MIME 470 - Engineering Biomaterials

Where to find references to journal articles

Multidisciplinary

• Web of Science – multidisciplinary; allows citation analysis
• Scopus – multidisciplinary; allows citation analysis

Subject specific

• Medline (McGill only) or PubMed (free resource) – contains more than 5500 international biomedical journals
• EMBASE: Excerpta Medica – some biomedical engineering / instrumentation journal coverage
• Compendex – for all aspects of engineering
• Materials Research Database with METADEX – for materials science

Search Tips - Principles of Online Searching

1.  Define your question.
Example:  Is the use of bone cement effective in total hip replacements for older patients, i.e., age 65 or older?

2.  Identify the appropriate source(s) to search.
Example:  Medline via PubMed

3.  Break down the question into its separate concepts.
Example:  Is the use of bone cement effective in total hip replacements for older patients, i.e., age 65 or older?

4.  Search each concept separately to find appropriate subject headings.  If subject headings are not available, brainstorm synonyms for each concept.
Example:  Search each concept separately in PubMed to find the appropriate medical subject headings (i.e., MeSH terms).  The MeSH terms are:

-       “Bone Cements” (for bone cement)

-       “Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip” (for total hip replacements)

-       “Aged”  (for older patients, i.e., age 65 or older)

5.  Combine search terms (AND/OR).
Example:  “Bone Cements” [MeSH] AND “Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip”[MeSH] AND “Aged”[MeSH]

6.  Apply limits.
Example:  Limit search results to English language articles published in the past 5 years.  Note that Medline & Embase also allow you to limit your results to studies involving participants in a certain age group, such as “Aged: 65+ years.”  You can search for age in these two databases using a subject heading (see step 4 above) or you can apply the age limit to your search results.

7. Evaluate your results & modify your search strategy if necessary.
Example:  Look at the title, abstract, and/or subject headings of a relevant result to pick out additional words or subject headings that you can use to revise your search.

How to Locate Journal Articles or Books

Look for the Find It @ button when searching databases.  Click on this button to link to our catalogue.

Search the McGill Library Catalogue to find journals or books, whether in print or electronic format.

• For Journals: Choose "Journal Title begins with..." and enter the title of the journal in which the article is published.  
• For Books: Choose "Title begins with..." and enter the title of the book you are interested in.

How to Obtain Materials Not Available at McGill

McGill students and staff may order articles and books that are not available at McGill using COLOMBO.  Please do not wait until it is too late for us to help you with COLOMBO.

Reading Journal Articles Efficiently

How to Read a Scientific Paper (Quick tutorial from Purdue University)

Citing Correctly

Using Endnote to Cite Your References

EndNote is computer software that allows you to:

•          save references from database and web searches

•          organize your references into different folders

•          cite references within a text document and automatically create a bibliography

McGill students and staff can visit http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/citation/software/endnote to download the software for free.  There are library workshops given throughout the year on how to use this software effectively.