BIOL 2020: Botany: Finding Articles

Use one or more of the Library's databases linked from the boxes to the right to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles on your topic. You may also want to try additional databases that are not listed here.

In the sciences, a primary source describes original research, while a secondary source analyzes or comments on a primary source or sources.  For example, a research article is primary literature because it describes an original experiment and its results, while a review article is secondary literature because it collates multiple research articles to describe the current state of the field. A tertiary source is an index or consolidation of primary and secondary sources.

Examples of primary sources:

• Research articles
• Theses and dissertations
• Conference proceedings
• Reports
• Patents
• Unrefined data sets

Examples of secondary sources:

• Review articles
• Data compilations
• Most books

Examples of tertiary sources:

• Encyclopedias
• Dictionaries
• Field and identification guides

• als relating to plant sciences fields.

The term Open Access, also known as OA, refers to the free and unrestricted online access to and publication of research such as journal articles and books. This type of content is open to everyone with no access restrictions or fees. The resources listed below provide links to OA databases relating to Botany and Plant Biology and more generally, science subjects. Each resource gives a general description of the resource including research areas and topics, publisher and publication date ranges.

• American Journal of Botany

  Published by the Botanical Society of America (1910 - present). Includes peer-reviewed, innovative, significant research of interest to a wide audience of scientists in all areas of plant biology (e.g., biodiversity, structure, function, development, genetics, evolution, reproduction, systematics), all levels of organization (molecular to ecosystem), and all plant groups and allied organisms (cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, and lichens). The journal includes Primary Research and Review Articles, Brief Communications, Special Invited Papers, and Special Issues focused on a central theme of interest to the community.
• Economic Botany

  Published by Springer Nature in cooperation with The New York Botanical Garden (1947-present). Each issue contains original research articles, review articles, book reviews, annotated bibliographies, and notes on economic plants including the relationship between plants and people around the world, encompassing the past, present, and potential uses of plants.
• Google Scholar

  Peer-reviewed articles, theses, and scholarly books from journals, professional organizations, and university and preprint repositories
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITS)

  Find authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.
• International Plant Names

  Produced by a collaboration between The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Harvard University Herbaria, and The Australian National Herbarium, hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. IPNI provides nomenclatural information (spelling, author, types and first place and date of publication) for the scientific names of Vascular Plants from Family down to infraspecific ranks. You can search for plant names, authors or publications in the search box above. Click the down arrow for advanced search options. New records are added daily, and the IPNI team are continuously working to improve data standardization.
  IPNI provides links to protologues in online articles or page scans from the Biodiversity Heritage Library as well as links to taxonomic data (synonymy and native distribution) through the Plants of the World Online.
• Journal of Experimental Botany (JXB)

  Published by Oxford Academic. (1950-present). Provides original research and new information on fundamental processes or mechanisms including those underpinning the improvement of plants for the sustainable production of food, fuel and renewable materials. Areas of research included, but not limited to are: Growth and development, Cell biology, Metabolism, Plant-environment interactions, and Crop molecular genetics.
• Native Plants of North America

  Comprehensive database of native plants for North America. Created by The University of Texas at Austin Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
• Plant Direct

  Published by Wiley Online Libraries (2017-present). Features original research articles and editorials relating to plant sciences fields.