The researcher's online toolkit
A curated set of the tools we actually use:
from literature search to journal submission
Literature & access
Finding papers and getting to the full text
PubMed
The flagship biomedical database — search by keywords, MeSH terms, or author. Where most literature reviews start.
PubMed Central (PMC)
Free full-text archive of biomedical articles. Often the fastest path to an open-access PDF.
Google Scholar
Broad search across articles, books, theses, and preprints. Useful for catching what PubMed misses.
Cochrane Library
The gold standard for systematic reviews in clinical questions. A quick way to see what has already been synthesized.
Sci-Hub
A way to reach full texts that sit behind a paywall.
Tools & standards
For organizing your work, vetting journals, and staying on the right side of publication ethics
Zotero
Reference manager: store PDFs, organize by folder, and drop citations straight into Word. Free.
ORCID
A unique author ID that ties your publications together across every system that matters.
Web of Science Master Journal List
Check whether a journal is indexed in Web of Science before you submit.
Scopus Sources
The official Scopus catalog — check indexation status and journal metrics.
SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)
Journal rankings: quartiles, citation metrics, and subject categories.
COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)
The standard reference for publication ethics: conflicts of interest, duplicate submissions, retractions, editorial conduct.
EQUATOR Network
Reporting checklists for every study design: CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, CARE, and the rest.
ResearchGate
Academic social network — author profiles, full texts, and a direct line to request papers from authors.