All guides: Applied Science: Chemistry, Environmental Science and Nanotechnology: Key resources

Key databases

Applied science databases

You will find information about all areas of applied science in the databases below, including journal articles, conference papers, reports, videos and images. Click on the other tabs for discipline-specific databases.

Scopus (Elsevier)
Scopus is an extensive database with a focus on science. Subject areas included are: chemistry (including natural products), environmental science, and nanotechnology.
PubMed
PubMed is well-known for its health and medical content but also has an extensive collection of science literature including chemistry, environmental science, and nanotechnology. To limit search results to review articles, select ‘Review’ at the ‘Filter Your Results’ option, which appears to the right of the search results listing.

JoVE: Journal of Visualized Experiments
JoVE is a peer-reviewed video journal with visual demonstrations of scientific methods, laboratory techniques and experiments in a wide range of scientific fields. There is also an educational video database.

SpringerLink
SpringerLink is a comprehensive collection of scientific, technological and medical journals, books and reference works. Subject areas include chemistry (including natural products), environmental sciences, and nanotechnology.
CSIRO Journals
Offers up-to-date research by leading Australian and international scientists. It includes a broad range of subjects in chemistry (including natural products), environmental sciences, and nanotechnology.
Wiley Online Library
Full text journals in all areas of the physical, biological, medical and applied sciences. Wiley also has a comprehensive collection of literature in environmental science, chemistry (including natural products), and nanotechnology.
Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics)
Web of Science provides seamless access to the Science Citation Expanded®, Social Sciences Citation Index®, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index™. It enables users to search current and retrospective multidisciplinary information from approximately 8,500 of the most prestigious, high impact research journals in the world.

Web of Science
Web of Science includes major journals in all areas of science, and contains a comprehensive collection in nanotechnology, chemistry (including natural products), and environmental science.
Science.gov
An official website of the U.S. government providing free access to federally funded scientific research results, without needing to know which agency funded the research. Research results include scientific and technical reports, peer-reviewed scholarly publications, digital data, software, conference presentations and proceedings, and other scientific and technical information that federal agencies publish.

Chemistry databases

You will find information about chemistry in the databases below, including journal articles, conference papers and reports. Click on the other tabs for applied science, environmental science, and nanotechnology.

SciFinder: Chemical Abstracts and Medline
The most accurate and comprehensive index for chemistry. Includes journal articles and patents, substance data, chemical reactions, chemical regulatory data and chemical suppliers.
CHEMnetBASE: chemical databases online
A collection of chemistry databases including: Combined chemical dictionary; Polymers: a property database; Properties of organic compounds; and CRC Handbook of chemistry and physics. It also has several chemical dictionaries structured as searchable databases. Unique search software allows text and structure searches.
ChemRxiv
ChemRxiv is an open access preprint archive for chemistry. It is operated by the American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry and German Chemical Society.
ChEBI (Chemical Entities of Biological Interest)
"The molecular entities in question are either products of nature or synthetic products used to intervene in the processes of living organisms. ChEBI incorporates an ontological classification, whereby the relationships between molecular entities or classes of entities and their parents and/or children are specified."
Chemical Structure Lookup Service
The search can be limited to Natural Products, however "this refers to about 124,000 entries from the NCI Frederick NP database, of which only about one third are actual natural products. An additional 8,000 natural product structures from the CHMIS-C database are included in this section." General information on the database is available at CSLS Help.
Herbs and Supplements: Medline Plus
Effectiveness, usual dosage, and drug interactions for a range of dietary supplements and herbal remedies.

MarinLit
MarinLit is a database dedicated to marine natural products research. Comprehensive coverage of marine natural products in journal articles, including new and revised compounds, synthesis, ecology and biological activities.

Natural Product NMR-DB "CH-NMR-NP"
This database contains around 29,500 compounds in natural products from papers published between 2000 and 2014, and about 6,000 organic compounds. Search by compound name, atoms and molecular formula, molecular weight or many other characteristics. Select 'Instruction (PDF)' for detailed help.
Natural Products Updates
Natural Product Updates (NPU) provides graphical abstracts of new developments in natural product chemistry, selected from dozens of key primary journals.
PubChem
PubChem is the world's largest collection of freely accessible chemical information. Search chemicals by name, molecular formula, structure, and other identifiers. Find chemical and physical properties, biological activities, safety and toxicity information, patents, literature citations and more.
PubMed Dietary Supplement Subset
The subset of PubMed is designed to limit search results to citations from a broad spectrum of dietary supplement literature including vitamin, mineral, phytochemical, ergogenic, botanical, and herbal supplements in human nutrition and animal models.

