link opens in a new window
"The Cell: An Image Library™ is a freely accessible, easy-to-search, public repository of reviewed and annotated images, videos, and animations of cells from a variety of organisms, showcasing cell architecture, intracellular functionalities, and both normal and abnormal processes. The purpose of this database is to advance research, education, and training, with the ultimate goal of improving human health."
General Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson - EBSCOhost) (1984+) This link opens in a new window
General Science Full Text™ provides full text from more than 100 periodicals dating as far back as 1995, in addition to indexing and abstracts for nearly 300 periodicals dating back to 1984. Subject coverage includes astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, conservation, health & medicine, oceanography, physics, zoology and much more.
GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
GreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. The database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 1,000,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 15,000 records.
JoVE Unlimited This link opens in a new window
Center for Distributed Learning is providing access to *all* JoVE video content. "10,000+ videos of laboratory methods and science concepts"
Topics include:
Advanced Biology
Basic Biology
Chemistry
Clinical Skills
Engineering
Environmental Sciences
Psychology
Physics
Core: Biology
Core: Chemistry
Core: Molecular Biology
Core: Social Psychology
Lab Manual: Biology
Lab Manual: Chemistry
Kanopy Streaming Videos This link opens in a new window
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Streaming educational videos and documentaries.
OvidSP This link opens in a new window
Search multiple Ovid databases
- Books@Ovid
- UCF Full Text Journals@Ovid
- Ovid MEDLINE (1946+)
- Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations
- Ovid OLDMEDLINE (1946-1965)
- Biological Abstracts (1985-2007)
- Biological Abstracts/RRM (1989-2007)
- Zoological Record (1978-2007)
Oxford Scholarship Online This link opens in a new window
Access to the full text of over 4,000 Oxford monographs in Biology, Business & Management, Classical Studies, Economics & Finance, History, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Mathematics, Music, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Public Health & Epidemiology, Religion, and Social Work
ProQuest Databases This link opens in a new window
Search platform for over 20 databases and over 75 sub-databases, including full text eBooks, dissertations, company profiles, and article indexing in multiple disciplines.
See the list of all ProQuest databases available at UCF
Public Library of Science (PLOS) This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed journals in biology, medicine, computational biology, genetics, pathogens, and neglected tropical diseases.
- PLOS ONE: All areas of science
- PLOS Biology: All areas of biological science, from molecules to ecosystems
- PLOS Medicine: All areas of medical science, clinical practice and health policy
- PLOS Computational Biology: Computational methods applied to all aspects of living systems
- PLOS Genetics: Genetics and genomics of all organisms
- PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: Neglected tropical diseases; scientific, medical and public health research
- PLOS Pathogens: Pathogens and interactions with host organisms
Sage Research Methods This link opens in a new window
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Sage Research Methods is the ultimate methods library with more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online from any scholarly publisher. The site is designed to guide users to the content they need to learn a little or a lot about their method. The Methods Map can help those less familiar with research methods to find the best technique to use in their research. Built upon Sage’s legacy of methods publishing, Sage Research Methods is the essential online tool for researchers.Full text of book, journal, and reference content to aid as students research design methodologies, understand and select methods, conduct research, and write findings.
Includes tools such as:
- Project Planner: find step-by-step guidance to complete your research project
- Which Stats Test: answer questions to see which statistical method is best for your data
includes the complete series of:
- Little Green Books -- Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences
- Little Blue Books -- Qualitative Research Methods
Science (Gale OneFile) (1980+) This link opens in a new window
"provides access to scholarly journals and magazines covering the latest scientific developments. Key subjects covered by the database include biological sciences, computing, engineering, and technology."
Science Citation Index Expanded (1965+) This link opens in a new window
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a multidisciplinary index to the journal literature of the sciences.
Springer Protocols This link opens in a new window
Reproducible laboratory protocols in the Life and Biomedical Sciences.

On July 25, 2018, the Springer Protocols platform was deactivated. Springer Protocols are searchable on the new Springer Nature Experiments site. Click the title to be authenticated for access to full text of the protocols. SpringerProtocols can also be found on the Springer Nature Link site.
- Biochemistry
- Bioinformatics
- Biotechnology
- Cancer Research
- Cell Biology
- Genetics / Genomics
- Imaging / Radiology
- Immunology
- Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology
- Molecular Medicine
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology / Toxicology
- Plant Sciences
- Protein Science

