Getting Started
Welcome to your Subject Guide, where you'll find tailored guidance and advice on key library resources.
Referencing within Biosciences
All programmes in the Biosciences use Cite Them Right Harvard.
Access Cite Them Right through the link below.
- Cite Them RightCite them right is a comprehensive guide to referencing almost anything you will come across in the course of your studies or research.
Roehampton University subscribes to a wide range of specialist research databases, free to access with your Roehampton login; those most relevant to Biological and Biomedical Sciences are listed below. Most of these provide the full text, but sometimes just brief details (citation and abstract) of the articles. Click the Search4FullText button to see if you can access the article via our eJournals; if not, you can order it free via Interlibrary Loan.
It is important to ensure that you are using authoritative, evidence-based, scientific sources of information, as opposed to non-academic sources such as newspapers, magazines, random web pages, social media posts, etc., which may present biased opinion rather than objective facts. The sources listed below adhere to rigorous academic standards, so you can trust the information you find there.
Top databases recommended for Biological and Biomedical Sciences:
- Annual Reviews Online This link opens in a new window
Provides researchers, academics, and scientific professionals with a definitive academic resource in more than 45 scientific disciplines. The articles capture the current understanding of a topic. This includes what is current and controversial, questions remaining, direction of future research and application to society.
- Medline (Web of Science platform) This link opens in a new window
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The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) premier life sciences database. Check out our Spotlight on Nursing and Healthcare Resources blog post.
- Ovid This link opens in a new window
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Premium nursing and allied health database, ideal for practice, research, or education, with millions of records including full text eBooks and journals.
- PubMed (Open Access Resource) This link opens in a new window
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A free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal articles at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM).
- Royal Society This link opens in a new windowPhilosophical Transactions, Proceedings and other journals of the Royal Society of London relating to Biological Sciences. Coverage is 2014-2022 only; for later issues, please request articles via Interlibrary loan.
To find out more about how to evaluate and use different sources of information, see the following:
- Research Skills video tutorialsTutorials on how to find, evaluate and use Library sources of information.
- Google Search Tips (Tutorial) 10-15 minutesAn interactive tutorial with tips on how to find specific file types, searching within a site, and filtering searches to scholarly articles using Google Scholar.
- Google ScholarWeb search engine that looks for scholarly publications.
- Sage Research Methods Online This link opens in a new window
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Provides help, guidance and tools for designing, writing and reporting research projects.
- Calling Bull....A web based course created by two professors at the University of Washington to train students to recognise and distinguish lies from fact.
Television and Video content - free to access with your Roehampton login:
- ROB (Roehampton Online Broadcasts) This link opens in a new window
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Record and stream freeview TV and radio programmes for educational use, create clips and playlists, and access the archive of recorded programmes including BBC and Shakespeare Archives. ROB is managed by AVR, for assistance contact: avr@roehampton.ac.uk.
Professional organisations:
Other useful web resources:
- Khan Academy: BiologyFree online courses and content.
- Plants: From Roots to RichesBBC Podcast