Environmental science databases

You will find information about environmental science in the databases below, including journal articles, conference papers and reports. Click on the other tabs for applied science, chemistry and nanotechnology.

Environmental Science Collection (ProQuest)
The collection combines specialist topic resources from disciplines such as engineering, biotechnology, bacteriology, atmospheric science, ecology and biology and features a diverse range of full-text sources.
GreenFILE (EBSCO)
GreenFILE covers all aspects of human impact to the environment. It is a collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles, and includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.
EMBASE (Elsevier)
EMBASE, the Excerpta Medica database, created by Elsevier, is a major science based database indexing major international journals in fields that impact environmental science.
Biological Science Collection (ProQuest)
This database includes the renowned Biological Sciences, MEDLINE, and TOXLINE databases and provides full-text titles from around the world.

Public Library of Science (PLOS): Impacts of hazards research
A free database of peer-reviewed research into climate change, extreme weather events, flooding and droughts, seismic hazards, and air, water, and plastic pollution. Select a topic or view all research to open the database.
Public Library of Science (PLOS): Marine ecosystems research
A free database of peer-reviewed research into the biological diversity of marine ecosystems including ecological functions and processes in environments. It highlights conservation approaches and the ecological impacts of global climate change, such as ocean acidification, marine heatwaves, overfishing, and pollution. Select a topic or view all research to open the database.
Public Library of Science (PLOS): Terrestrial ecosystems research
A free database of peer-reviewed research addressing the structure, function, and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems across the globe. It covers community and population ecology, ecosystem functions and services, and the management of land and natural resources. Select a topic or view all research to open the database.

International Water Association Journals (IWA Publishing)
IWA Publishing provides information services on all aspects of water, wastewater and related environmental fields. Use the search box at top of the screen; select All Journals.

ASFA: Aquatic sciences and fisheries abstracts (Proquest)
Scholarly research and technical literature critical for scientists researching the world's living aquatic resources. Marine, freshwater and brackish water regions and environments are examined, including biology and ecology of aquatic organisms and legal, policy, and socioeconomic issues.

Nanotechnology databases

You will find information about nanotechnology in the databases below, including journal articles, conference papers and reports. Click on the other tabs for applied science, environmental science, and chemistry.

Knovel
Ebooks, handbooks, encyclopedias and databases for chemistry and engineering. Advanced features include numerical range searching and interactive graphs and tables. Excellent resource for chemical and physical properties and nanotechnology data. Use the basic search for (compound and property), or the more advanced Data Search.
ASME Digital Collection
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers digital archive provides access to 27 journal titles and and around 140 ebooks. Includes nanscience and nanotechnology.

ACS Publications
American Chemistry Society (ACS) publishes a number of peer-reviewed journals with inventive articles across a range of scientific disciplines. The breadth and scope of ACS Publications also touches nanotechnology.
OSTI.GOV
US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI). OSTI.GOV is the primary search tool for DOE science, technology, and engineering research and development. Includes journal articles, technical reports, research datasets, patents, conference papers, and theses.

Standards and test methods

Standards and standardised test methods contain specifications, procedures and guidelines to ensure consistent safety and reliability.

Australian Standards Online (Intertek Inform)
Full-text access to the majority of Australian Standards, Draft Standards and some Handbooks. Royalty issues prohibit access to approximately 100 of the total 6,500 documents. ISO and IEC indexes are available. (Vendor was SAI Global)
ASTM International Standards Online (IHS)
Contains ASTM International published specification documents, test methods, classifications, practices, and guides describing the characteristics of materials, systems, products and services. To use this database you will be required to complete a one-time account validation as part of this process.
1. When presented with the login page, click Register or Validate Account.
2. Enter your RMIT e-mail when prompted.
3. Create your profile.
4. You will receive an e-mail with a validation link (valid for 24 hours). Click this link to activate your account and set your password.
5. Your account will now be active, and you can use these credentials to login to Engineering Workbench from this point forward.
Accuris (was IHS) Engineering Workbench

