Database Guide - BIOSIS Citation Index

BIOSIS Citation Index is an expansive index to life sciences and biomedical research covering pre-clinical and experimental research, methods and instrumentation, animal studies, and more. It is available via Web of Science. You can search across journals, meetings, patents, and books. Precise searching is possible using key terms and controlled terminology in context, and by choosing fields such as biochemistry, genes, or taxonomic data. You can also navigate to related research using indexed cited references.

• To access BIOSIS Citation Index, go to LibrarySearch
• Log in using your CCCU username and password.
• If you are away from campus, or connecting with your own device over Wi-Fi, you will need to include @canterbury.ac.uk after your CCCU username [username@canterbury.ac.uk] as well as your normal CCCU password.
• Select Find Databases A-Z, click on B, then click on the link to BIOSIS Citation Index to open the Web of Science Core Collection in a new tab.
• From the "Search in" drop-down menu select BIOSIS Citation Index.
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Register/log in to personalise Web of Science. (BIOSIS is part of the Web of Science Core Collection.) You can save searches and articles, and create alerts.

Type your search terms into the search box.
• Use the default option of ‘Topic’ from the drop-down menu to search in the title, abstract and keyword fields.
• Use double speech marks to search for an exact phrase. Combine terms using ‘OR’ to broaden your search.
• Focus the search by adding more rows for new concepts.
• Once you've searched for something, you can use the filters on the left-hand side to refine the results, for example by topic, by year, or by author.

Viewing your search results
• Click on ‘Find it’ to see if the full text is available via the library or try ‘Free Full Text from Publisher’. 
• Click on the item link or 'Show more’ to view a short summary of the item.

Saving the results of your search
• Tick the box next to any reference you want to save. Then, using the ‘Export’ option, located at the top of the result list, choose to print, email, or push to reference management software.
• If you are saving numerous references over several pages of results, click ‘Add to Marked List’ at the end of each page. Then go to ‘Marked List’ from the button near the top of the screen and follow the three-step instructions.

Try searching BIOSIS Citation Index by following the steps outlined below. This will help you to familiarise yourself with some of the most common functions:

1. 1. Try searching for the exact phrase "DNA replication" (using double quotation marks). To search by subject you can choose Topic from the drop-down box.
   2. How many results did you find? Think about how you can refine your results to ensure they are right for you.
   3. Now go back and re-run the search, this time choosing Title from the drop-down menu. This should reduce the number of results and those that remain are more likely to be relevant, since your search term will appear in the title of each item listed.
   4. How many results are there now? (Note how the number of results has been substantially reduced.)
   5. Try going back and adding a row to include further search terms, for example, plants (again in the Title). How many results do you have now? You can also refine the subject area by choosing from a list of Major Concepts. (Click on 'See all' to view the complete list.)
   6. By now, the number of results should be a lot more manageable - and also more specialised. Still, you can use the Search within topic box to refine your search further. Try typing "cell division" into this box and running the search.
   7. Depending on the type of research you are conducting, you might want to refine by document type. If your research has an academic focus you might want to refine to Articles. Or you might be interested in conference proceedings papers for an industry focus.
   8. Take a look at the Authors list. Can you identify the authors who have written the most about this subject? You might want to explore their work further using Author Search.
   9. Find an interesting article from your results list and see if you can access the full text of the article. There will be Free Full Text from Publisher links to those items available via the CCCU subscription, while the Find it link will tell you if the full text is available via another subscribed database.
   10. Think about other search terms you might use to research this topic, for example, botany for plants, or reproduction or duplication for "DNA replication"). Try out some alternative searches and compare results.

For accessibility information for this resource please go directly to the Web of Science Voluntary Product Accessibility Template.

Your Learning and Research Librarian will be able to help you make the best use of online resources. For detailed guidance, book a tutorial via the Learning Skills for Science, Engineering and Social Sciences link in the Learning Skills Hub.