Best Bet Databases for Biology
General, Multi-Subject Databases:
Scanning and skimming are essential when reading scholarly articles, especially at the beginning stages of your research or when you have a lot of material in front of you.
Many scholarly articles are organized to help you scan and skim efficiently. The next time you need to read a scholarly article, use the following chart as a guide:
| Read / skim in this order: | While asking yourself: |
|---|---|
| 1. Abstract | What is the article about? Is it relevant to your research? |
| 2. Introduction | What is the main research question? |
| 3. Discussion / Results | What are the key findings or answers to the research question? |
| 4. Methods | How was research or analysis conducted? |
| 5. Conclusion | What are the key conclusions? What might be some implications for future research? |
To learn more about the different sections of an article, view this interactive graphic.
Scholarly books are much longer than articles and they provide more depth and context. You can find physical books or e-books in our catalog below. Try searching by subject, keyword, author, or title. After you search select "Books" on the left side of the page to limit your results to only books.
Any time you use another's work in your research, you need to cite the source with both in-text and reference list citations. American Psychological Association (APA) style is the citation style most commonly used for research at N.C. A&T. To learn how to cite in APA style, visit the resource linked below.