Safe Work Australia: Hazardous Chemical Identification System
HCIS is a database of chemical classifications and workplace exposure standards. It allows you to find information on chemicals that have been classified in accordance with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) or which have an Australian Workplace Exposure Standard.
Safe Work Australia: Codes of practice
Model Codes of Practice are practical guides to achieving the standards of health and safety, and include: Labelling of workplace hazardous chemicals; Managing the risks of hazardous chemicals in the workplace; and, Preparation of safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals.
United States Environmental Protection Agency: Collection of methods
EPA offices and laboratories, and outside organizations, have developed approved methods for measuring the concentration of a substance or pollutant.
OECD guidelines for the testing of chemicals
The OECD Guidelines are accepted internationally as standard methods for assessing the potential effects of chemicals on human health and the environment.
Soil Chemical Methods: Australasia
Describes over 200 laboratory and field chemical tests relevant to Australasia and beyond.
Online & Print - Carlton, Swanston
Call No: 546.22078 R267
UNECE Agricultural Quality standards
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standards cover a wide spectrum of agricultural products: fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV), dry and dried produce (DDP), seed potatoes, meat, cut flowers, eggs and egg products.
World Health Organization: IRIS
IRIS is the digital library of WHO's published material and technical information published since 1948.

Law and regulation

Find Australian federal and state legislation, regulations and legal commentary relating to chemistry, environmental science and nanotechnology. Learn about legal research from our Library's subject guide for Law and Justice.

Databases:

AGIS Plus Text (Informit)
Attorney General's Information Service (AGIS). Journal articles covering all aspects of Australian law.
AustLII: Australasian Legal Information Institute
The Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) provides free internet access to Australian legal materials.
CCH iKnowConnect (formerly IntelliConnect)
CCH Australia provides access to legal, tax, accounting, finance and business resources.

Websites:

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission: Product safety
The ACCC is an independent Commonwealth statutory authority that assesses and help to manage consumer safety product risks. It also oversees mandatory standards, bans and consumer product recalls.
Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS)
AICIS is the Australian federal government regulator of chemicals (including polymers) that are manufactured or imported into Australia for an industrial use. Select "Chemical Information" to find past assessments and evaluations, the chemical inventory, and banned or restricted chemicals.
Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority
The APVMA is the Australian Government regulator of agricultural and veterinary chemical products.
Chemical regulation in Australia
Part of the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) website.
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)
The EPBC Act and regulations are Australia's main national environmental legislation. They protect and manage nationally and internationally important plants, animals, habitats and places.
Environment Protection Authority Victoria: Laws and regulations
EPA Victoria operates under the Environment Protection Act 2017 (the Act) that defines its will work to minimise risks to human health and the environment from pollution and waste. This includes air, water and land; noise; and chemical hazards.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
FSANZ work with government, industry and public health partners to keep the food supply safe.
Industrial chemicals law in Australia
Part of the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) website.
Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
The Australian TGA is the authority responsible for evaluating, assessing and monitoring products that are defined as therapeutic goods. They also regulate medicines, medical devices and biologicals.

Search engines

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)
Focusing on academic repositories, BASE provides sophisticated search functionality not available in Google Scholar. The Advanced Search option allows the user to specify where the search term occurs (eg. Title, Author, Subject Headings, Publisher). Results can be filtered by Document Type (eg. thesis). The Browsing option filters by discipline using the library Dewey Decimal Classification Code. Dewey results can also be filtered by Document Type.
Semantic Scholar
Machine indexing of papers in computer science and neuroscience. At this stage some coverage of mathematics and geospatial science is also included and there are plans to extend the discipline scope to include biology, physics and the remaining hard sciences. Citations and references in the text are used to identify links between papers as well as the most influential papers. Records also highlight key phrases found in similar papers.

Academic study skills

Assignments: get started

Assignments: get started is your guide to finding, evaluating and referencing sources of information.

Learning lab

Access the Learning lab to develop skills in writing, critical thinking, assessment tasks and much more.

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Library subject guides

Applied Science: Chemistry, Environmental Science and Nanotechnology

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