LibGuides: Civil and Environmental Engineering Research Guide: Articles and Databases

Civil and Environmental Engineering Articles and Databases

On this page, you can learn when articles are most useful for research and how to borrow articles from other libraries with Interlibrary Loan.

We’ve also curated the most relevant Civil and Environmental Engineering databases when researching for journal article content.. They are split into categories to help you find the best match for your research. If these selections don’t fit what you’re looking for, check our full list of Engineering databases for more options.

Please note that you'll need to log in with your UML credentials before you can view article or database content.

Best Bets

These are top resources we recommend for getting started with your research:

ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) Research Library
UML subscribes to a limited selection of journals from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), one of the key publishers in civil engineering. If you experience trouble with access to any resources outside of our subscription, please submit an ILL request, or try searching the Engineering Village database.
Engineering Village (Compendex)
Comprehensive and essential engineering research tool bringing together multiple databases including Compendex, Inspec, and Knovel. Contents include journal arcticles, conference proceedings, patents, government reports and trade publications.
SciFinder-n Login
Access to the complete Chemical Abstracts Service and Medline databases. Registration required before using and popups must be enabled in your browser.
Coverage: CAS 1907 - current & Medline 1950 - current
Biological Science Collection
Citations and abstracts from journals, patents, conference proceedings, books, and reports. Combines key databases like Biological Sciences, MEDLINE, and TOXLINE with full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, and government publications. Includes specialized, editorially-curated organization, with applications to medicine, technology and the environment.

Publication dates: 1946 - current
Toxicology Abstracts
In-depth A&I (abstracts and indexes) coverage from the biological science literature and over two dozen related disciplines. Abstracts and citations are drawn from thousands of peer-reviewed journals, trade titles, conference proceedings, dissertations, and other varied content types. Coverage from 1946 to current.

Specifically focused to meet the needs of toxicologists, Toxicology Abstracts covers issues from social poisons and substance abuse to natural toxins, from legislation and recommended standards to environmental issues. Surveying the literature for toxicology studies of industrial and agricultural chemicals, household products, pharmaceuticals, and myriad other substances, each issue publishes information concerning the in vivo effects of toxic substances. Topics of current concern such as the effects of alcohol and smoking, drug abuse, hydrocarbon studies, nitrosamines, radiation and radioactive materials, and much more are extensively examined. Toxicity testing methodology and analytical procedures for toxic substances are also covered.
Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA)
Collects citations from academic journals covering health, social services, psychology, and related subjects. An targeted collection of information related specifically to academic and practical uses of social sciences, particularly in policy and human services.

Publication dates: 1987-Current

Exploring More

Try these options to expand your research:

IEEE Xplore
The database provides access to an extensive collection of literature on computer science, electrical engineering, and electronics. Contents include conference proceedings, journal and magazine articles, standards, and books.

Coverage: 1864 - current
MathSciNet (American Mathematical Society)
Core database for mathematical and statistical research, with citations to academic articles covering most leading journals in the field. Developed by a key association in the field, the American Mathematical Society, and includes tools to find most cited articles, authors, or books in a search, as well as find where individual articles have been cited by other articles.

Publication dates: 1864 - current
IOPscience Journals
Access all IOP (Institute of Physics) published journals covering physics, mathematics, and engineering. Coverage 1874 to current.

Journal content hosted by the Institute of Physics in IOPscience represents more than 300,000 articles. You can browse assorted subject categories or search by keywords. You can also search by PACS and MSC codes to find articles. PACS is a hierarchical subject classification scheme for physics and astronomy. MSC codes are used to categorize items covered by the two reviewing databases, Mathematical Reviews (MR) and Zentralblatt MATH (Zbl). RSS feeds allow you to be alerted when new content is updated. IOP also offers PACS and MSC clouds to find content. The clouds are a text-based depiction of the content of a grouping of articles in IOPscience. The clouds help to navigate quickly and easily to groups of articles which might be of interest.

Deep Dives

These materials are recommended for more intensive research:

ScienceDirect
This international resource includes research/review articles, encyclopedia, book chapters, conference papers and more. In depth information covers all areas of civil and environmental engineering with journals "Construction and building materials", Engineering structures", "Science of the total environment", and "Cement & concrete composites" representing a few of the relevant titles for the researcher.

About Articles

What are Articles?

Articles are essays or reports published within a larger container like a journal, newspaper, or magazine. That larger container is called a "periodical" because it is published periodically, or on a regular basis. Different types of periodicals are made for different audiences (popular, scholarly, or trade) and you can learn more about those distinctions with our Types of Sources guide.

Articles are good for...

Current, up-to-date information
- Periodicals are generally quicker to publish than books or long-form films.
Literature reviews and other reviews of a topic
- These elements are often placed at the start of an article to set the stage.
A deep dive into a specific research question, experiment, or study
- Articles often focus on a narrower topic than books.
Peer-reviewed information
- Newspaper articles go through at least some fact-checking, while academic articles are typically reviewed by other scholars and dedicated editors.

To learn more about searching for articles, visit the Library’s Guide to Article Quick Search.

About Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

What is Interlibrary Loan?

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a free service that allows UML Library patrons to access items we don’t own by borrowing from partner libraries.

How do I use Interlibrary Loan?

Create an account
- Visit our ILL Login Page and click "First Time Users."
- On the new page, scroll down and click "Continue to new user registration."
- Fill out the form and click "Submit Information."
Place your request
- Once you’ve created your account, visit our Guide to Interlibrary Loan to learn how to submit an ILL request through our Library’s catalog and databases.

Can I get Interlibrary Loan items quickly?

Depending on how rare the item is or which libraries own a copy, it might take longer to process your ILL request. Be sure to allow enough time for your item to arrive.
- Physical books, CDs, and DVDs usually arrive within 2-14 business days
- Articles and book chapters often arrive in 1-2 business days, sent by email as a PDF

If you have questions about your ILL request or account, please send an email to ILLSOUTH@uml.edu.