Research Guides: Geology Research Guide: Finding Articles

Recommended Databases

GeoRef is the most comprehensive index to the literature of geology and earth sciences. Published by the American Geosciences Institute, GeoRef covers all aspects of geology from 1669 to the present for North America and 1933 to the present for the rest of the world. Containing over 3.3 million records, GeoRef indexes journal articles, books, maps, conference papers, reports and theses. It also includes references to all publications of the U.S. Geological Survey. Masters' theses and doctoral dissertations from U.S. and Canadian universities are also covered. To maintain the database, GeoRef editor/indexers regularly review more than 3,500 journals in 40 languages as well as new books, maps, and reports.

Popular, Scholarly, and Trade Professional Sources in the Natural Resources & Sciences

How to Pre-Read Scholarly Articles

Other Databases to Consider

Google Scholar
Indexes scholarly journal articles and web pages in all academic disciplines

NTIS Database (National Technical Information Service)
Indexes over 3 million publications covering over 350 subject areas including technical, scientific, and related-business reports, produced by or for a government agency. Some international reports are included.
US Government Publications Monthly Catalog
Finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online. Users can search by authoring agency, title, subject, and general key word, or click on "Advanced Search" for more options.
WorldCat
Identify and locate resources in library collections worldwide. Connect to materials at Cal Poly Humboldt and other libraries from WorldCat records and article citations.

Google Scholar

Link your Google Scholar results to HSU and see which articles you have access to as an HSU student. Under Google Scholar settings, set "Library Links" to include Humboldt State University! View this short video for demonstration on how to do this.

Google Scholar

How do I find journal articles on my topic?

There are search strategy guides tailored to science: Identifying Concepts and Generating Search Terms and AND, OR, NOT (Boolean Operators).

Citation Searching

If you know of an article on your topic, you may use Citation Linker to locate the article.

Always look at the References list at the end of each relevant article you find, to see if any of the listed sources might be useful!

Google Scholar is useful when searching citations. The Advanced Scholar Search option is the best way to search for articles which cite a known article. Check the "Cited by #" link below a search result to find additional useful sources - more recent articles which cite that relevant or classic article.

More ways to search citations may also be found in the Citation Searching section of Searching the Scientific Literature.

Peer-Reviewed Article?

Peer-reviewed articles have been read and evaluated by experts in the field to determine their quality and relevance to the subject they address before being published.

The links below explain more about peer-reviewed articles and the peer-review process.

Peer Review in 3 Minutes is a brief tutorial, from North Carolina State University that explains the peer review process in detail.

Publishers

SpringerLink
Includes fulltext articles from 750 journals published by Springer from Vol. 1 of each journal.
Oxford Journals
Includes fulltext articles from journals published by Oxford University Press from 1996 to the present with article indexing back to Vol. 1 of each journal
Wiley Online Library
Includes fulltext articles from over 1,100 journals published by Wiley-Blackwell from 1997 to the present with article indexing back to Vol. 1 of each journal.