Grey Literature

Conference Proceedings Citation Index This link opens in a new window
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On the main search screen for Web of Science Core Collection, change "Editions: All" to "Conference Proceedings Citation Index."
"Conference Proceedings Citation Index helps researchers access the published literature from ... conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions worldwide."
Digital Commons Network This link opens in a new window
"brings together free, full-text scholarly articles from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide. Curated by university librarians and their supporting institutions, the Network includes a growing collection of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings, and other original scholarly work."
Subject Areas (listed by # of items included)
- Law (250,000+)
- Social & Behavioral Sciences (150,000+)
- Arts & Humanities (125,000+)
- Physical Sciences & Mathematics (80,000+)
- Life Sciences (70,000+)
- Engineering (65,000+)
- Education (63,000+)
- Medicine & Health Sciences (54,000+)
- Business (27,000+)
- Architecture (6,000+)
GreySource Index This link opens in a new window
"GreySource provides examples of grey literature to the average net-user and in so doing profiles organizations responsible for its production and/or processing."
"Only web-based resources that explicitly refer to the term grey literature (or its equivalent in any language) are listed. GreySource identifies the hyperlink directly embedded in a resource, thus allowing immediate and virtual exposure to grey literature. The web-based resources appear within categories derived from the COSATI (American) and SIGLE (European) Classification Systems."
Classification Scheme:
00 - GENERAL, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
01 - AERONAUTICS
02 - AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, FISHERIES, VETERINARY SCIENCES
03 - ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION, PROTECTION AND CONTROL
04 - HUMANITIES (HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, ETC.)
05 - SOCIAL SCIENCES (ECONOMICS, INFORMATION SCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY, ETC.)
06 - BIOLOGICAL & MEDICAL SCIENCES
07 - CHEMISTRY
08 - EARTH AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
09 - ELECTRONICS, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COMPUTER SCIENCE
10 - ENERGY & POWER
11 - MATERIALS
12 - MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
13 - MECHANICAL, INDUSTRIAL, CIVIL & MARINE ENGINEERING
14 - METHODS & EQUIPMENT
15 - MILITARY SCIENCES
16 - MISSILE TECHNOLOGY
17 - NAVIGATION, COMMUNICATION, DETECTION, COUNTERMEASURES
18 - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - S&T (MULTIDISCIPLINARY)
19 - ORDNANCE
20 - PHYSICS
21 - PROPULSION & FUELS
22 - SPACE TECHNOLOGY
Life Sciences Commons (Digital Commons) This link opens in a new window
"brings together free, full-text scholarly articles from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide."
Sub-Disciplines include: Agriculture -- Animal Sciences -- Plant Sciences -- Biology -- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology -- Biochemistry, Biophysics, & Structural Biology -- Entomology -- Forest Sciences -- Genetics & Genomics -- Kinesiology -- Immunology & Infectious Disease -- Microbiology -- Food Science -- Physiology -- Cell & Developmental Biology -- Neuroscience & Neurobiology -- Nutrition -- Marine Biology -- Bioinformatics -- Biodiversity -- Pharmacology, Toxicology & Environmental Health -- Biotechnology -- Laboratory & Basic Science Research -- Systems Biology -- Other Life Sciences
Open Access Theses & Dissertations (OATD) This link opens in a new window
OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions. OATD currently indexes over 7 million theses and dissertations.
OpenDOAR - The Directory of Open Access Repositories This link opens in a new window
a growing list of international institutional & subject-based repositories, as well as archives set up by funding agencies - like the National Institutes for Health in the USA or the Wellcome Trust in the UK and Europe.
The OpenDOAR service is being developed to support the rapidly emerging movement towards Open Access to research information. OpenDOAR is building a comprehensive and authoritative list of international institutional and subject-based repositories, as well as archives set up by funding agencies - like the National Institutes for Health in the USA or the Wellcome Trust in the UK and Europe. Users of the service are able to analyse repositories by location, type, the material they hold and other measures. This can be of use both to users wishing to find original research papers and for third-party "service providers", like search engines or alert services, which need easy to use tools for developing tailored search services to suit specific user communities.
OpenGrey: System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe This link opens in a new window
"System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe, is your open access to 700.000 bibliographical references of grey literature (paper) produced in Europe and allows you to export records and locate the documents."
"Examples of grey (gray) literature include technical or research reports, doctoral dissertations, some conference papers, some official publications, and other types of grey literature.
OpenGrey covers Science, Technology, Biomedical Science, Economics, Social Science and Humanities."
PapersFirst (FirstSearch) (1993+) This link opens in a new window
OCLC index of papers presented at conferences worldwide; covers every published congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop and meeting received by The British Library Document Supply Centre.
ProceedingsFirst (FirstSearch) This link opens in a new window
Covers every published congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop and meeting received by The British Library Document Supply Centre.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (1637+) This link opens in a new window
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"Each dissertation published since July, 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts. Simple bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637. Where available, PQDTGlobal provides 24-page previews of dissertations and theses."
For abstracts from 1938-1980 see the print volumes of Dissertation Abstracts International
"ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: Global (PQDTGlobal) is the world's most comprehensive collection of full-text dissertations and theses. As the official digital dissertations archive for the Library of Congress and as the database of record for graduate research, PQDTGlobal includes millions of searchable citations to dissertations and theses from 1861 to the present day together with over a million full-text dissertations that are available for download in PDF format. Over 2.1 million titles are available for purchase as printed copies. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full-text coverage for older graduate works. It also includes PQDT UK & Ireland content."