Selected Databases
- SciFinder-n This link opens in a new window
To use SciFinder, you must register and provide your UD email.
Comprehensive database for chemical literature, indexing journal articles and patent records, and chemical substances and reactions. You can search by topic, author, and substances by name or CAS Registry Number, or use the editor to draw chemical structures, substructures, or reactions. - Web of Science This link opens in a new window
A reference and citation index comprised of several databases that can be searched as a whole or individually. Provides access to data from scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities as published in journals, conference proceedings, symposia, seminars, colloquia. workshops, and conventions across the world. To search in a subset rather than all components at once, select a database and then select the desired index or indices in the “Editions” dropdown menu.
- Reaxys This link opens in a new window
A search and retrieval system for chemical compounds, bibliographic data, and chemical reactions. The content in Reaxys comes from The Beilstein Handbook, The Gmelin Handbook, Selected literature from 1772 to today, Organic chemistry and life science patents from the U.S. (since 1976), World and European patent publications (since 1978).
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics This link opens in a new window
Concise, reliable reference source spanning the full range of the physical sciences and focusing on key data that are needed by RandD professionals, scientists, engineers, and students. Contains property data on chemical compounds and all physical particles that have been reported in the literature. (Coverage: Latest ed. plus archive back to 84th [2003-2004] ed.
- SpringerMaterials This link opens in a new window
Curated data and advanced functionalities to support research in materials science, physics, chemistry, engineering, and other related fields.
- Science of Synthesis This link opens in a new windowScience of Synthesis helps you get up to speed on a chosen field of research quickly and is essential in helping you complete the design of your synthetic strategy. See the "Vendor Training Materials" tab for more information.
- Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) This link opens in a new windowRepository for small-molecule organic and metal-organic crystal structures.
- ChemSpider This link opens in a new windowChemSpider is a free chemical structure database providing fast text and structure search access to 58+ million structures from hundreds of data sources.
- ICSD Web This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive database on fully determined inorganic crystal structures
- CompTox Chemicals Dashboard | EPAThe Dashboard contains chemistry, toxicity and exposure information for over one million chemicals, with over 300 chemical lists based on structure or category. Webpage provides links to the Dashboard and to its Resource Hub.
- ScienceOpenScienceOpen serves as a professional networking platform and offers a freely accessible search and discovery platform with smart filters, topical collections and input from the academic community (post-publication peer review, recommendation, social sharing).
- Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
A premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from scholarly journals and other authoritative sources. Also includes thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN, as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning. (Coverage: 1980 --)
- BIOSIS Citation Index This link opens in a new window
Adds citation indexing to BIOSIS content and is a thorough reference database for life sciences. Includes cited references to primary journal literature on biological and medical research findings, and discoveries of new organisms. Traditional areas such as botany, zoology, microbiology, as well as related fields like biomedicine, agriculture, pharmacology, ecology are covered. Interdisciplinary fields like medicine, biochemistry, biophysics, bioengineering, biotechnology are also included. (Coverage: 1926 --)
- Biological Science Collection This link opens in a new window
Iincludes the Biological Sciences, MEDLINE and TOXLINE databases. Provides full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, and government publications. Can also be searched as part of the Natural Science Collection. (Coverage: 1946 --)
- PubChem PubChem, released in 2004, provides information on the biological activities of small molecules. PubChem is organized as three linked databases: PubChem Substance, PubChem Compound, and PubChem BioAssay. PubChem also provides a fast chemical structure similarity search tool.
- PubMed This link opens in a new window
A free resource providing access to biomedical and life sciences literature. Contains millions of citations and abstracts, but does not include full-text articles. However, links to the full-text are often present from other sources, such UD subscribed titles, publisher websites, or PubMed Central. To access articles from UD subscribed titles you must be a UD student or staff member.
- ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global This link opens in a new window
The world's most comprehensive curated collection of multi-disciplinary dissertations and theses from around the world, offering over 5 million citations and 3 million full-text works from thousands of universities.
Try these when looking mainly for...
- SciFinder-n This link opens in a new window
To use SciFinder, you must register and provide your UD email.
