LibGuides: Plastics Engineering Research Guide: Articles and Databases

Plastics 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 Plastics Engineering databases for journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters. They are split into categories to help you find the best match for your research.

The resources on this page are mostly for scholarly information, but sometimes you may need property or chemical data, standards, or detailed analyses.

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:

Polymer Library This link opens in a new window
This is the world’s largest database dedicated to plastics, rubber, polymeric composites and adhesives. Subject coverage includes science, technology and polymers. The database, updated twice monthly, contains nearly a million records dating from 1972 to the present. Polymer Library content, provided by more than 500 publishers, originates from a wide range of sources such as technical and industry-focused journals, peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings, books and reports.
SciFinder Registration This link opens in a new window
Registration is required to access SciFinder. Use your UMass Lowell email address to complete the form.
SciFinder-n Login This link opens in a new window
Registration is required before using SciFinder - the complete Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) and Medline databases. They are comprehensive resources for plastics/polymer research.
CHEMnetBASE This link opens in a new window
This is a collection of chemical databases and dictionaries, and, most notable for plastics engineering is the Polymers: A property database. The Properties of Organic Compounds - contains over 29,000 of the most commonly sought organic compounds, featuring physical data, spectral data, and structures.
Royal Society of Chemistry Gold Collection (RSC) This link opens in a new window
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) provides access to six databases of interest to plastics engineers: analytical abstracts, natural products, synthetic reactions, catalysts, hazards in industry, and organic syntheses.
The Royal Society of Chemistry is the UK's professional society dedicated to the study of chemistry and the dessemination of knowledge and research. The Gold Collection includes access to all 37 RSC journals including the full backfile archive dating to 1841. It also includes two magazines (Chemistry World and Education in Chemistry) and five Literature Updating Service databases, plus 41 ebook titles in the "Issues in Environmental Science & Technology" Series. In addition, the subscription includes credits in the form of Voucher Codes that cover publishing fees for UML researchers who wish to publish in an RSC open-access journal or other type of OA publication.

Exploring More

Try these options to expand your research:

Knovel Technical Reference This link opens in a new window
An amazing collection of books/handbooks on trends, processing, applications and more in the areas of plastics, elastomers, biopolymers, polymers, thermoplastics, etc.

Deep Dives

These materials are recommended for more intensive research:

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology This link opens in a new window
Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology presents a wide scope of articles on chemical substances—including their properties, manufacturing, and uses. It also focuses on industrial processes and unit operations in chemical engineering, as well as covering fundamentals and scientific subjects related to the field.
Written by prominent scholars from industry, academia, and research institutions, the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology presents a wide scope of over 1,000 articles on chemical substances—including their properties, manufacturing, and uses. It also focuses on industrial processes and unit operations in chemical engineering, as well as covering fundamentals and scientific subjects related to the field. Additionally, environmental and health issues concerning chemical technology are also addressed. Monthly updates keep the online version on the cutting edge of chemical technology.

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.