Search Tips
The following techniques can improve your success with online searching, whether you're searching a catalog for books or a database for articles:
- Enter phrases in quotes: "saturated fats" "acid reflux"
- Use truncation symbols to search for alternate word endings: In most databases, entering athlet* searches for athletic, athletics, athlete, and athletes.
- If one term doesn't work, try a few others. Experiment with different vocabulary related to your topic.
LibKey Nomad for full text retrieval
LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that connects our journal subscriptions to article PDFs, both our subscriptions or open access options. It integrates to our databases and takes you to the document (if we have it) or the interlibrary loan link (if we don't).
It also does a great job of flagging article retractions.
Download the extension* to your preferred browser. Select University of Illinois Chicago as your institution. Make sure the Extension is turned on in your browser and you're ready to go (browser restart may be required).
*UIC doesn't allow extensions in your Chrome/Google account. Use your personal account.
Key Resources
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PubMed
PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides access to MEDLINE citations back to the mid-1960's to present.
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CINAHL Plus with Full Text
CINAHL covers literature related to nursing and allied health.
Our EBSCOhost databases will be moving to a new user interface starting Monday, May 19th, 2025 with the exception of CINAHL which will transition on August 1st.
Preview CINAHL with the new user interface here.
For additional information about searching and managing results, please visit the EBSCOhost Transition Center.
Please send additional queries or comments to: ask@uic.libanswers.com
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EMBASE : Excerpta Medica Database
Database in biomedicine which also excels in its coverage of pharmaceutical research. From 1974 to present.
Tip: If you have problems with off campus access, use AnyConnect VPN. To install, go to AnyConnect VPN and make sure you select the Library-Resources group. -
Scopus
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications and quality web sources. Subject coverage includes: Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering; Life and Health Sciences; Social Sciences, Psychology and Economics; Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
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Web of Science
Multidisciplinary coverage of over 10,000 journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities, as well as published proceedings for over 12,000 conferences per year, and over 50,000 scholarly books. Allows searching for articles in the database that have cited a particular work, as well as perform other analytics.
