The aim of your literature search is to find relevant publications to enable you to gain an understanding of the area you are working in, and to identify a knowledge gap which your project can address. You should concentrate on finding peer-reviewed journal articles, but these can be supplemented with information from books. Websites should be used with caution. All the literature you use should be cited and referenced following the guidance given on the 'Referencing' page in this guide:
Journal articles are usually short papers on specific topics. They are published in issues or parts of journals (also called periodicals) which appear regularly. Use articles to find:
You can find journal articles via our Summon discovery service or online databases.
Search Summon
Search the Summon discovery service using the box below to find full-text journal articles available via the Library. Search using topic words or use it to find out if we have access to a specific article by searching for the article title.
Search databases covering your subject
You should also search relevant databases to widen your search. See the lists below of key and additional databases. They will give you references to journal articles and other publications - they may also give you the full-text of the article. They are not limited to the Library's journal subscriptions, so you may need to use the inter-library loans service to get hold of some articles.
If you are doing a lab-based project your should at least search Web of Science. If you are doing a literature-based project you will need to search all which are relevant to your topic.
These are the major resources for finding literature and information in Pharmacy.
Access to the latest edition of The British Pharmacopoeia (BP), the leading collection of standards for UK medicinal products and pharmaceutical substances.
Provides access to the British National Formulary, British National Formulary for Children and Stockley’s Drug Interactions.
References to journal articles in the biomedical sciences. Covers 1950 to the present day. Includes 'In press' articles.
Gives references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings and patents in all subjects. Also offers extensive tools to analyse results, and measure impact for articles, journals and authors.
Systematic reviews, protocols and trials on the effects of interventions in health care. Free to UK residents
These specialist sources may be useful for some topics.
Full-text articles in the life sciences from a scholarly publishing cooperative which provides open access to quality research journals published in developing countries. Covers health (tropical medicine, infectious diseases, epidemiology, emerging new diseases), biodiversity, the environment, conservation and international development.
Gives references to journal articles, books and chapters in psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines including education, linguistics, medicine, and physiology. Includes links to full-text articles in PsycARTICLES.
An integrated chemical information system. Use to find physical properties, structures and reactions. Includes inorganic (Gmelin) and organic chemistry (Beilstein). also gives references to articles and patents.
Chemical information, plus references to articles and patents in this subject.
Register to use SciFinder now (University username and password required)
Registration is subject to the terms of the CAS Privacy Policy
Visible Body is a comprehensive resource of 3D interactive modules illustrating the basic movement of a variety of muscles throughout the human body as they interact with bone, nerves, and ligaments.
This series of three videos (available via the tabs in this box) cover:
You will need to login using your University email address and password to view the videos.
We also have the following generic guides to literature searching and searching databases:
Literature search plan template and example
Use the following documents to help you plan your literature search to make it as comprehensive as possible.
This video covers using Summon and Web of Science to find journal articles and the search techniques to use to create a comprehensive search
This video covers searching PubMed - basic, advanced and MeSH searching tips.
Our Inter-Library Loans service can get articles, books and other publications not held at Reading from other libraries (usually from the British Library).
For more information see our webpages:
