Library Resources for Research
Plant Biology Databases
What is a Scholarly Source?
Scholarly Sources include articles, books, and other types of writings that have been written and published by experts in a particular field. Scholarly sources are often defined as having undergone the peer review process. Generally, the peer review process is an evaluation of an academic work (a submitted manuscript or preprint) done by other professionals (reviewers) in the same field. Many scholars consider an article trustworthy once it has been peer-reviewed; when crafting a bibliography for a course assignment, it is often expected that most sources be peer-reviewed, and some professors require this for all sources (ask your professor!).
Scholarly sources can be found in journals, academic databases, and online search engines. Below is a short list of databases you can use when searching for articles in Plant Biology.
General Science
-
Web of Science
Multidisciplinary index covering topics in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Some full text available. -
Natural Science CollectionSearches multiple databases in the following science areas: Agricultural, aquatic, atmospheric, biological, earth and environmental.
-
SciFinder1907 - present (with some 19th century material).
Focused on chemistry, but chemistry is defined broadly, so can be useful for biology, physics, engineering, astronomy, etc. Users must register. -
Academic Search CompleteComprehensive, multidisciplinary database covering social sciences, humanities, education, physical and life sciences, and ethnic studies with access to more than 7,000 peer reviewed journals and over 75,000 videos from the Associated Press.
-
Google ScholarGoogle Scholar enables you to search for literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts, and technical reports from all broad areas of research. However, it indexes these items automatically and you should take care to verify the scholarly nature of items you find. Additionally, sometimes the OU Article Linker does not work correctly from Google Scholar results; in those cases take the title, journal, or authors and search in a database from the Libraries website.
-
Engineering VillageEngineering database - searches Compendex, Inspec, and GEOBASE. Click "Check Access" then click on "sign in" via your institution. Type in "University of Oklahoma" (your email will not work) then select University of Oklahoma. This will prompt you to log in with your 4x4. Then click "continue without signing in". It's complicated but it's worth it!
-
JSTORFull text and complete archives of core scholarly journals in most disciplines. Some journals date from the 1600s. Current issues may not be available.
-
FirstSearch CollectionA list of databases available from FirstSearch on various subjects, including AnthropologyPlus, ArticleFirst, ClasePeriodica, Ebooks, ECO (Electronic Collections Online), ERIC, GEOBASE, GPO, History of Science, Technology and Medicine, Medline, OAIster, PapersFirst, Proceedings, World Almanac, WorldCat, and WorldCat Dissertations.
Life Sciences
-
Databases & E-Reference in Biological Sciences & MedicineView all OU Libraries databases and eReference materials associated with your subject.
-
PubMedU.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) database of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.
Finding Journals
-
OU Libraries Journal SearchDo you know of a specific publication you're looking for? Search for journals by title or ISSN.
-
Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes"Detailed and documentary analysis of special sites anywhere in the world, with a focus upon the dialogue between design and reception. The journal seeks to situate specific analysis in the larger cultural context that includes social and cultural history, geography, aesthetics, technology (including horticulture) and conservation. "
-
Agricultural History"All aspects of the history of agriculture and rural life with no geographical or temporal limits"
-
Economic Botany"Bridges the gap between pure and applied botany by publishing interdisciplinary work on the rich relationship that exists between plants and people, including the past, present, and potential uses of plants."
-
Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality"Open Access journal of the German Society for Quality Research on Plant Foods and the Section Applied Botany of the German Botanical Society. It provides a platform for scientists to disseminate recent results of applied plant research in plant physiology and plant ecology, plant biotechnology, plant breeding and cultivation, phytomedicine, plant nutrition, plant stress and resistance, plant microbiology, plant analysis (including -omics techniques), and plant food chemistry. The articles have a clear focus on botanical and plant quality aspects and contain new and innovative information based on state-of-the-art methodologies."
-
Journal of Economic and Taxonomic BotanyCollections on articles on ethnobotany.
-
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine"Interdisciplinary studies on the inextricable relationships between human cultures and the environment, ie. on traditional/local/folk ecological, nutritional, and medical knowledge. In addition, the journal covers the relevance of these subjects for environmental and public health/nutritional policies, especially in developing and emerging countries."
-
Journal of Ethnopharmacology"Articles concerned with the observation and experimental investigation of the biological activities of plant and animal substances used in the traditional medicine of past and present cultures."
-
Journal of Herbal Drugs"Covering research work results and review articles dealing with issues related to progress in the field of herbal substances and natural products, reports from conferences, meetings, symposium, congress, as well as reviews of books and journals and reviews of various publications on medicinal plants."
What is Grey Literature?
