SciFinder

From WolfWikis

NCSU faculty, staff, and students can access SciFinder from the Libraries' site.

Accessing the database

• Access SciFinder via the link on the Libraries' website.
• Registration with CAS is required for all users before accessing the database.
• SciFinder supports only a limited number of simultaneous users on campus, so access may be limited.

Feedback on SciFinder? Please contact the chemistry librarians.

Web instructions

Getting started

After registering and accessing the SciFinder site, you are connected to Chemical Abstracts Service databases. You will see three options:

1. Explore References – Search for literature by topic
2. Explore Substances – Get information on a specific chemical
3. Explore Reactions – Search for reaction information

Literature searching

Analyze and Refine options.

Click Explore References,

• Research Topic for keywords (or change to Author, etc., if appropriate)
• Enter search terms
  • SciFinder will strip out all stop words (terms that are not research concepts, e.g. and, not, the, or, is; you can include them anyway and enter your search in plain English)
  • No phrases, quotes, parentheses, or wildcards

To improve results:

• Use Filters prior to search
  • Particular document types, years, or other limitations
• Use Analysis/Refine buttons following search (see figure at right)
  • Analyzing can help you find important authors or journals
  • Refining will help cut down to more relevant results

Click on title for abstract and details. Note options to get related substances and reactions, citing references, full text, and stable link.

Substance searching

The structure editor in SciFinder. When using the Explore Reactions option, you will also see reaction arrow tools.

When Exploring Substances,

• Draw or import structure
  • Find exact structures, substructures, or similarity search
  • Check filters for more precise searching
  • More information on structure searching here

Or,

• Search by molecular formula or other identifier
  • CAS number is most concise and uniquely identifies a substance
  • Common names often work, but may not be precise

To examine results:

• Click results for details (click CAS number), including property data
• "Get Full Text" icon links you to references (checks to see if NCSU has a subscription)
• Link to commercial sources or reactions
  • Select Product as the reaction role to get synthesis references

Reaction searching

When Exploring Reactions,

• Mostly the same options as with substances, but note the reaction arrow tool
  • Place reaction arrow to specify role
  • e.g., point to the structure to set it as a product

Saving search results

Create a Keep Me Posted profile

There are a few ways you can save your work in SciFinder. The web version makes this a lot easier than the client did, so make sure you know your options...

• Create Keep Me Posted Profile
  • When viewing search results, click Keep Me Posted button
  • Enter a title and optional description.
  • You will receive weekly e-mail notification of new matching results (to the e-mail address you registered with, which is required to be an NCSU.EDU address)
• Save Answer Sets
  • When viewing search results, click Save link. Enter a title and optional description. Results will be saved on server for future viewing by clicking Answer Sets.
  • You can re-open these sets when you return to SciFinder later on.
• Export to RefWorks
  • When viewing search results, click Export link. Save in Tagged format for import to RefWorks (or EndNote, ProCite, etc.)
  • See the citation management software guide for more help, or ask the chemistry librarians
• Save structures (within structure editor) (more help)

Errors and troubleshooting

The most common error users experience when using SciFinder is: "Your allocated system resources are currently unavailable to access SciFinder. Please try again later."

Cause: The NCSU campus is only allowed a limited number of simultaneous users, or "seats". You will see this message when all available SciFinder seats are taken. It most often occurs during times when many people are doing research, such as weekday afternoons. (Why don't we have more licenses?)

Solution: To put it simply: wait for a seat to free up. Usually you will be able to log in within a few minutes. If you encounter the message several times, try again at a later time. Seats for the web version of SciFinder are rarely entirely filled in for long periods in the mornings, evenings, or weekends.

For other errors, see the SciFinder errors page.

More help

More help, tutorials, and demos are available from CAS' site. They feature specific strategy sections on small-molecule searching, synthetic chemistry, and polymer chemistry.

Please ask the chemistry librarians if you need more help.