Upper School Library
Joanna Nichols Memorial Libraries

Science

Finding Sources for ESS

Your librarians and teachers have curated the following resources for ESS, and many are useful in other subjects. 

Online Encyclopedias

  • Encyclopedia Britannica  Begin here when you are first exploring a topic to get a general overview
  • Britannica Science packs  Visual learners benefit from interacting with scientific content that is also found on Encyclopedia Britannica. 

 

Reference Databases

 

Educational Magazines

 

Popular magazines and news sources

 

Educational Media - Images and Videos

  • Image Quest  A database of images and short videos from Encyclopedia Britannica.
  • Alexandar Street   A database with wide ranging academic video collections. Filter by subject, e.g., "Science".

 

Freely Available Educational Websites

Citing Sources in ESS

You will learn how to use Zotero and Generative AI (GenAI or AI) to cite any sources that you use for your research in ESS.   

Zotero: A Citation Generator

Zotero is a powerful and user-friendly tool for storing your citation information as well as for citing in Word. If you are using Google Docs, download them into word to start using Zotero for your intext citations and your bibliography. To use Zotero: 

Besides Zotero help, this Youtube Intro to Zotero video will get you started.

AI Use in ESS

In this course, we will sometimes use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI or AI) to support our learning. Your teacher will guide you on when and how AI tools may be used to support your research. Always check with your teacher before using AI if you’re unsure. 

When to Cite Generative AI (GenAI or AI)

When you use AI to assist with your work, it’s important to give credit—just like you would with any other source:

  • Cite AI when it contributes ideas or content to your work.
  • Do not cite AI for common knowledge. E.g., there are 365 days in a year.  
  • Cite AI if you have used it (with permission from your teacher) to revise your work. 

How to Cite AI: Formatting Example from APA Style Manual (7th Edition).  

  • Format: 

Company. (year, month day). Title of chat in italics [Description]. AI Tool. Chat URL

  • Example of a bibliographic entry 

Perplexity (2025, May 20). Atoms [Chat]. Perplexity. https://www.perplexity.ai/ats/a47

  • Example of an Intext citation

Perplexity (2025),

Guidelines on how to cite AI are evolving.  For the most current formatting of an AI citation in APA Style Manual, The APA provides an up-to-date guide on Formatting GenAI Citations in APA Style

Scholarly Sources of Scientific Articles

IB and Research students should review the below resources for academic papers.
Can't find the entire (full-text) of an article? Request the article under our Services tab or here.

WOS - Web of Science (Clarivate)
Examine research trends in science by looking at citations. Research both the authors and their topics through citations. Includes links to free full-text articles (i.e. not just descriptions of the article).

PLOS
Articles by scientists and researchers.

Science Reference Center
Hundreds of full text science magazines, journals, and reference books. Also includes Science experiments, curriculum-aligned lesson plans, videos and a vast image collection. 

Biological Sciences Review Register
Visit to view the magazine: Biological Sciences Review (Hodder Education)

Academic Search Complete
1000s open access academic journals, reports, and conference proceedings from most disciplines including science.

JSTOR
Scholarly full-text journal articles, e-books, and primary sources/historical texts, from the 16th century to 2019 including science. Click here to see general science publications in JSTOR. Note: Select Content I Can Access (it will NOT be underlined if selected).

Not sure if we have an article or journal?

Check our Journal Finder to find out what journals and years we have. Also under our menu eResources -> Journal Finder.  

Citation Generator

Zotero is a powerful and user-friendly tool for storing your citation information as well as for citing in Word. If you are using Google Docs, download them into word to start using Zotero for your intext citations and your bibliography.

To use Zotero, download:

  1. Download Zotero
  2. Zotero Connector for your browser

Besides Zotero help, this Youtube Intro to Zotero video will get you started.

Popular Sources of Current Science Topics

Popular magazines and news sources

Browse the resources below for popular magazines.

Freely Available Sources

ACS.org - Interactive Period Table Activities

ThoughtCo - Examples of Chemical Energy

Sweetsearch - a search engine for students - use keyword searching to find articles and more in the internet.  

Searching USIC Search or Google Scholar

To find articles from Scientific Journals you can search our USIC Search and Google Scholar as well as search specific resources. You need to understand how to search these resources. Check out search tips on our Search Page.

Pro tip: Once you know how to use USIC Search, you will be able to search almost any academic online resources.

Remember: If the article is not available through TAS or online, request that we purchase it under our Services tab or here.

Preferred Resources and How to Access

Preferred Journals for Health Sciences

Some of these journals have paid content so you might not be able to access the article, but you can request it. If you read the abstract/summary, and want the article,

  • Google the title in quotes first to see if it's available elsewhere for free.
  •  If the article is not available for free, request that we purchase it. We can usually get the article within 48 hours. Request the article under our Services tab or here.

Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise  Search for articles. Request an article if it is not free (open access).

European Journal of Sport Science Search for articles and read for free (open access).

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports Search thfor articles. Request an article if it is not free (open access).

International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance (IJSPP) Search the contents of only this journal. Request an article if it is not free (open access).

Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition Search for articles and read for free (open access).

Searching for Academic Journal Articles in Databases

WOS - Web of Science (Clarivate)
Examines research trends in science by looking at citations, and a great place for to find abstracts/summaries and some full text (entire) of science articles. Research both the authors and their topics through citations. Includes links to free full-text articles (i.e. not just descriptions of the article).

PubMed
The PubMed database contains more than 34 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature. It does not include the entire text for many articles; however, links to the full text of the article it's available.

PLOS ONE
Publishes multidisciplinary and, often, interdisciplinary free online academic research articles in more than 200 areas across science, engineering, medicine, and the related social sciences and humanities. 

Citing Sources

 

  • Sports and Health Sciences uses MLA style for citations. Purdue OWL's website is a great resource for citing sources.
  • Always grab the citation from the article when you find it. There is usually an option on the screen that will give you the full citation you need in MLA format.
  • If you can't find the citation, try using the Zotero extension (or Zbib online) or Noodle Tools (sign in with Microsoft).
  • Make an appointment with Dr. Warrick or Ms. Wile under the Services Tab for help.

Searching for Academic Journal Articles Using AI

Generative AI can be a useful tool for research. However, it's important to know what is acceptable use and what would be a violation of the academic integrity policy. For IB, you MUST cite any AI tool you consult.  You should never turn in anything copied directly from AI as a finished product. 

For a literature review, try Elicit.org. Use it to brainstorm more specific research questions, and find related journal articles on your topic.

To cite AI Tools in MLA Style:

  •  
    • "Exact text of your prompt." prompt. AI Tool used, version, Publisher of the tool, date accessed, link.
  •