How can I get access to the Weill Cornell Medical College electronic journals and databases from home?
Weill Cornell Medical College faculty, students, and staff are eligible to access e-resources from home or off-campus by using the library's EZproxy Remote Access Service. Please refer to How to use EZproxy and visit the EZproxy FAQ page for additional information and questions.
If you are a NewYork-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center resident or clinical fellow, please read this FAQ. If you are any other NYP employee, remote access to licensed library resources is not available. However, remote access to non-library, hospital network resources is possible. Please refer to Core Resources VPN Access for details.
Some library e-resources are freely available online and can be accessed via OneSearch, our catalog of holdings, and PubMed, the premier index of biomedical literature. Other publicly available resources are marked as "free" within e-Resources.
Those interested in learning about a growing movement to make scholarly literature available online, free of charge, are invited to read our Guide to Open Access.
What does the message "You are connected from outside the Weill Cornell Medical College network" mean?
When accessing the Library's website from outside the Weill Cornell network, users will see the message "You are connected from outside the Weill Cornell Medical College network" below the search panel on the library's homepage. Authorized users will need to authenticate using EZproxy to access library resources.
To determine if you have access to EZproxy, click on a library resource that requires authentication. If you are unable to log in, see How to use EZproxy and visit the EZproxy FAQ page for additional information and questions.
How can I obtain a copy of the Cornell Medical Index?
The Cornell Medical Index (CMI) is out-of-print and no longer available. If you have further questions concerning the CMI, please refer to a brief history of the Cornell Medical Index, or contact the Archives.
How can I find the Impact Factor of a journal?
Journal Impact Factors (JIFs) are published via Journal Citation Reports (JCR). JIFs, which are calculated from data indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, are a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year, helping to evaluate a journal's relative importance, especially compared to others in the same field. The JIF is calculated by dividing the number of current citations from an article published in the two previous years, by the total number of articles published in the two previous years.
However, JCR notes that JIFs "...should be used with careful attention to the many factors that influence citation rates, such as the volume of publication and citation characteristics of the subject area and type of journal. The Journal Impact Factor can complement expert opinion and informed peer review. In the case of academic evaluation for tenure, it is inappropriate to use a journal-level metric as a proxy measure for individual researchers, institutions, or articles."
How can I find a Weill Cornell Medical College/Graduate School dissertation?
Full-text PDF dissertations from recent years are available online from ProQuest. Dissertations not available from ProQuest are held in the Medical Center Archives: (212) 746-6072 // email-archives@med.cornell.edu.
How can I find scientific images for my projects and presentations?
The library has compiled a guide to finding images on the web or in print. Many sites allow free use of the images for teaching and educational purposes, but you should always read the terms of use. Each site generally lists its own terms and conditions for use of its images.
How can I find an article from a recent issue of the New York Times?
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the library's subscription to the paper version of The New York Times was suspended until further notice. The library does not have a subscription to the NYT.com digital version. However, users can access full-text content of recent issues of The New York Times through several e-resources via the library's OneSearch.
How can I find a scale, test, or questionnaire I need to use in my research?
The library offers many resources you can use to search for this type of information. They are as follows:
In addition to information about obtaining tests, it is also possible to find summaries of a test, articles about a test, and sometimes the test itself reprinted in other publications. The American Psychological Association's FAQ: Finding Information About Psychological Tests may also be useful. However, the library cannot obtain working copies of tests to administer in research with subjects. Usually, such materials must be purchased from the publisher or obtained directly from the creator(s).
Please keep in mind copyright regulations when using these resources. More information about these regulations can be found on the Copyright Resources at Weill Cornell page.
How can I find the full name of journals when I only have title abbreviations?
When searching abbreviated journal titles, the Journal Browser feature of PubMed can help you. Simply type in the abbreviation from your list. The results will contain the full title, which you can then use to search the library's catalog, OneSearch. Please note: always use the full title of the journal when searching OneSearch. If you search the catalog for an abbreviation of a journal title, many times the only entry that will come up is one at Rockefeller's Library.
How can I find a list of articles on a particular topic or by a certain author?
To find a list of articles on a particular topic, search a bibliographic database such as PubMed. Bibliographic databases can be searched in many ways, including by author, keyword, and subject heading. PubMed is a great place to start, but the library has online bibliographic databases specific to many disciplines, including aging (AgeLine), alternative medicine (AMED), behavioral sciences (PsycINFO), chemistry (SciFinder), and nursing (CINAHL). The list of databases is available on the e-Resources page.
