Curated Resources

Science Resources

A curated set of trusted gateways for finding papers, reports, datasets, and tools. These authoritative resources connect you to primary literature and open infrastructure.

How to Use These Resources

Finding Research Papers

  1. 1 Start with review articles for orientation on a topic
  2. 2 Follow citations to primary papers that reviews cite
  3. 3 Use Google Scholar to find papers that cite key works
  4. 4 Check preprints on arXiv for the latest developments

Evaluating Evidence

  1. 1 Consider study design: randomized controlled trials are strongest for interventions
  2. 2 Check sample size—small studies may miss real effects
  3. 3 Look for replication—have results been confirmed?
  4. 4 Consider conflicts of interest and funding sources

Accessing Full Text

  1. 1 Check if your institution has journal subscriptions
  2. 2 Use Unpaywall browser extension to find legal free versions
  3. 3 Request articles through interlibrary loan
  4. 4 Email authors directly—many share papers gladly

Resource Directory

Government Science Gateways

Federally funded resources providing access to research across multiple agencies.

Science.gov

U.S. government search tool for scientific and technical information across federal agencies.

Use case: Finding federally funded reports, publications, datasets, and software when you don't know which agency holds it.

Literature Search (Peer-reviewed + Preprints)

Databases for finding scholarly articles, preprints, and citations.

PubMed

Free resource for searching biomedical and life-science citations and abstracts.

Use case: Biomedical research, clinical studies, and life sciences literature.

PubMed Central (PMC)

Free full-text archive for biomedical and life-sciences journal literature.

Use case: Accessing full-text articles when PubMed links to the abstract only.

arXiv

Open-access archive for scholarly preprints across physics, math, computer science, and related fields.

Use case: Finding the latest research before peer review; accessing papers in physics, math, and CS.

Open-Access Discovery

Indexes and directories for open access journals and content.

DOAJ

Directory of Open Access Journals indexing quality-controlled open access journals.

Use case: Finding legitimate open access journals and avoiding predatory publishers.

Citation & Metadata Infrastructure

Infrastructure for citation tracking, DOI registration, and scholarly linking.

Crossref

Registration agency for DOIs and repository of scholarly metadata.

Use case: Resolving DOIs, checking citation data, and linking to full text.

Data & Code Repositories

Where to find and share research data and software.

GitHub

Platform for hosting and collaborating on code, including many scientific software projects.

Use case: Finding research code, contributing to open source science projects.

Zenodo

Research data repository managed by CERN, supporting open science.

Use case: Archiving datasets, getting DOIs for data, making research reproducible.

Dryad

Curated scientific data repository making data discoverable and citable.

Use case: Publishing and citing research data in the life sciences.

Evidence-Based Searching

Prefer review articles

Start with systematic reviews and meta-analyses for comprehensive overviews. They're higher quality than most single papers and cite key primary sources.

Treat preprints as provisional

arXiv papers haven't been peer-reviewed. Look for peer review, replication, and converging evidence before treating findings as established.

Track uncertainty

Consider sample size, study design, potential confounding variables, and measurement quality when evaluating research claims.

Connect with Our Topics

These resources complement our topic maps. Each topic page includes starter sources specific to that field.

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