Guides: BME 3506: Tissue Mechanics Laboratory : Finding Literature

Research Assignment

For your ACL reconstruction graft challenge design project, you should be able to find sources in each of the following categories:

articles with examples of similar and relavant biological material models
articles which could assist you in understanding stress-strain behavior of the biological and synthetic materials (polypropelyne strands) used
material properties (such as stiffness at a given strength) of materials to verify with published values

Summon

What are MeSH Terms?

MeSH stands for Medical Subject Headings and is a controlled vocabulary used within PubMed and other search tools available through the National Library of Medicine.

When searching PubMed, these can really help you narrow your searches, for instance try to use/combine some of the following:

Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Anterior Cruciate Ligament/injuries
Anterior Cruciate Ligament/surgery
Biocompatible Materials
Elasticity
Tensile Strength
Models, Biological

More about MeSH
MeSH Browser
Search the MeSH browser for terms related to your reseach.

Finding High Impact Literature

Selected sources for finding high impact research.

PubMed
Tip 1: Search PubMed and then look for the article in Google Scholar or Web of Knowledge to find cited search information.
Tip 2: Use PubMed links from the library website or this libguide in order to link to the FullTextFinder at WPI.
Tip 3: Be mindful of keywords & glean - instead of ACL consider using "Anterior cruciate ligament." See MeSH sidebar for more on using powerful subject headings.

Coverage: 1966-
Full Text: Yes
Titles Included | Search Tips | Tutorial
Web of Science
Interface to Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, plus ability to perform cross database searches (outside of ISI products) and login to your Web of Science account for cited reference alerts and customization.

Coverage: 1970-
Full Text: No
Training
Google Scholar
Google search for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports on all topic areas. Use to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, prepublication repositories and universities.

Coverage: Varies
Full Text: Yes
ScienceDirect
Full text access to more than 2000 Elsevier science, social science, engineering and management scholarly journals.

Coverage: Varies
Full Text: Yes

More BME databases...

Research Challenge: Research Impact

Use one of the search tools above to find an article on your topic and make note of the complete citation information.
Using Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, AND ScienceDirect, give an estimate of how many cited references there are for this article.
Is there a related article that has been cited more often? If so, why do you think?

Filter & Follow Up

Scan results: Use subject headings, keywords, and phrases from your search results to refine your keyword searches.
Scrutinize article titles, number of pages, and journal title.
Browse promising abstract and conclusion sections of long studies.
Bibliographies can clue you in on the value of the article as well.
Find an interesting author? Search for more articles by that author.
Notice an agency, association or expert mentioned in an article? Follow up.

Only Finding a Citation? Get the Full Text

Within most databases, click on the FullTextFinder link to get options for obtaining the full text of the article.

Is the journal online or here in the library? Search our J ournals.
Request delivery from another library: ILLiad Interlibrary Loan.
Visit another library: Search WorldCat to find one.