Science on the Web

Though most science research articles are copyrighted and therefore not available on the open web, the web still offers valuable information sources such as e-books, news articles, and ideas for paper or project topics.

Ebooks

National Academies Press makes science books available to read online. These books are technical, in depth, and hardly light reading, and most importantly, they are also quite credible. Just choose a book and click the Full Text link in the Read box to start reading.

Science Headlines and More

Nature is the world's premier science journal. GSU offers up to date access to this journal in its entirety! Choose the link to Nature's own web site for up-to-the-minute science.

Science is the US equivalent of Nature. It makes available some very credible science news articles on its site which you can reach via the Highwire link, which leads to research articles, this week's issue, and more.

Science News offers readable and credible science articles on a wide variety of subjects. NOTE: this magazine locks many of its articles behind a paywall. You can read all articles except those in the last month through Academic Search Complete on GALILEO.

New Scientist is the British equivalent of Science News, and it too makes available comprehensible and credible full text articles that can help you find a topic, learn more about popular and current subjects, and keep up with news in science. NOTE: New Scientist locks a large proportion of its articles behind a paywall. You can read all articles through GSU's own subscription at Elsevier.

The New York Times has a science section which offers authoritative and readable articles on the latest news in science. The Times is a great source for overviews of science and technology current events and a great place to look for potential research topics. NOTE: The New York Times limits the public to only five(5) articles a month on its web site. You can read unlimited Times'. articles by Accessing the New York Times via ProQuest.

Other Sources for Web Sites

GSU Library's databases are a gateway to a host of free, full text, scholarly, science journal articles, thanks to the library's esubscriptions. You can learn about them on the Databases page of this guide.

To find more great science web sites, try the Great Web Sites' science and technology section.

Finally, Curlie lists science sites, including news sites and those published by professional societies.

Can You Trust Wikipedia?

Can you trust Wikipedia enough to use it as a source for your science paper or project? The answer is probably "no." At its best Wikipedia is a tertiary/secondary source like an encyclopedia. If you're professor has asked you to dive into "the literature," that does NOT include Wikipedia.

According to How Authoritative is Wikipedia , errors that do not look like outright vandalism can persist for days or even weeks. Wikipedia simply lacks rapid and reliable fact checking.

On a Vetted Wikipedia , another article, takes a more nuanced approach on the use of Wikpedia and encyclopedias in general in student research. Like many professors, Ms. Boyd, the article's author, prefers journal articles and scholarly books.

Before using any Wikipedia article as a reference in your paper or mentioning them in your Works Cited, please ask your professor if he/she accepts Wikipedia as a valid source. Not all faculty like, trust, or permit Wikipedia, and with good reason.