- University Libraries Databases
- WMU Research Guides
- BIOS 1120 Principles of Biology
- Background information
BIOS 1120 Principles of Biology
Finding background information
Don't start your research in PubMed!
Scholarly articles can be very difficult to understand and take a long time to read if you don't already have some background knowledge about the topic. Instead, try the resources on this page.
Many of these sources will also cite the most influential scholarly articles about a topic.
Caution: Background resources are helpful to get your bearings in a new topic but they may not be acceptable to cite in a research paper. Always ask your instructor what sources are OK to cite!!!
Use these sites instead
- Medline Plus This link opens in a new window
Health information from the National Library of Medicine presented accessibly for professionals and non-professionals. Includes A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia.
- WikipediaWikipedia is great for background research because you can easily click on unfamiliar terms to learn more about them. Also look at the footnotes at the bottom of the page to find links to scholarly articles.
- Mayo ClinicThe Mayo Clinic website provides information for the general public about most diseases, symptoms, and treatments. Articles are very easy to read, but they do not cite scholarly articles.
Go ahead and use Google
Searching the open web can be an effective way to learn background information. Just be sure to use the techniques in the source evaluation tab before trusting websites that you don't already know.
