Researching for Biology Labs: Limiters

Most databases will allow you to limit your search results according to certain criteria. Common options include:

• Publication date (or date range)

• Publication type (e.g., book, newspaper, journal article)

• Language

• Peer review status (limits results to peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles)

You will often find these options below the main "Advanced search" fields.

Limiters vary between databases. If you're not sure whether a particular option is available in a specific database, check the database's HELP page.

Many databases provide an option to limit to only those citations where there is full-text attached, either in HTML or PDF formats.  This is unneccessary because in every database where it can, the Library has added a button which offers to find full text regardless of where that full text may be.  Clicking on this icon, answers the question,

"Where in the universe of the University of Lethbridge is my article located?”

As a consequence of clicking on this icon, you will be presented with a screen detailing for full text:  electronically in another database, in print, in microform or via interlibrary loan.

By Treatment ...

In some databases, you may want to limit by category or how a particular topic is treated.  For example, the topic, "marginal value theorem" is a concept used in both economics and biology -- two very different fields.  Below is a screenshot from the Web of Science that illustrates the different ways the concept, "marginal value theorem" has been studied.

By Geography ...

We may also choose to limit by a particular country or region depending on what we are studying.