Plant Sciences

Oxford has outstanding collections in Plant Sciences. This page gives you fast access to some key resources, which will lead to many others.

Subject Librarian

Judith Pinfold

Biology Subject Librarian and Oxford Forest Information Service Manager

Please contact for help or information on:

  • Library services & resources
  • Literature searching
  • One-to-one or group training on e-resources such as subject databases and reference management
  • Keeping up-to-date with developments in your field.

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Libraries

Principal collections:

Associated collections:

To make suggestions for purchase

Book

http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/libraries/recommendations [Opens in new window.]

E-resource (including journal or database)

http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/erc/proposals/index.html [Opens in new window.]

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Catalogues

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Databases

The databases listed below can be accessed via the Oxford Libraries Information Platform OxLIP+, which lists the complete range of online / electronic resources subscribed to by the University.

To access these resources from outside the University network, you will need your Single Sign-on (SSO) user name and password.

Guides for some of these databases are available on the Bodleian Libraries' Database Guides. [Opens in new window.]

Specialist databases

  • BIOSIS Previews: encompasses the entire field of life sciences and provides comprehensive coverage of the world’s published biological and biomedical research.
  • CAB ABSTRACTS is a bibliographic database compiled by CAB INTERNATIONAL. It covers the significant research and development literature in the fields of agriculture, forestry, human health and nutrition, animal health, and the management and conservation of natural resources.
  • Kew Bibliographic Databases: allows simultaneus serach of Kew's three major bibliographic databases: Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature; Economic Botany, and Plant Micromorphology 

General science databases

  • Scopus: covers 15,000 journals, plus web sources and patents across science & medicine. Includes major medical databases Medline (USA) and Embase (Europe).
  • Web of Knowledge: platform for Web of Science (Science Citation Index), Journal Citation Reports (impact factors), and Scientific & Technical Proceedings (conferences). Also includes Biosis (life sciences).
  • Pubmed: from the National Library of Medicine and includes Medline.

Dissertations & theses

  • Index to Theses: a comprehensive listing of theses accepted for higher degrees by universities in Great Britain and Ireland since 1716.
  • Dissertations & Theses: master's and doctoral, from the USA and around the world, 1861 onwards.

Full-text database

ScienceDirect: Elsevier's full-text platform offers over a quarter of the world's STM (Science, Technical and Medical) articles integrated with a growing range of authoritative books, including reference works, handbooks and book series. More than 2,000 journals are available.

Reference management tools

Store useful references and create your own bibliography: EndNote is on sale at OUCS, while web-based systems RefWorks and EndNoteWeb are free to Oxford University members.Yale University have compiled a chart comparing EndNote, EndNote Web and RefWorks.

The Harvard System (author-date) is the most commonly-used style of referencing worldwide. Anglia Ruskin University did this guide to the Harvard System.

Keeping up to date: search alerts and volume/issue alerts

Set up email alerts or RSS feeds for automatic notification of new journal articles or tables of contents for the latest issue.

For search alerts (by topic): do a search on a database such as Scopus then choose Save as Alert to get notification of new articles on the subject.

Volume/issue alerts (for specific journals): use Zetoc: the British Library's electronic table of contents, or ScienceDirect: for journals available on this platform.

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Journals

Finding journals

  • Oxford e-Journals: access to e-journals available on the University network.
  • OLIS: search for hardcopy journals.

Quick links to Plant Sciences journals (latest issues; more backfiles may be available via the e-Journals list)

General

Specialist

Journal Collections

Annual Reviews

Each year, the series "Annual Review of ..." critically reviews the most significant primary research within the biomedical, physical, and social sciences; they are among the most highly cited in scientific literature.  Oxford has a comprehensive online collection available through Oxford e-Journals and OLIS.

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Reference sources

Quick links to Plant Sciences reference sources

General

  • Encyclopedia of Life Sciences: comprehensive and authoritative, written by leaders in the field.
  • Henry Stewart Talks: online lectures in Life & Biomedical sciences; over 650 audio slideshows by top researchers.
  • Oxford Reference Online: quick reference collection including English & bilingual dictionaries, English grammar & thesaurus guides, plus subject dictionaries.

E-books

Free collections

  • NAP: National Academies Press
  • NCBI Bookshelf: a freely available collection of biomedical books hosted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). It includes a number of core texts on reading lists at Oxford. It is not normally possible to browse the whole book.

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Websites

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Training & online tutorials

  • Individual guidance and group training available on request; contact your Subject Librarian.
  • Information Skills and Induction: links to all the Bodleian Libraries' courses.
  • WISER (Workshops in Information Skills and Electronic Resources): a regular programme of short training sessions, open to all.
  • Making the Most of the RSL: an introduction for new arrivals, offered every week throughout the year.
  • Engage: interactive guide to the research process in bioscience, including getting started, reviewing the literature, planning your research, statistics, and writing up & presenting your research.
  • Intute Virtual Training Suite: Biodiversity and Microbiology:  self-paced tutorials helping you get the best from internet searching
  • Scopus tutorial - our guide to key features plus hints and tips.

Feedback

Comments, suggestions or questions? please get in touch.

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