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Nutrition & Dietetics Guide: Articles

Databases for Nutrition & Dietetics Research

These are the best databases we have for research in nutrition and dietetics. There are more options,especially for cross-disciplinary research on the Secondary Databases tab. You can see all our databases in our Databases A to Z list.

These databases are divided into general databases and related subject databases.

  • General databases are good for doing fairly basic cross-disciplinary research.
  • Subject databases are good for finding in-depth research on your topic from fields other than your own.

General Databses

Subject Databases

Search for journal titles

  • Think about where you are searching for articles. Use library databases first, Google Scholar after library databases and end with a basic Google search. Here is an explanation of why.
  • Think about what type of information you need. Papers and speeches need more academic, research based information and a general interest. For instance, if you see a movie and are curious about a phenomenon or a person, looking it/them up in Wikipedia or on Google might be fine but when writing a paper about the phenomenon or person, you will want reliable, scholarly, in-depth information that you can verify. Here is more information on quality of information.
  • There are many strategies you can use to narrow, broaden, or refine your search. Check out the Research 101: Search Strategies pages for more information.
    • Generating keywords
    • Boolean operators (searching with AND, OR, and NOT)
    • Subject terms
    • Citation searching
    • Mining reference lists

MESH Terms

Search for MeSH terms

From the PubMed database, scroll down below the search area. Under "Explore" click on MeSH Database.

Type your term into the search box.

Click on any term from the search results.

You will get a definition of the term along with the history of it.

You also get a list of subheadings associated with the term you chose. You can use these to build a search.

Below these, you can see the MeSH categories your term is in from the broadest term to narrowest:

All MeSH Categories; Anatomy Category; Fluids and Secretions; Milk; Milk Proteins; Whey Proteins        All MeSH Categories; Anatomy Category; Fluids and Secretions; Milk: Buttermilk; Kefir; Koumiss; Milk Proteins; Whey Proteins; Mil, Human; Whey; Whey Proteins

Search Alerts

Search alerts allow you to save searches and have them run automatically with the results being sent to you periodically. Check who provides the database you use most often and follow the instructions below.

Ebsco database search alert instructions.

ProQuest database search alert instructions.

Web of Science (Clarivate) database search alert instructions.

If your database is not from Ebsco, ProQuest, or Web of Science, contact your subject librarian for help.

Terminology: Journal/Magazine

Are you confused about the difference between journals and magazines? No problem, here is what to look for to determine which you have.

Journals: Content is written to inform the reader.

  • Author(s) named and credentials given
  • Sources cited in the article
  • Bibliography at the end (often it is long)
  • Articles report on research or review the current state of a topic
  • Articles tend to be long
  • Illustrations are usually graphs and charts and are necessary to understand the text
  • Few if any advertisements in the journal

Magazines: Content is written to entertain the reader.

  • Author is often not named
  • If sources are given, they are not cited entirely
  • No bibliography
  • Articles report on events and people, if research is reported, it is not in detail
  • Articles are short
  • Illustrations are often in color and are intended to entertain
  • Lots of advertisements for a wide variety of products

Interlibrary Loan

Although Briggs Library has an extensive collection, you may need items that are not available at the Library. No worries! You can request those articles, books, and other materials through Interlibrary Loan.

Keep in mind that the process may take from a week to ten days. Start your research early!

Many of our databases have an Interlibrary Loan Request button for articles not available in that particular database. Before submitting the loan request, be sure to check our Journals List for the title of the source or periodical (i.e. New York Times).

For more information on Interlibrary Loan, see our ILL FAQ.

PubMed Alerts

Creating an account

Go to the PubMed database.

Click the Log in box in the top right corner of the screen.

Click on "New here? Sign up".

Click on Create new NCBI Account.

Fill out the form and click "Sign up".

Create an alert

This will save a search that the system will automatically run periodically and send results to your e-mail.

Develop your search including any filters.

Click the "Create alert" under the search bar.

Name the search and choose the other options offered.

Click "Save".

Create an RSS feed

This will create a list that will automatically update that can be added to a website or blog.

Develop your search including any filters.

Click the "Create RSS" under the search bar.

Name the RSS feed and choose the number of items to show.

Click "Create RSS".

Copy the link for the RSS and add it to your site.

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