Earth Sciences

Research guide for library and internet information resources in the Earth Sciences.

Databases

GeoScienceWorld
GeoScienceWorld is a nonprofit collaborative and comprehensive resource for research and communications in the earth sciences. Searchable full text is integrated with GeoRef, a comprehensive indexing and abstracting database for information from geosciences journals, conference, dissertation and other resources. Coverage for GSW journals is mostly 2000 to present, with records from GeoRef covering geosciences literature from the late 1700's to present. Advanced search capabilities, including geographic searching by latitude and longitude, variety of options for limiting results sets, and other features are available.
Environment Complete

Access over 800 full-text journals, monographs, curated open-access content, and historical records spanning topics like ecosystem ecology, energy, environmental policy, and sustainability.

USGS Publications Warehouse
The U.S. Geological Survey Publications Warehouse provides access to over 170,000 publications written by USGS scientists over the last 100+ year history of the bureau.

Science Direct

Leading index for peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in science, technology, medicine, and other fields, with full-text access limited to subscribed titles.
Scopus

An abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, including journals, proceedings, and patents. It offers tools for citation analysis, research tracking, and collaboration. Includes AI assistant: Scopus AI, for enhanced research with natural language searches, summaries, and expert identification.

Preprint Servers

Preprint servers are online repositories that contain early versions of scientific articles prior to formal peer review. These types of repositories allow scientists to share their research quickly and often free of charge. Repositories may also include postprints, versions of manuscripts that have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication but have not been typeset and formatted by the journal.

EarthArXiv
EarthArXiv is a preprint server that publishes articles from all the subdomains of Earth Science and related domains of planetary science.
ESSOAr
The Earth and Space Science Open Archive is a community server for earth, environmental, and space science research. ESSOAr contains preprints, presentations from major scientific meetings, and important documents of scholarly societies.

How to Create an Effective Search in an Article-Indexing Database

Write the topic in one simple sentence or as a simple question.
Example: How can airplane cockpit design be improved?
Divide the sentence into concepts.
Concept #1: airplane
Concept #2: cockpit
Concept #3: design
For each concept, determine synonyms, acronyms, abbreviations, spelling variations.
Concept #1: airplane, aeroplane
Concept #2: cockpit
Concept #3: design
For each concept, place the keywords within parentheses and separate by "OR".
Concept #1: (airplane or aeroplane)
Concept #2: (cockpit)
Concept #3: (design)
Combine the concepts into one search statement separating the concepts by "AND".
(airplane or aeroplane) and (cockpit) and (design)
Refine the strategy as new/better terminology is discovered via database searching.
For example, in the EI Compendex database, the term "aircraft" is used instead of airplane.
Repeat the search with the new terminology.
(airplane or aeroplane or aircraft) and (cockpit) and (design)
Refine the search as many times as needed.