Research Guides: Environmental Analysis: Articles & Primary Literature

Primary Sources

In the sciences, a primary source describes original research, while a secondary source analyzes or comments on a primary source or sources. For example, a research article is primary literature because it describes an original experiment and its results, while a review article is secondary literature because it collates multiple research articles to describe the current state of the field.

Examples of primary sources:

Research articles
Theses and dissertations
Conference proceedings
Reports
Patents
Unrefined data sets

Recommended Databases

USDA National Agricultural Library
Why search here? Good for indexed citations from AGRICOLA, PubAg, and the NAL Digital Collections (NALDC) on agriculture topics, food and human nutrition, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries, animal and veterinary sciences.
Content type: Abstracts of scholarly articles, book chapters, theses, patents, technical reports.
Coverage dates: 1970 - present
Language: English
Keywords: Pub Ag U.S. US Department
Dissertations & Theses Global
Why search here? Search here for master's and doctoral theses and dissertations from academic institutions around the world.
Content type: Dissertations and theses, bibliographies
Coverage dates: 1637-present
Most coverage comes from North American institutions. Many are full-text. Records show cited references, other publications with shared references, and later publications citing the work.
Language: English, Turkish, Chinese, French, Spanish, additional European languages
Keywords: Digital dissertation dissert thesis
GeoRef
Why search here? Main database for scholarly research in geology and earth sciences.
Content type: Abstracts of scholarly and trade articles, books, conference proceedings, dissertations and theses, reports, maps
Coverage dates: 1693-present
Language: English, Russian, Chinese, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, etc.
Keywords: Geo Ref
GreenFILE
Why search here? Start here when looking for well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment such as global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and recycling.
Content type: Abstracts, scholarly articles, grey literature, government reports, trade journal articles
Coverage dates: 1910-present
Language: English
Keywords: Green File
JSTOR Global Plants
Why search here? Useful for historical and current primary and reference sources relating to botany, ecology, and conservation studies.
Content type: Digitized plant specimen, diaries, correspondence, illustrations, paintings, photographs, eBooks
Language: English

Native Plants of North America
Comprehensive database where you can search for native plant records by traits, names, or images.
USDA PLANTS database
Good place to find standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.

Web of Science
Why search here? Great for discovering scholarly research across a wide array of subject areas, primarily published in high-impact (highly cited) journals in the physical and life sciences, health sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
Content type: Abstracts of scholarly articles, conference proceedings, book chapters
Coverage dates: 1965-present
Easily explore an article bibliography, as well as sources that have cited the article since its publication, via the Citation Network feature. Create a free personal account to keep a comprehensive search history, create search alerts and citation alerts. Additional features related to author and journal profiles are available.
Language: English, Russian, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, etc.
Text Mining: Allowed; only through Clarivate APIs
Keywords: Social Science Citation Index Science Citation Index Arts and Humanities Citation Index Conference Proceedings Citation Index Emerging Sources Citation Index WoS Knowledge
Western Water Archives
Why search here? Gateway to an archival repository of unique items relating to water issues in Southern California.
Content type: Blueprints, correspondence, legal papers, maps, pamphlets, photographs, plans, reports, scrapbooks, technical documents, ephemera
Coverage dates: 1800s-present
Maintained by The Claremont Colleges Library, Special Collections in partnership with A.K. Smiley Public Library; California State University, Northridge – University Library; California State University, San Bernardino – Water Resources Institute (WRI); Council on Library and Information Resources; National Archives at Riverside; Ontario City Library; Pomona College and Upland Public Library.
Language: English

Data & Case Studies

CalEnviroScreen
Developed by CalEPA in 2013 to help identify California communities most affected by multiple pollution sources and where people have increased potential to be more susceptible to pollution’s effects.
CDC National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
Integrates EJ data from national-, state-, and city-level sources to provide county-level statistics and infographics for key EJ issues. The network provides a data mapping tool so users can compare and contrast different EJ indicators between states, and it offers supporting information to make the data easier to understand.
Earth Justice Annual reports
Non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment.
Environmental Justice Case Studies
As part each students' coursework in Environmental Justice: Domestic and International, case studies were written on various grassroots struggles for environmental justice in the United States and all over the world. Students were asked to locate and research a struggle in environmental justice. As a part of that assignment, they were expected to ask a grassroots organization involved in or having some familiarity with the struggle for recommendations on how to improve or resolve the struggle. This assignment was an opportunity for students to apply the principles they have learned in the classroom to actual struggles. Only the best case studies were selected to be placed on this resource center. Courtesy of the University of Michigan
Tracking California
Tracking California aims to improve public health by making science-based information on health trends, environmental threats, and the complex relationships between them publicly available and accessible to government, research, and community stakeholders. Users can view data and statistics for different environmental health exposures over a number of years. Topics include, air quality, childhood poisoning, COVID-19, pesticides, water quality and more.