For this course, you are expected to conduct research on a virus of your choice. Check your course syllabus for complete assignment details and requirements. This guide provides guidance on completing the research portion of this project.

	Getting started
	More details: finding books
	Journal articles
	Information on the web
	Citing your information

Getting started
Below are some selected sources  to consult when beginning to work on your research project.
 

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
A collection of commissioned and peer reviewed articles in the life sciences. This title is especially useful because sources and lists for further reading are provided.
Coverage: current
 

Basic virology
An electronic book available via CSUSM Library.
 

The books listed below are part of a book series on virus families/genera. This list is a complete list of materials available in the CIRCUIT, but may not reflect the complete list of known virus families/genera.
The Adenoviruses request via CIRCUIT	The Arenaviridae request via CIRCUIT	The Bacteriophages QR342 .B335 1988 5th Floor Stacks
The Baculoviruses request via CIRCUIT	The Bunyaviridae request via CIRCUIT	The Coronaviridae request via CIRCUIT
The Filamentous plant viruses request via CIRCUIT	The Herpesviruses request via CIRCUIT	The Influenza viruses QR201.I6 I535 1989  5th Floor Stacks
The Papovaviridae QR406 .P36 1986 5th Floor Stacks	The Paramyxoviruses QR404.15 .P37 1991  5th Floor Stacks	The Parvoviruses request via CIRCUIT
The Plant viruses request via CIRCUIT	The Reoviridae request via CIRCUIT	The Retroviridae request via CIRCUIT
The Rhabdoviruses QR415 .R47 1987  5th Floor Stacks	The Togaviridae and Flaviviridae QR415.5 .T6 1986    5th Floor Stacks	The Viroids QR500 .V568 1987   5th Floor Stacks

 

More details: finding books

Books on a particular virus are particularly valuable because of their bibliographies and footnotes, which direct researchers to journal articles and other sources without having to search a database. CSUSM Library may not have materials on the virus you are researching, but you can access the collections of other libraries.

•   provides access to the collections of UCSD, SDSU, and USD.
• If we don't have an item you can request through .
• Search under a particular virus by keyword (consider ALL variations)
• If you retrieve too many, consider limiting your search by date (e.g. 1990-current)
• Click on any of the subject headings below to view the library's collection in this area.
• Click on to view what other university libraries in San Diego have on a topic.
   

Journal articles
As a biological science student, you should be familiar with the following databases.
 

Information on the web

There is an enormous amount of medical information on the web. Much of it is questionable and not appropriate for a graduate level research project.

ICTVdb: The Universal Virus Database of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
Hosted by the National Library Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and National Center for Biotechnology Information.

All the Virology on the WWW
Produced by David Sander, Ph.D. of Tulane University. A huge portal of links to other virology web sites as well as an image gallery of viruses.

Virus World: Institute for Molecular Virology
From the Institute for Molecular Virology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Use the pull down menu of viruses to search and check out the tutorials.

Citing your information

The Council of Biology Editors produces a guide to appropriate scientific style. If you are a Biology major, you ought to have your own copy of it:

Scientific style and format : the CBE manual for authors, editors, and publishers. 6th ed. New York : Cambridge University Press, 1994. Library Copies (T11 .S386 1994)

If you need some quick help, the following are web sites on CBE citation style:

Using CBE Style to Cite and Document Sources

Sciences: Documenting Sources

The Council of Biology Editors (CBE) Style of Documentation in Science and Mathematics