BIO 7C - Microbiology: Scholarly Journals

*Database Searching Tips:

To limit your database search to only scholarly/academic/peer-reviewed journals, check/select the box labeled "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals". 

Also, be sure to check/select the box labeled "Full Text".
This will ensure that you receive full/complete articles in your search results.

Add the word "study" to your search to target articles that are research studies.

Let's say you want to find an article that discusses the amount of bacteria contained in a soda from a fast food restaurant. Here are some suggestions to go about doing this: 

1) Determine the key words/terms for your search.
Using our example, the key terms would be: bacteria and soda and "fast food"

2) If one of your key words/terms is a phrase, use quotation marks around that phrase.
Example: "fast food"
(This will ensure that your search returns articles that are specifically about fast food, not just about food in general or articles that simply contain the word fast.)

3)When searching for an article containing more than one key term, use a connector word such as AND to join the two (or more) terms.
Example: bacteria AND soda AND "fast food"
(You can use the word AND to connect as many terms/phrases as you like, just be aware that the more connector words you use, the more limiting your search will be and the less articles you will see displayed in your results.)

4) If you are having trouble locating relevant articles, you may need to broaden or change your search strategy.
Here are a few suggestions that may help with your search:

-Try searching with synonyms (words with similar meanings) of your key terms.
For example:  instead of soda, use the word pop--bacteria AND pop AND "fast food" or bacteria AND coke AND "fast food" or bacteria AND "soda pop" AND "fast food"

-Try removing one or more of your search terms to broaden your search.  For example:  bacteria AND soda or bacteria AND "fast food"

-Can also use the * to search using the root of a word.  This will retrieve articles that contain all words that have that root.  For example:  microb*  (This would retrieve articles where the following words were used: microbe, microbiology, microbial, etc.).

Below is a sample of search terms based on potential research topics
as suggested in the Design Your Own Research Project assignment:

-bacteria AND "fast food"
-sanitation AND meat
-"food safety"
-"food safety" AND chicken
-food AND sanitation
-coliform AND contamination
-pathogens AND "food production"
-pathogens AND "control methods"
-pathogens AND control
-microb* AND household

Consult assignment details for additional research topic suggestions.

To use the library's online databases from off-campus, you will need to log in.

Use your MyPortal login credentials (W# and MyPortal password). 

For more information about MyPortal login details, visit MyPortal Information.