Transcript 23_searchLiterature - University of Colorado Boulder

Wednesday, October 22
•Searching for Scientific Literature
Writing Process Map
Selecting a Topic and Refining a Research Issue
1. Select a topic that interests you and that is personally meaningful.
2. Look for "hot" research issues—look in science as well as in
society. To find out whether topics that interest you are hot in
society, google them.
3. Use your task and audience analyses to refine a research issue.
4. Make sure that you can get the scientific literature that you need.
5. Make sure that you'll be able understand the science that you'll
be reading and writing about.
6. Ask for help from someone who knows the research field that
you're interested in.
A Few Ground Rules for Searching for Scientific Literature
1. Some types of literature don't qualify as good, “primary” sources of
knowledge for scientific writing projects. These types include
newspapers, popular magazines, television reports, informational and
advertising brochures, personal interviews with so-called experts,
encyclopedias, and Web sites that aren't associated with reputable
scientific organizations.
2. The publication of a scientific article, book, or Web site doesn't
automatically ensure its quality and credibility. That is, all publications
that look and "sound" scientific aren't necessarily accurate,
representative of consensus views, and valid in the arguments that they
contain.
3. Your search for scientific literature should cost relatively little time
and no money.
Appropriate Sources of Scientific Knowledge
1. Peer-reviewed journal articles: research papers and review papers.
2. Scientific books: edited volumes of peer-reviewed research papers
and review papers, monographs, textbooks
3. Reputable scientific Web sites (for example, National Library of
Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
About Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
Well-written, peer-reviewed research and review papers in
reputable journals are generally the most comprehensive and
trustworthy sources of scientific knowledge. But you shouldn't
assume that all journal articles are well written, peer reviewed, and
published in reputable journals.
Tips for Searching for Journal Articles
1. Ask your professors for suggestions and copies of articles that
they might have.
2. Use the reference lists of journal articles on your research issue.
3. Go directly to the journals that you know specialize on your topic.
(LSG’s example: American Journal of Sports Medicine)
4. Use databases of scientific literature.
Sample Databases of Life Science Literature
Database
Description of Contents
Requires Paid
Subscription for Access
to Full-text Articles?
Yes
Web Site Address
No
Biomed Central
(BMC)
Links to full-text articles from more than 150 life
science journals. Maintained by BMC, an
independent publisher.
Biological
Abstracts
Selected full-text articles from journals in all
subdisciplines of biology, including biochemistry,
biomedicine, biotechnology, genetics, botany,
ecology, microbiology, pharmacology, zoology,
and more.
Google Scholar
Selected full-text articles and citation information
for theses and books from journals in all academic
fields.
*
http://scholar.google.com/
HighWire Press
Links to over 1 million full-text articles from 268
life science journals. The largest database of free
full-text life science articles in the world.
Developed by Stanford University Libraries.
*
http://highwire.stanford.edu/
PubMed
Approximately 16 million citations and selected
full-text articles from approximately 5,000 journals
in all life science disciplines. Contains the
MEDLINE database. Maintained by the U.S.
National Library of Medicine.
*
http://pubmed.gov
PsycINFO
Links to selected full-text articles from journals in
the behavioral sciences (including psychology
and social science) and mental health.
Scirus
Over 250 million science-specific Web pages, with
links to science Web sites and selected full-text
journal articles.
Web of Science
Links to selected full-text articles from nearly
9,000 research journals that cover all scientific
fields.
*
*
http://www.biomedcentral.com/
http://scientific.thomson.com/products/ba/
*If you are using PubMed through an off-campus computer, use CU’s VPN
software to gain full access to the CU Library resources. To get the VPN software,
click on the “Off-Campus Access (VPN)” link at http://libraries.colorado.edu
*
http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/
*
*
http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/
http://scientific.thomson.com/products/wos/
Searching for Journal Articles
PubMed Tutorials
If you don't have extensive experience using PubMed, refer to the NLM's
tutorials at
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/disted/pubmedtutorial/