LIBRARY SERVICES www.ljmu.ac.uk/library

BIOSIS Previews

BIOSIS Previews is a comprehensive, bibliographic database that provides access to life sciences

and biomedical abstracts. It includes primary journal literature on vital biological research, medical

research findings and discoveries of new organisms; as well as pre-clinical and experimental

research, methods and instrumentation, animal studies and much more.

BIOSIS Previews content is regularly updated with new journals, meetings, patents and books. The

database also includes back-files from 1969.

This database is available on and off campus and may be accessed from Databases A-Z in the

Electronic Library at www.ljmu.ac.uk/library/e-library

1. Searching

BIOSIS Previews is available from the Web of Science (WoS) platform, which is a

comprehensive collection of scientific literature.

You may perform a basic search or you can + Add Another Field to enter a detailed search.

Enter keywords into the search boxes and click Search to find relevant research.

The default setting in BIOSIS Previews is to search by Topic. Alternatively, you may adjust the

drop down menu to refine your search by Title, Author, Publication Name or Major Concepts.

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If there is an index for multiple entries e.g. Major Concepts, the

option to Select from List or Index will appear next to the drop

down menu. You may select subject headings/index terms as an

alternative to keyword searching.

An Advanced Search option is also available if you wish to enter a more complex search

2. Search Tips

2.1. Boolean Operators

Boolean search operators AND, OR and NOT link your keywords together and enable you

to search more effectively.

AND – Narrows a search to only find records which contain all search terms:

e.g. bird AND migration

OR – Widens a search to find records containing any of your alternative search

terms, but not necessarily all:

e.g. agriculture OR farming

NOT – Excludes part of a topic or specific terms from a search:

e.g. caterpillar NOT butterfly

2.2. Phrases

You can search for an exact phrase of two or more words by surrounding it with quotation

marks e.g. “genetic modification”. This will ensure that the database or search engine

only retrieves records where these words appear together as a phrase.

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2.3. Truncation

An asterisk * is a truncation symbol that can be used after the first few characters of a

word to include all varying endings of that word in a search.

e.g. enzym* will find enzyme, enzymes, enzymatic, enzymic

2.4. Wildcards

A wildcard symbol such as ? $ or * can be used within a word as a substitute for one or

more characters to account for differences in spelling.

e.g. organi?ation will find organization (American English spelling) and organisation

(British English spelling)

2.5. Alternative Search Terms

If you are struggling to find information on a given topic – try changing your search terms

to include alternative keywords e.g. an alternative term for vitamin C is ascorbic acid.

2.6. Search Limits

You can limit your initial search by Publication Date. A wider range of limit options are also

included on the search results page e.g. Major Concepts, Document Types, Publication

Years, Research Areas, or Countries/Territories. This will help you to find the most

relevant research quickly and easily, filtering out any results which are not fully focused on

your search topic.

3. Displaying Results

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Search results are initially sorted by Date (Newest to Oldest); however if you prefer, the order

can be changed to Relevance or Times Cited using the drop down menu at the top of the

results screen.

The total number of search results displays at the top of the search results page. Use the

forwards and backwards arrows to move from page to page.

BIOSIS Previews is a bibliographic database, which provides abstracts for each resource but not

necessarily full-text content.

Click on the Title of a resource or choose View Abstract to view further publication details and

links to citations information.

Click on the Full Text icon underneath the each item to check if full-text content

is available from other LJMU electronic resources.

4. Print/Email/Save

You can print, email or save selected item records from the list of search results in BIOSIS

Previews.

To Print or Email an individual item record – tick the checkbox next to one

of the records in your search results. Click Export at the top of the screen.

A drop down menu will appear offering you the option to Print or Email

the records. Choose the appropriate option and follow the onscreen

instructions.

To Print, Email or Save multiple item records – tick the checkbox next to all

relevant records in your list of search results and click Add to Marked List.

A tick will appear next to each item record, which has been added to your Marked List (Folder).

To view your list – click Marked List at the top of the screen.

