Physics Research Guide
- Find Background Info
- Find Books
- Find Articles
- Find Data
- Citing Sources
Find Background Info
Background sources, such as specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries, are an essential piece of the research process. They can help you:
- Gather information about your topic and understand the scope of the research.
- Locate reliable sources and clarify keywords.
- Pinpoint important authors, texts, ideas, and keywords about the research area.
Knowing what the primary phrases and concepts are will help you a lot as you are searching through library databases and online sources.
Oxford Dictionary of Physics
With over 4,000 entries, this new eighth edition has been fully updated to reflect progress in physics and related fields. This dictionary remains the most up-to-date of its kind: the essential introductory reference tool for students encountering physics terms and concepts, as well as for professionals and anyone with an interest in the subject.
Search Oxford Dictionary of Physics
NIST Physical Reference Data
From the National Institute of Standards and Technology, contains links to physical constants and bibliographies of the following types of data: atomic & molecular spectroscopic; ionization; x-ray and gamma-ray; radiation dosimetry; nuclear physics; and condensed matter physics.
Search NIST Physical Reference Data
Credo Reference
Credo Reference is a multi-publisher collection of high-quality reference titles. Available titles also include a range of multimedia options, including thousands of high quality diagrams, photographs, maps, and audio files. Credo includes several books on topics in physics, including:
Find Books
Print and e-books are valuable sources for academic research. They will help you to gain an overview of your topic and often contain in-depth information about the scholarship or history of research on a subject. Some books are written by single authors while others include essays or chapters by multiple scholars within a discipline. Don’t let the length of books intimidate you because you don’t need to read them from cover to cover. Look at the table of contents and index to find the sections that are relevant to your work.
Find Books Using GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other materials available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases. To get started, search by keyword or type in the title of a book here:
WorldCat
WorldCat lets you search for books, articles, videos, and other material that are available in libraries worldwide. If you are doing in-depth research on a topic and are considering requesting resources through Interlibrary Loan, WorldCat can help you discover resources that might not be in the Giovale Library collection.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Interlibrary Loan is a service where patrons of one library can borrow books and other materials, and access journal articles that are owned by another library.
Explore Interlibrary Loan Materials
Utah Academic Library Consortium
Giovale Library participates in the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) and Westminster University students have reciprocal circulation privileges at UALC partner libraries. Each UALC library has different circulation policies, but all require a current, valid, legal photo identification and proof of current enrollment at Westminster. Some libraries may also require other verification methods, so it is recommended that you contact the library you are interested in for details.
Popular Titles and Featured Texts
The Fundamental Principles of Physics: From Atom to Molecule
Statistical Physics
Physics: an illustrated history of the foundations of science
Reading Physics: A Guide to Understanding Basic Classical Mechanics Without Mathematical Expressions
Find Articles
The Giovale Library provides access to a number of subject databases that you can use to find journal articles on topics within a specific discipline or field of study. The databases listed on this page are those that are most useful for finding research published in the field of Chemistry.
GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other material available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases.
Institute of Physics (IOP) Online Journals
IOP aims to provide the make research available to as many people as possible. IOP provides free access to over 90 journal titles that focus on physics and interdisciplinary science.
Search Institute of Physics (IOP) Online Journals
Science Database (ProQuest)
Science Database contains full text articles from broad, interdisciplinary science and engineering sources. Science Database features ongoing full text from prestigious and highly selective publishers such as Nature Publishing, Springer, Emerald, Cambridge University Press and many others. Pro tip: Science Database contains current coverage of both Scientific American and Physics Today.
Search Science Database (ProQuest)
Springer eJournals Collection (Springer Nature)
Springer eJournals Collection is a collection of searchable journals. It provides full-text access to peer-reviewed journals covering numerous disciplines from the Sciences including physics. When searching all of Springer, refine your results under Content Type by Journal Articles to limit your results to full text articles.
Find Data
You may need to find data sets for your research, below is a list of organizations that allow you to search for data. As always, if you can’t find what you are looking for, contact the library.
National Nuclear Data Center
The National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC) collects, evaluates, and disseminates nuclear physics data for basic nuclear research and applied nuclear technologies. The NNDC is a worldwide resource for nuclear data.
Search National Nuclear Data Center
The Harvard Dataverse Repository
Dataverse is a free data repository open to all researchers from any discipline, both inside and outside of the Harvard community, where you can share, archive, cite, access, and explore research data. Each individual Dataverse collection is a customizable collection of datasets for organizing, managing, and showcasing datasets. Pro tip: You can browse or search for physics data sets
Google Dataset Search
Dataset Search enables users to find datasets stored across the Web through a simple keyword search. The tool surfaces information about datasets hosted in thousands of repositories across the Web, making these datasets universally accessible and useful.
Citing Sources
Citation Resources
Properly citing your sources shows that you’ve done research to become knowledgeable about your topic and helps you avoid plagiarism. Explore citation resources to learn how to correctly cite sources based on style.
Need help with your research?
Get in touch with:
Emily Swanson
Liaison Librarian for Physics
801.832.2257
eswanson@westminsteru.edu
Librarians are happy to answer questions via email, phone, or in-person.
Contact Emily with a question or to schedule a research help appointment.
Faculty: Contact Emily to suggest edits to this research guide.