You may need to try one of several methods to track down the original publication of your chosen experiment, along with responses critiquing the experiment.

1. Citations in the Wikipedia article

Wikipedia articles are a decent place to start to find keywords for your searches. In this case, they may also contain the citation to the initial experiment you are researching. If Wikipedia editors did this work for you, take advantage of that!

Note that for some experiments, the citation may be to someone else who wrote about the original experimenter or who pointed out the flaws in the experiment. These may also be good sources, but be sure to keep them straight.

2. Scopus (for newer studies)

*note: there have been issues with Scopus lately. If your search returns an error, try using a different browser or clearing your cache.

Use keywords and the author's name to find the study in Scopus.

To find articles that cite the study, look at the gray box on the right and select "View all ## citing documents"

3. Google Scholar

Search for your experiment in Google Scholar, again using keywords and the author's name. You can find the advanced search feature by selecting the three horizontal lines in the top left corner.

When you find the right article, select "cited by" to find others who cite the article.

4. Books

A science history book is more likely to discuss the original publication of the experiment and responses by other scientists.

• Find books using Library Search. Select the "books and media" radio button under the search bar to limit to books. You can further filter the results using the options on the left of the results page.
• Another option is to search in Google Books. Google Books sometimes lets you read snippets that are enough to point you in the right direction.
• In your book searches (especially in Google Books), it may be helpful to include "replication" as a keyword.

For general research on physics topics:

1. Scopus for articles (works best on Chrome or Firefox)
2. Library Search for books

Additional helpful databases:

Looking for a specific article?

Library Search lets you search all articles and books that you can access through the library. Check out the how-to guide for step-by-step instructions on using Library Search.

• For your initial article searches, it's better to start with the specialized databases above. Use Library Search if you come across a citation in your reading and want to check it out.
• Also use Library Search for books! Many of our current Earth Science books are available as ebooks.

Do you need a source that isn't available on Library Search?

You can still get access to sources that WMU doesn't own by using Interlibrary Loan (ILL). See the guide on Searching Beyond WMU to learn more.

• The first time you use ILL you will have to create an account.
• You can get articles delivered electronically.
• For books, you can also try MelCat, which may be faster.