BIOL Biological Sciences Subject Guide: Images, Data & Protocols
A guide for finding biology information to support your academic research and coursework
Images, Data & Protocols
Open-access image databases, research data repositories, and protocols to support your scientific exploration and experiments in biology.
Image Databases
Open-access image databases with scientific images for biology education and research.
- Open-i A beta-stage biomedical image search engine offering access to MEDLINE citations and images across major biomedical topics.
- Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) An open-access repository of digitized biodiversity literature from natural history and botanical libraries worldwide.
- Cell Image Library A public archive of cell images, videos, and animations, supporting education, research, and collaboration in life sciences.
- National Science Foundation (NSF) Multimedia Gallery A collection of science images, videos, and audio files, including resources for biological research and education.
- Wikimedia Commons A database of freely usable media files, featuring a significant collection of biology-related images.
- BioImages: The Virtual Field-Guide (UK) A vast photo archive of wild species and natural history objects, excluding birds and vertebrates.
- FishBase A global database of fish species, offering comprehensive data, including images, habitat details, and species-specific information.
Find Data
Resources for finding research data.
- bioRxiv A free online archive for life sciences preprints, enabling early access to unpublished research.
- Data.Gov The U.S. government’s open data hub with tools, datasets, and resources for research and application development.
- DRYAD Digital Repository A curated platform for storing, sharing, and citing diverse research data types.
- Figshare A repository for making research outputs citable, shareable, and discoverable globally.
- Google Dataset Search A search engine to find datasets hosted in repositories worldwide, making data accessible and usable.
- NIH Data Sharing Resources A guide to NIH-supported repositories for submitting and accessing datasets from funded research.
- Registry of Research Data Repositories (re3data) A global directory of research data repositories across disciplines, aiding in data storage and access.
Protocols & Methods
Open-access journals and resources for high-quality, reproducible protocols in life sciences research.
- Bio-protocol Bio-protocol is an online peer-reviewed protocol journal. Its mission is to make life science research more efficient and reproducible by curating and hosting high quality, free access protocols.
- Nature Protocols A journal publishing protocols primarily in biology and chemistry, online accessible from 2006 - present.
- Star Protocols An open-access journal publishing step-by-step experimental protocols across the life and physical sciences, promoting reproducibility and accessibility in research.
- Biology Methods & Protocols An open-access journal publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed protocols and methods across the life sciences to support reproducible research.
- PubMed Central PubMed Central is a digital archive of life sciences journal literature managed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). It is not a journal publisher. Access to PubMed Central (PMC) is free and unrestricted. The currency and age of material in PubMed Central varies by journal.
- SpringerLink Journals Online Collection SpringerLink consists of over 1,000 electronic journals from scientific, technical and medical disciplines.Coverage: 1997-presentUpdated daily.
