HSCI 3322: Sports Nutrition: Databases (Scientific Journal Articles)

Scientific journals most commonly publish research articles and review articles. Research articles are written by and for scholars in order to share their research findings.  Review articles compile the results of many different studies on a topic into an overview of that field. Most scientific journals go thru the process of peer-review in which they send the drafts of articles submitted to them to a group of scholars in the discipline prior to publication.  

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Remember these search tips when using databases

Quotation marks = search for phrases (two or more words): "supplementary aids"

Wildcard* = search for variations of the term: nutri* will give you results for nutrition, nutritian, nutrients, nutritional

OR = more. Combine synonyms or similar terms to increase the number of results: (vegetarian diet) OR (plant based diet)

AND = narrow your results. Combine different concepts to narrow your search: (young athletes) AND (nutri*)

NOT = excludes terms from your search: (adult athletes) NOT (young adult athletes)

• To find scientific journal articles you must use the databases. Databases index thousands of journals this means you can conduct a search on sports nutrition and simultaneously retrive articles from numerous scientific journals. 

• First find the most appropriate database to use according for your topic. This guide will list the recommended databases for sports nutrition research.

• Before you begin searching in a database you need to identify the best terms for retrieving information about your topic. These terms are the key terms of your hypothesis or discussion.  Example: discuss the impact of ergogenic aids in marathon athletes 
  

• The database will only search for the keywords you input, it is important to consider what other terms might be used in the journal literature. Example: ergogenic aids can be also described as performance enhancers or  physiological aids.

• Experiment with different keyword combinations (terminology used by auhtors and subject headings used in the database). Also try to utilize AND, OR, NOT to combine your terms in order to retrieve the most relevant articles.

• If available read the abstract first to find out exactly what information the article covers.
  

• Once you find the ideal article look for the HTML or PDF link. If none is available, look for link that will look at the UTEP Library for further options.
  

Below is a list of recommended databases for sports nutrition. To see a full list of databases for Health Promotion click here.