Guides: Physics: Find Sources

Forming your Search String

The more complicated your question, the less likely a search engine can understand it. To get the best result, identify keywords and like terms to create a search string.

Example research question: How does kinematics explain the movements of figure skaters?

Keywords: Kinematics, movement, figure skaters

Like terms can include synonyms and also examples of your keywords. If you don't get results from searching your keywords, it doesn't mean that the research doesn't exist. It could mean that the researcher used different language to describe the same topic

Kinematics: study of motion, kinetic energy, centrifugal force
Movement: motion, spins, jumps
Figure skaters: ice skating

Search strings connect your keywords and like terms together for the best results.

Too many results? Use AND to narrow results

kinematics AND movement AND figure skaters

Too few results? Use OR to broaden results

kinematics OR kinetic energy AND movement OR spin OR jump AND figure skater* OR ice skating

students reading in front of periodical display

Also known as peer-reviewed articles, scholarly articles are sources that are:

written by experts in the field
reviewed by other experts in the field (hence the peer-reviewed)
intended for an academic audience

While you can find scholarly articles through general search engines, databases contain a feature where you can narrow your results to only scholarly articles.

Find Subject-Specific Articles:

Science Database This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Science Database is a growing resource of 7.3 million full text articles from over 1,600 sources. In full-text format, researchers have access to all the charts, diagrams, graphs, tables, photos, and other graphical elements so vital to scientific and engineering literature.
PubMed This link opens in a new window
PubMed comprises more than 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.
For search by Publication Type, see PubMed's subject term guide: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/pubtypes.html
MathSciNet This link opens in a new window
Provides reviews, abstracts and bibliographic information for much of the mathematical sciences literature. Over 125,000 new items are added each year, most of them classified according to the Mathematics Subject Classification.
Gale in Context: Science This link opens in a new window
Provides millions of full-text articles from national and global publications, over 200 science experiments, more than 300 interactive simulations, other multimedia, and reference content. Covers topics across the curriculum, including biology, chemistry, earth and environmental science, physics, and more.
Formerly called Science in Context

Find Articles in Multidisciplinary Databases:

Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate offers access to resources cited in key subject indexes. The combination of academic journals, magazines, periodicals, reports, books and videos meets the needs of scholars in virtually every discipline ranging from astronomy, anthropology, biomedicine, engineering, health, law and literacy to mathematics, pharmacology, women’s studies, zoology and more.
Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
Provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources—including thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning. Includes extensive coverage in key subject areas such as biology, chemistry, economics, environmental science, history, marketing, political science, and psychology.

Student thumbing through a book in front of library stacks

Books and eBooks often provide a broader overview and cover more information than a scholarly journal article.

You don't need to read an entire book to use it in your research. Use the index at the back of a book to find the information you need.

To find books and eBooks, you can either:

Search the NOBLE catalog

NOBLE Catalog Search
Search the Jenks Library catalog for books, eBooks, audiobooks, scores, etc.

Browse the stacks for a book related to your topic

Q1-295 Science (General)

QA801-939 Analytical Mechanics

QB Astronomy

QC Physics (General)

Quick Way to Cite

Screenshot of Cite box on EBSCO database showing a formatted MLA citation that you can copy and paste

If you found an article on a database, look for the Cite button to get a formatted citation for your Works Cited, in less time than it takes for EasyBib to load.

Download Zotero
Step 1: Download the app from Zotero.org.
Step 2: Add the Zotero Connector to your preferred web browser.
Step 3: Register for a Zotero account.
Step 4: Adjust preferences settings in the app.

APA Citations

The American Psychological Association (APA) style of citations are most often used for subjects in the sciences and social sciences.

APA Style Simplified by Bernard C. Beins
ISBN: 9781118289099
Publication Date: 2012-03-22
This is a compact but comprehensive guide to writing clearly and effectively in APA style.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by American Psychological Association
Call Number: BF 76.7 .P83 2020
ISBN: 9781433832154
Publication Date: 2019-10-01

APA FAQs
Check out frequently asked questions about APA formatting from Purdue OWL.
APA Sample Paper
Look at this APA sample paper from Purdue OWL to help format your paper.

If you find an article or book that you can't access, don't pay for it! Instead, submit an Interlibrary Loan request, and you'll receive articles within a few days!

Interlibrary Loan: Article & Book Request
Can't find the article or book you're looking for at Gordon? Fill out the Interlibrary Loan request form and we'll track the article or book down for you!

Are you looking for a specific article, like an article that you found referenced in a bibliography? Search for the journal in Journal Finder, linked below:

Browse Journal Finder
Find individual journals and search within specific publications.