Grey literature sometimes refers to documents that are not published commercially or not readily accessible via library databases.
These documents may include conference papers or proceedings, theses or dissertations, handbooks, codes of safety data, clinical trials, government documents, etc.
Grey literature search tips:
- Identify the important professional societies in your discipline, and search their web sites for publications or report series.
- Examine the "works cited" section of influential published books and articles on your topic.
- Use a web browser such as Google to search for "grey literature in engineering" or "grey literature in economics" (or whatever your discipline is).
- Consult your librarian.
Looking for handbooks and encyclopedias? Go to the Background Information page. Looking for datasets? Go to Quantitative & Qualitative Analysis!
Dissertations
Dissertations Written by OU Students
- Visit OU Libraries Discover/Local Catalog
- Search by author or title.
- Online full text access to doctoral dissertations (Masters' theses are not available electronically).
- Print copies can be checked out (shelved by author's last name in the Great Reading Room, with overflow into the nearby Decks).
- SHAREOK Repository https://shareok.org/
- Joint repository of digital items for OU and OSU
- Since 2014, OU dissertations have been deposited there so that they are freely available
- Items can be found through a Google (or other search engine) search.
Dissertations & Theses from Other Universities
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses – Formerly known as Dissertation Abstracts. Provides full text access 1997-present to most dissertations from U.S. institutions. Provides indexing information to dissertations 1861 - present. Many universities, including OU, no longer submit the full text of their dissertations in this database. Instead, they post their dissertations in an institutional repository (at OU, this is SHAREOK). If the dissertation is not available electronically, you can order through interlibrary loan.
- DART-Europe E-theses Portal – Dissertations from European universities
- UK Theses
Professional Societies in Plant Biology
To find grey literature, identify professional societies in your discipline and use a web browser such as Google to search their web sites for publications or report series or search for "grey literature" plus your discipline. The list below is non-exhaustive and adapted from Montana State. Want to recommend an addition to the list? Email libstem@ou.edu.
- American Horticultural Society
- American Phytopathological Society
- American Society of Agronomy
- American Society of Plant Biologists
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- American Institute of Biological Sciences
- Association for Women in Science
- Botanical Society of America
- Ecological Society Association
- National Academy of Science
- The National Association of Biology Teachers
Plant Biology Government Documents
Federal Resources
- Environmental Protection Agency, Toxic Release Inventory Program
- Library of Congress: Botany
- Library of Congress: Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics
- Center for Disease Control
- Department of Agriculture: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
- Department of Health & Human Services
- Department of Health & Human Services: Healthfinder.Gov
- Department of Health & Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Office of Disability Employment Policy
- Emergency Access Initiative
- Fish and Wildlife Service: Endangered Species Program
- Library of Congress: Health/Medical
- Library of Congress: Science and Technology
- Library of Congress: Zoology
- Library of Medicine: National Institutes of Health
- National Center for Biotechnology Information
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Medicine: National Institutes of Health: MedLine Plus
- National Library of Medicine: Pub Med
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Science.gov
- Smithsonian: Contributions to Zoology
- Vital Statistics of the US, 1900-Present
International Resources
- European Union Homepage, Europa
- World Food Programme
- Library of Congress, Country Studies
- UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
- United Nations Homepage
- US Central Intelligence Agency, World Fact Book
- US State Department Bilateral Relations Fact Sheet (Background Notes)
- World Health Organization
- United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization
State Resources
- Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology
- Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
- Oklahoma State Department of Health
- Oklahoma State Department of Health, OK2SHARE Service Databases
- Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
- Statistical Abstract of Oklahoma
Questions? Reach out to OU Government Documents Librarian Jeffrey Wilhite.
Patent Searching
Business Information
- World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
- GreyNet International
- Business Source Elite – covers business, management, economics, banking, finance, and accounting. Materials indexed include scholarly, peer-reviewed, and some trade journals. Some full text is available.
- ABI/INFORM (ProQuest One Business) – Now included in the ProQuest One Business database, this resource covers business and management topics with information on more than 60,000 companies through journals, newspapers, executive profiles, reports on market conditions, and in-depth case studies of global business trends.
- Industry Reports OU Libraries guide
Popular Treatments of Plant Ecology
What are Popular Works?
Popular works consist of publications that do not undergo the same vetting process as a scholarly source (i.e. peer review).
Newspapers and magazines are considered popular works – check out OU Libraries Newspapers & Magazines guide, and our Popular Magazines guide to learn what you have access to.
Popular works are more timely, but still require some measure of evaluation before using it for assignments. Visit the News Literacy research guide for information on identifying fake news, teaching news literacy, and resources for fact-checking.
Know of a good popular work? Send us your recommendations: libstem@ou.edu
-
A New Garden Ethic
by
Call Number: Available from Metropolitan Public Library System (OKC)ISBN: 9781550926507Publication Date: 2017Plenty of books tell home gardeners and professional landscape designers how to garden sustainably, what plants to use, and what resources to explore. Yet few examine why our urban wildlife gardens matter so much--not just for ourselves, but for the larger human and animal communities. -
Lessons from Plants
by
Call Number: QK46.5.H85 M65 2021ISBN: 9780674241282Publication Date: 2021Lessons from Plants enters into the depth of botanic experience and shows how we might improve human society by better appreciating not just what plants give us but also how they achieve their own purposes. What would it mean to learn from these organisms, to become more aware of our environments and to adapt to our own worlds by calling on perception and awareness? -
Tomatoland
by
Call Number: Available from Pioneer Library SystemISBN: 9781449408411Publication Date: 2012Estabrook traces the supermarket tomato from its birthplace in the deserts of Peru to the impoverished town of Immokalee, Florida, a.k.a. the tomato capital of the United States. He visits the laboratories of seedsmen trying to develop varieties that can withstand the rigors of agribusiness and still taste like a garden tomato, and then moves on to commercial growers who operate on tens of thousands of acres, and eventually to a hillside field in Pennsylvania, where he meets an obsessed farmer who produces delectable tomatoes for the nation's top restaurants. -
The Nature of Oaks
by
Call Number: SD397.O12 T35 2021ISBN: 9781643260440Publication Date: 2021Rveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own backyards. -
The Botany of Desire
by
Call Number: QK 46.5 .H85 P66 2001ISBN: 0375501290Publication Date: 2001"In telling the stories of four familiar plant species that are deeply woven into the fabric of our lives, Pollan illustrates how they evolved to satisfy humankind's most basic yearnings -- and by doing so made themselves indispensable." -
A Feeling for the Organism
by
Call Number: Available online; also available in History of Science StacksISBN: 071671504XPublication Date: 1984-02-15A biography of the Nobel Prize-winning scientist explains her work in genetics and traces her long unheralded career as a research scientist. -
The Tangled Tree
by
Call Number: Learning Lab QH 367.5 .Q36 2018ISBN: 9781476776620Publication Date: 2018"In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field--the study of life's diversity and relatedness at the molecular level--is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. It turns out that HGT has been widespread and important." -
Slime
by
Call Number: QK566 .K37 2019 (Learning Lab)ISBN: 9780544432932Publication Date: 2019"With a multitude of lively, surprising science and history, Ruth Kassinger takes readers on an around-the-world, behind-the-scenes, and into-the-kitchen tour. Whether you thought algae was just the gunk in your fish tank or you eat seaweed with your oatmeal, Slime will delight and amaze with its stories of the good, the bad, and the up-and-coming." -
Spice: the history of a temptation
by
Call Number: TX 406 .T87 2004ISBN: 0375407219Publication Date: 2004"A history of the spice trade told not in the conventional narrative of politics and economics, nor of conquest and colonization, but through the intimate human impulses that inspired and drove it. [...] We follow spices back through time, through history, myth, archaeology, and literature."
News
-
EurekalertNews releases from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Podcasts
Videos
-
KanopyProvides access to streaming video supporting classes in the arts, business, health, media/communication, science, humanities and education. NOTE: Kanopy video access is mediated. This means that any video not currently licensed for use will require the user to request access. Access is being enabled for class use with instructor approval.
-
Internet ArchiveNon-profit archive dedicated to preserving digital content.
-
PBS VideoPublic Broadcasting Service
The Library's Role Is Providing Access
OU libraries subscribe to both databases and publications to connect you to many different types of resources. Below is a list of helpful tutorials and handouts that will help you navigate the OU libraries' website and databases. These resources will also show you how to access full-text sources and provide tips and tools when searching on the databases and library catalog.
If you find yourself getting stuck at any point in the research process, don't hesitate to reach out to the Research Help Desk or the STEM Services team for assistance.
Struggling to find the full text of an item? Look for the OU Link to Article button in the database or try searching the library catalog. Check out OU Libraries' Finding Full Text guide. You can also try the interactive tutorial, Access Full Text. If we don't have a resource available here, often another library has it and is willing to send us a copy via Interlibrary Loan. The Lean Library browser extension can make accessing full text easier and will even direct you to Interlibrary Loan where needed.
OU Libraries Handouts
-
Popular vs. ScholarlyLearn about the differences between popular sources and scholarly sources.
-
What are databases?Learn about databases and how to access them from OU Libraries' website.