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Key Resources
The major database of biomedical literature with over 26 million citations.
Core chemistry database for substance and reaction information and references to articles and patents. Create a free account with your Carleton email.
A searchable, multidisciplinary database of citations, useful for finding journal articles.
A searchable, multidisciplinary database of citations, useful for finding journal articles.
Research Tip Sheet - for systematically searching academic databases (+ video tutorial | 2:25 | transcript)
Initial Reference Material
- Chemical Information for Chemists: A Primer
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
- Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis
- Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary (16th, 2016)
- Naming and Indexing of Chemical Substances for Chemical Abstracts (pdf)
Chemistry Databases
- SciFindern - Carleton’s most comprehensive database for chemistry literature and patent searching. Also includes property data, experimental procedures, searching by chemical name, formula, structure, or identifier, and commercial supplier information. A free account is required - create one using your Carleton email address
- Analytical Abstracts - Designed specifically for analytical scientists, this database includes articles from all areas of analytical chemistry. Search generally, or for specific analytes, matrices or techniques
- ChemRxiv - "A free submission, distribution and archive service for unpublished preprints in chemistry" giving researchers "the opportunity to share early results with colleagues and respond to comments and recommendations for improvement, ahead of formal peer review and publication."
Interdisciplinary Databases
- Annual Reviews - A collection of journals dedicated to review articles, including several focused on chemistry topics
- EI Engineering Village - Includes Inspec and Compendex offering a broad range of related fields including physical chemistry
- Google Scholar - A general search for academic information, including literature available through Carleton and on the free web
- Knovel Library - although primarily an Engineering database, excellent coverage of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering literature as well as interactive equation worksheets - Video Tutorials
- PubMed - Biomedical and life science literature, including chemistry literature, one resource among many offered by the National Library of Medicine
- Scholars Portal Journals - Provides access to a large number of articles from major academic publishers covering all fields
- Scopus - Includes chemistry literature. Useful for citation searching
- Web of Science - Multidisciplinary database including chemistry literature. Allows structure searching. Useful for citation searching
Journal Collections with basic search engines
- ACS Publications - American Chemical Society journals from all areas of chemistry
- Royal Society of Chemistry Journals Collection - Journals from all fields of chemistry from the UK's professional body for chemical scientists
- ScienceDirect Journals - Elsevier journals in the physical sciences, engineering, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences
- SpringerLink - Sciences and Engineering
eBooks
- Ebook Central
- eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
- National Academies Press
- O'Reilly
- Scholars Portal Books
- SpringerLink
Also note that all of Carleton's ebooks can be found through the library's homepage, using the large search box. Conduct a keyword search, then isolate to Available Online (under Availability) + Books (under Resource Type)
- ACS (American Chemical Society) Reagent Chemicals
- CAMEO Chemicals - Database of hazardous materials including fire and explosion hazards, health hazards, cleanup procedures, and reactivity when mixing chemicals
- Chemical Safety Library (CSL) - Hazardous reaction information crowd sourced from academic, industry, and government institutions from around the world
- ChemSpider - Free chemical structure database from the Royal Society of Chemistry to find properties, spectra, and literature references. Search by name or structure
- ChemSynthesis - Database of chemicals with synthesis references and physical properties
- CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - The authoritative reference handbook for chemical and physical property information
- e-EROS - Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis: Online encyclopedia with detailed information on reagents and catalysts for organic synthesis. Browse reagent or catalyst names or search by structure or reaction
- Knovel Critical Tables (2nd Edition) - Interactive tables of physical, solvent, and thermodynamic properties
- [Beta] Knovel's Chemical Materials Search - click general search, Property Search, then Open Chemical Materials Search (on right) + standard material property search on left
- NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards - Workplace chemicals and their hazards
- NIST Chemistry WebBook - Access to chemical and physical property data for chemical species
- OECD's eChemPortal - The global portal to information on chemical substances
- Organic Syntheses - Methods for the preparation of organic compounds
- Protein Data Bank (PDB) - Information about the 3D shapes of proteins, nucleic acids, and complex assemblies
- PubChem - Free set of databases with information on the biological activities of small molecules including safety and toxicity information. Search substances, compounds, and bioassays. Search by keyword, properties, or (draw) structure
- SciFindern - Includes property data, experimental procedures, searching by chemical name, formula, structure, or identifier, and commercial supplier information. A free account is required - create one using your Carleton email address
- ToxInfo.io - Toxicologoy, hazardous chemicals, and environmental health
- Wikipedia Structure Search - Search for Wikipedia pages by drawing chemical structures
Patents
- SciFindern - Allows for patent and literature searching and includes commercial supplier information from hundreds of suppliers. See PatentPak for more details. A free account is required - create one using your Carleton email address.
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) PatentScope - provides access to international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications
- Espacenet Cooperative Patent Classification - Bilateral system jointly developed by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
- Google Patents - Search and read through the full text of patents from around the world. The full text is often electronically created, and is not as accurate as some other databases, but the size of the collection makes this a useful resource
- Lens.org - Find patents and associated scholarly research
- SureChEMBL - Search chemical patents by structure, part of ChEMBL, a database of bioactive molecules with drug-like properties
For more information:
- Patents, Standards, and Trademarks guide
- Information Sources in Patents by Stephen Adams
- What Every Chemist Should Know about Patents (4th Ed) from the American Chemical Society (pdf)
Suppliers
- CURVE - Includes Carleton theses and dissertations, as well as other research deposited by faculty, staff, and students
- Dissertations and Theses Global - Theses and dissertations from around the world
- Foreign Doctoral Dissertations - Indexes non-North American graduate and doctoral theses
- Other sources for Theses and Dissertations
Guide for Conducting a Literature Review
Useful Tools
- ACS (American Chemical Society) Guide to Scholarly Communication - Includes details on style conventions, journal authoring, effective writing, Open Access, Open Science, and data sharing
- Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI) - Converts journal title abbreviations to full titles, and vice versa
- How to Write a Good Scientific Paper - SPIE Digital Library, teaching the style and conventions of writing for a peer-reviewed scientific journal
- Mastering the Art of Scientific Publication - ACS Publications
- Substance Search - A useful tool for converting between chemical names and CAS Registry Numbers
Tutorials
- ToxTutor - Self-paced tutorial on the key principles of toxicology from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
- UCI OpenChem - Open versions of chemistry lecture courses from University of California, Irvine, including recorded lectures. No registration required
Videos
- Films on Demand - Click the three bars at the top left to 'View All' Subjects, including Chemistry
YouTube
- American Chemical Society
- Playlist: ACS AuthorUniversity (scientific writing and publishing)
- Playlist: Science Communication
- Chemical and Engineering News
- Chemistry Abstracts Service
- Khan Academy Organic Chemistry
- Periodic Videos
- Royal Society of Chemistry
