Physics and Astronomy journal shortcuts
Physical Review Letters | Flagship journal of the American Physical Society |
Physical Review X | Journal of the American Physical Society |
The Astronomical Journal | Journal of the American Astronomical Society |
The Astrophysical Journal | Journal of the American Astronomical Society |
Nature | Top interdisciplinary journal |
Science | Top interdisciplinary journal |
Physics and Astronomy database shortcuts
- arXivOpen access archive for scholarly articles and preprints in physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics. Articles and e-prints are not peer-reviewed by arXiv.
- Astrophysics Data SystemDigital library portal covering publications in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics, and the arXiv e-prints. Includes articles available from publishers websites, astronomical object information, data catalogs and data sets hosted by external archives. ADS also tracks citations and usage statistics.
- INSPIRE High-Energy PhysicsSearch scholarly information in high-energy physics, including articles, preprints, letters, and data. Search tools also include reference lists and citation metrics.
- Web of ScienceA comprehensive interdisciplinary collection of journal article citations. Subjects generally covered are within science and technology, arts and humanities, and social sciences. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- ScopusSearch for information from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Covers the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
Using introduction sections
Look up original research articles on your topic but read the introduction section first. It will provide an overview of the topic. Keep track of the articles it cites too, and look up the references that might be useful.
Use Web of Science or Google Scholar to look up primary source research articles.
Use Knovel to find overviews of common science topics (with citations).
Review articles
You can search Web of Science or Scopus for a topic and filter results for review articles.
Annual Reviews are journals that publish review articles (overviews of a topic) only.
Off-campus access to library resources
Current University students, staff and faculty should be able to get full text and online access to the University Libraries from anywhere. Here are three ways to access the library full text from off campus.
- Search the University of Minnesota library website. Log in with your UMN Internet ID and password to access resources.
- Log in using the U of M Virtual Private Network (VPN). You will need to download it VPN software to your computer from campus OIT (Office of Information Technology).
- Install the Libraries' Proxy Bookmarklet to your browser and click it to reload the page with your U of M login to get access to full text. Watch a proxy bookmarklet video (3 min) to learn more.
View examples and learn more on our How to get to full text from on and off campus Guide.
Get help from the U Libraries - Online!
- Peer Research ConsultantsMake an online 30 minute appointment for one-on-one peer assistance with your research. Get help with researching your topic, finding sources, citing sources and more. Peer Research Consultants can also help you get started with faculty-sponsored research.
- Chat 24/7 online with the LibrariesAsk us anything! Chat with a librarian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with any research or library questions.
- Meet with a librarianSchedule an online consultations for personalized research support primarily for University of Minnesota faculty, instructors, graduate and undergraduate students and staff.