Comprehensive database for chemical literature, indexing journal articles and patent records, and chemical substances and reactions. You can search by topic, author, and substances by name or CAS Registry Number, or use the editor to draw chemical structures, substructures, or reactions. - Scopus This link opens in a new window
A citation and abstracting database covering thousands of active titles, primarily peer-reviewed journals. Also includes eBooks, major reference works and graduate level textbooks. Emphasis on social sciences, arts and humanities, but also includes science, technology and medicine. Includes thousands of Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, book series, and patents. (Coverage: Primarily 1970-present. Some pre-1970 records going back to 1788)
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window
A reference and citation index comprised of several databases that can be searched as a whole or individually. Provides access to data from scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities as published in journals, conference proceedings, symposia, seminars, colloquia. workshops, and conventions across the world. To search in a subset rather than all components at once, select a database and then select the desired index or indices in the “Editions” dropdown menu.
- Reaxys This link opens in a new window
A search and retrieval system for chemical compounds, bibliographic data, and chemical reactions. The content in Reaxys comes from The Beilstein Handbook, The Gmelin Handbook, Selected literature from 1772 to today, Organic chemistry and life science patents from the U.S. (since 1976), World and European patent publications (since 1978).
- SciFinder-n This link opens in a new window
To use SciFinder, you must register and provide your UD email.
Comprehensive database for chemical literature, indexing journal articles and patent records, and chemical substances and reactions. You can search by topic, author, and substances by name or CAS Registry Number, or use the editor to draw chemical structures, substructures, or reactions. - Science of Synthesis This link opens in a new window
Provides a critical review of the synthetic methodology developed field of organic and organometallic chemistry. (Coverage: early 1800s --)
- SpringerMaterials This link opens in a new window
Curated data and advanced functionalities to support research in materials science, physics, chemistry, engineering, and other related fields.
NOTE: SciFinder and Reaxys are complementary resources, and although there is some overlap the two are quite different in their respective literature coverage, and the ways they register compounds and index reactions. It's advisable to consult both databases for the most complete coverage of compounds, reactions, and properties.
- Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) This link opens in a new window
Repository for small-molecule organic and metal-organic crystal structures, with over 1 million curated entries from x-ray and neutron diffraction analyses. Each entry includes chemical/physical property data and associated journal article references.
- ICSD Web This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive database on fully determined inorganic crystal structures. Contains the following types of crystal structures: Experimental inorganic structures, Experimental metal-organic structures, and Theoretical inorganic structures.
- Reaxys This link opens in a new window
A search and retrieval system for chemical compounds, bibliographic data, and chemical reactions. The content in Reaxys comes from The Beilstein Handbook, The Gmelin Handbook, Selected literature from 1772 to today, Organic chemistry and life science patents from the U.S. (since 1976), World and European patent publications (since 1978).
- SciFinder-n This link opens in a new window
To use SciFinder, you must register and provide your UD email.
Comprehensive database for chemical literature, indexing journal articles and patent records, and chemical substances and reactions. You can search by topic, author, and substances by name or CAS Registry Number, or use the editor to draw chemical structures, substructures, or reactions.
NOTE: SciFinder and Reaxys are complementary resources, and although there is some overlap the two are quite different in their respective literature coverage, and the ways they register compounds and index reactions. It's advisable to consult both databases for the most complete coverage of compounds, reactions, and properties.
Finding Journal Articles
Step One: Choose a Database
Databases serve as indexes to magazines and journals. Some databases such as Academic OneFile and Web of Science cover general and multidisciplinary topics; others such as SciFinder and PubMed are specialized and cover one subject area in great depth. This page list databases most useful for chemists and biochemists.
If you already know the name of the database you would like to search, you can get to it directly by searching for its name on the Library databases page.
Step Two: Search for Articles within the Database
Identify important search terms and concepts. Make a list of key search terms that relate to your topic. PubMed has a thesaurus within the database which will help you identify related and synonymous terms.
Enter search terms and combine them for more effective searching. While databases vary, most of them allow you to use Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to combine terms. Examples:
Locating Gray Literature
Gray (or grey*) Literature generally refers to multiple document types produced on all levels of government, academics, business, and organization in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing, i.e., where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body.
A few examples are newsletters, technical notes, working papers, white papers, patents, reports, conference proceedings, doctoral theses/dissertations.
To learn more about the topic, consult the website of GreyNet International (https://www.greynet.org/). See also the Gray Literature research guide from California State University, Long Beach.
*Is it "gray" or "grey" literature? In America, the spelling is grAy, while in England the spelling is grEy. [From https://www.greyorgray.com/].