BIO 400: Evolutionary and Integrative Biology

Scientists have been publishing since the 1600s.  That means there's a LOT of resources at your disposal.  How do you sift through it all?  Practice these tips to narrow down the number of results you get when researching.

• identify the best database to use (OneSearch is a great place to start)
• use appropriate language (look at subject words in article records for ideas)
  • scientific jargon produces more scientific results
  • common language produces mixed results with some social science flavor
• combine subject and keywords using the "advanced search" feature in databases
• select "peer review" or "scholarly" to limit results
• add location, population, specific species, time period keywords to further narrow your results
• WHAT are you looking for?  If you need DNA evidence, make sure one of your keywords is "DNA."  If you want to know how technology is involved, "technology" should be a keyword.