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Geology & Earth Science: Articles

A guide for doing research in geology and Earth science.

Introduction

This page presents links to the databases provided by the UCSB Library that will be useful for research in the geological and Earth sciences.  Although the bulk of the works indexed in these databases will be journal articles, the databases may also include citations to books, scientific monographs, book chapters, as well as theses and dissertations.

Why Use Articles?

Articles provide focused discussions on specific topics.  Because they are published more quickly and more frequently than books you will usually find the most recent works on a topic in the forms of articles.

Scholarly articles will always have citations to the author's sources in the form of footnotes, end notes, or a bibliography (or a combination of these).  Peer reviewed articles are scholarly articles that were reviewed by experts in a field before being selected for publication.

Most Recommended Databases for Geological & Earth Science Research

Find Articles, Citations, Reviews, and more in these Indexes and Databases:

NOTE:  Databases require a UCSBnet ID and password to access when off campus.

Other Databases That Might be Useful for Geologists & Earth Scientists

NOTE:  Databases require a UCSBnet ID and password to access when off campus.

Finding Full Text

Some of our databases include full text, but for others you have to follow links to another source to find digital copies of the articles.

If you find a citation in a database that does not include the full text, look for a button that says "Get it at UC" or  "UC e-Links" button.  That button will help you determine if we have that item, either online or in print, at UCSB.  If you do not find it, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan.

UCSB E-Journals:

If you are looking for a specific journal online, try our e-journals list.  Links to our subscriptions for major collections that include geological journals are also included below.

Search Tips

When keyword searching, use key words that best describe your topic.  The objective is to get a small group of relevant records.  What words or phrases best describe your topic?

Try: AND, OR, NOT

  • AND -- volcano AND eruption
    • This search will retrieve records that have both words.
  • OR -- (magma OR lava) and volcano
    • This search will retrieve records that have either the word "magma" or the word "lava", and also have the word volcano
  • NOT-- (earthquake and predicition) NOT volcano
    • This search will retrieve records that have both the words "earthquake" and "prediction", but will omit any that have the word "volcano"
Try using the following to better control you search
 
quotation marks: when searching a phrase. 
  • "ash cloud"

asterisks: to find variations...

  • volcan* = volcano, volcanoes, volcanic, volcanism.
  • pal*eontology retrieves paleontology or palaeontology.

parentheses: for searches like this: 

  • "volcanic eruption" AND (lava OR ash OR gas)
  • How it works:  the database will give you anything that has BOTH "volcanic eruption" AND ALSO one of the the words in the parentheses.

question marks: for different spellings as well as singular and plural versions of a word

  • gr?y = grey and gray
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