Database Guide - Springer Journals

Our Springer Journals collection contains more than 2,000 journals in various fields of science, technology, and medicine. The SpringerLink platform provides fast access to the depth and breadth of Springer's online collection of journals, eBooks, reference works, and protocols across a vast range of subject disciplines.

• To access Springer Journals, 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 S, then click on the link to Springer Journals to go to the SpringerLink search screen.
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On the SpringerLink search screen click on the settings cog and then click on Advanced Search.

Note: The Advanced Search looks very similar to the advanced search in Google Scholar.

• You can add all of the keywords you wish to be included in your results by typing them into the "with all of the words" box. Try entering the words photosynthesis plants biochemistry into this box.

• If you wish to search for an exact phrase you can enter this into the "with the exact phrase" box. You could, for example, type the phrase carbon assimilation into this box. You do not normally need to include quotation marks if you are entering it into the exact phrase box. However, if you wish to include more than one exact phrase, you can do this by instead typing both phrases into the "with at least one of the words" search box, surrounding each phrase with double quotation marks, and joining them together with the word OR. So, try typing "carbon assimilation" OR "carbon absorption" into the "with at least one of the words" search box.

• If you wish to limit your search to a specific date range you can do so by entering the Start year and End year into the boxes provided. For this example let's go for 2000 to 2024.

• Now click on the Search button at the bottom of the Advanced Search window and see what results are displayed.

• If you wish to limit your results to those you can access in full text untick the Include Preview-Only content box.

• You can also limit your results to only those appearing in journals for a particular discipline or subdiscipline. Try clicking on the subdiscipline Plant Physiology.

• From your result list, click on the Download PDF link to go directly to the PDF.

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

1. 1. On the SpringerLink search screen click on the settings cog and then click on Advanced Search.
   2. Enter the keyword nitrogen into the "with all of the words" box.
   3. Enter the words amino acid metabolism into the "with the exact phrase" box.
   4. Enter the alternative keywords synthesis degradation into the "with at least one of the words" box.
   5. How many results did you find? Think about how you can refine your results to ensure they are right for you.
   6. Untick the Include Preview-Only content box (to limit to only those items you can view in full text).
   7. Click on Article under Content Type.
   8. Click on Biochemistry, general under Subdiscipline.
   9. This still leaves a lot of results. To refine your search further you could (a) go back and add more search terms to your advanced search, (b) search for a keyword or phrase using the "where the title contains" box, or (c) limit by date range.
   10. If you click on "Newest First" your results will display in reverse chronological order starting with the most recent.
   11. Choose an article and click on Download PDF.
   12. Now try a new search, but this time look for a topic relevant to an ongoing assignment.
   13. Think about how you will be able to use Springer Journals to help you find academic articles and research relevant to your assessments.

For accessibility information for this resource click on the SpringerLink logo at the top of the screen, scroll to the bottom of the next screen, and then click on the link to the Accessibility statement.

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.