Cell and Molecular Biology
on the Internet
This page offers help in using the internet for researching the published literature on cell and molecular biology. Many sites can be utilized free of charge through on-line services of publishing houses, government agencies and scientific societies. Certain industrious members of the scientific community also have created web pages that facilitate literature searching. Many on-line indices now provide complete references and abstracts; full texts are available from some sources, though usually at a cost. This page does not attempt to provide access to the numerous web resources on cell and molecular biology--the focus is on accessing literature databases and search engines through Scientific Journals, Literature Databases, Other Search Tools.
Page last updated: 8/31/98
Databases of Biomedical Literature
Literature databases are powerful search tools since they provide an efficient means to search many (often thousands) of journal titles extending back many years. Most databases allow searching combinations of key words separated by logical operands such as ' OR ' and 'AND '. Some of the most powerful databases (such as BIOSIS, and Current Contents) are only available through commercial providers or paid subscriptions. However, there are a number of free on-line services.
MEDLINE is an bibliographic database of biomedical literature maintained by the the NIH National Center for Biotechnology Information. Access to MEDLINE and 10 other biomedical databases, including CANCERLIT and AIDSLINE, is possible through the Grateful Med Gateway of U.S. National Library of Medicine. Follow appropriate links to learn about and search the different databases that are available. You can select a category of literature (such as reviews) with "Publ Types" menu.
Oncolink provides access to information about cancer and includes links to journals. You may find the 'search' button a valuable feature for seeking information pertaining to cancer from other internet sites; some of these may include references to published literature.
NARIC Databases -- The National Rehabilitation Information Center has a search engine for research and literature on many medical disorders including autoimmune disorders, blindness/visual impairments, deafness/hearing impairments, brain injuries, developmental disabilities, neurological/neuromuscular disorders, poliomyelitis, psychological disabilities, spinal cord injury, stroke and many other disorders.
Journals with On-line services
Many journals now have on-line services. Some only offer a listing of recent Table of Contents. Many also provide tools for searching key words and access to abstracts and full texts (see section below about listings on-line journals. However, most journals currently only provide on-line access to the most recent volumes (the last few years).
One particularly valuable site in Annual Reviews. Annual Reviews is a family of journals that are published once a year. Each journal publishes review articles pertaining to a particular scientific discipline. Many 'Annual Reviews' cover topics relating to cell, molecular and biomedical research. Through it's on-line service you can review tables of contents and abstracts, and search titles extending back 12 years. This is a great place to begin a literature search.
As other examples, you may wish to check out the on-line services of the following journals: Science, Nature, Scientific American and Cell.
You may also want to visit the home pages of the major publishers of scientific journals. Most have links to the pages for each journal they publish, and some publish dozens. For example:
Academic Press : free access to Molecular Immunology until 12/96
Since these houses also publish scientific books, some of their sites allow searching of book catalogs as well.
Sites with Information About and Links to On-Line Journals
One list of On-Line Journals is available through the NIH. Bear in mind that not all of these allow free access to full texts of articles.
Another site that can provide lots of information about internet resources is Cell and Molecular Biology On-Line. This site is maintained by Pamela Gannon and has links to a broad range of information available on the internet pertaining to these two fields, including electronic journals, career opportunities, professional societies and methodologies.
You may also want to look into the BioMedNet, a virtual club for people interested in the biological and medical fields. First obtain a free membership. You can then access a wide assortment of on-line services, including searches of the scientific literature. Full text articles can be downloaded, relatively inexpensively, from a large number of journals representing many fields of biology. Members also can join an e-mail list to receive periodic news briefs and current titles from the HMS Beagle, an on-line biology magazine.
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