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A series of options will be shown at the top of your Marked List.

Choose how much information you wish to keep about each item record e.g. Author, Title,

Source, etc.

Click Export. The drop-down menu will appearing offering different ways to export the item

records in your Marked List. Choose one of the corresponding options:

Print – To print selected item records.

Email – To email selected item records.

Other File Formats – To save item records in different formats. You can choose

whether to save information in a Plain Text, Tab-delimited or HTML format.

Item records are stored temporarily in the Marked List for the duration of your internet

browsing session.

You can register for a free personal account with the database to permanently save record

details.

5. Export Citations

You can export records from BIOSIS Previews into EndNote bibliographic software to manage

your research and aid with referencing.

To Export an individual item record to EndNote – tick the checkbox next to

one the records in your search results. Click Export at the top of the

screen.

To Export multiple items to EndNote – tick the checkbox next to all relevant records in your list

of search results and click Add to Marked List. Click Marked List at the top of the screen to

view the records you have saved and then choose Export from the list of options.

A drop down menu will appear offering you the option to export the record

to EndNote.

Two different versions of EndNote referencing software are available:

EndNote Desktop – software which is installed on LJMU networked PC’s and available

via Off Campus Applications.

EndNote Online – a free limited online version of EndNote that is available online from:

https://access.clarivate.com/login?app=endnote

Choose the appropriate version of EndNote referencing software.

The next step may look different depending on which internet browser you are using:

Internet Explorer – the references should be automatically sent to your EndNote

Library, however if a toolbar appears prompting you to Open or Save the record. Click

Open.

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Chrome – an export option will appear at the bottom of your internet browser, click on

the ^ arrow to open the File Menu. Click Open.

The detailed reference for each item will be sent to your EndNote Library. You may view the

reference in your chosen referencing style i.e. Harvard LJMU from the Preview pane.

BIOSIS Previews will only send the bibliographic details for each item record into EndNote e.g.

Author, Title, Source, etc. You can check if full-text is available within EndNote and also store

full-text PDF documents in your EndNote Library.

Click on a specific reference or select all references in the library (press Ctrl and A), choose

References on the menu bar and then Find Full Text. EndNote will search online and download

any available full-text. The full-text PDF will be automatically attached and a paper clip will

appear next to the reference to indicate that there is an attachment.

You may use the references you have downloaded into EndNote to “cite while you

write”. EndNote enables you to easily insert references into the body of the text and

create a full reference list for your assignments using icons on the toolbar.

6. Search Alerts

BIOSIS Previews provides alerting services to help you keep up to date with new publications.

You will need to register for a free personal account in order to use this feature. Click Sign In

at the top of the screen and then choose Register to set-up your account.

If there is a specific item, which is essential for your research, you can set-up a citation alert to

receive email notifications when any new research is published which cites it as a source of

evidence.

To set up a citation alert – open the item record and click Create Citation

Alert on the right hand side of the screen. Sign in to your personal

account and follow the onscreen instructions to customise your alert.

You can also save your searches and set-up search alerts to notify you when new resources are

published that match your search criteria. This helps you to keep up to date with research and

new developments/innovations in your subject area.

To set-up a search alert – perform your search and then click Create Alert at

the top of the results page. When prompted, sign into your personal account.

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Name your search alert and choose how frequently you would like to receive email

notifications about new resources e.g. weekly, monthly.

Alerts will stay active until you delete them. You change manage your alerts or make changes

by logging into your personal account, clicking on My Tools at the top of the screen and then

Saved Searches and Alerts.

7. Further Help

In the BIOSIS Previews database further guidance is available using the HELP button on the

toolbar.

Advanced help on searching the database and improving your digital skills is available. Please

contact your Academic Liaison Librarian to book a one-to-one appointment.

Alternatively, you can view our useful range of online tutorials, videos and guides on the

Skills@LJMU webpages at: www.ljmu.ac.uk/library/skills

Guide Updated: September 2019

By: Donna M. Crookall