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Chapter 7: Literature Diagrams - Coggle Diagram
Chapter 7: Literature Diagrams
7.1: Searching for Literature
Scientists need to be familiar with previously published findings and how to find them to design new experiments, provide evidence, and to show how their information integrates with other published knowledge
Finding sources
Books usually contain more dated information than recent journals and newspapers
Internet search engines can make it difficult to distinguish relevant, reliable, and authoritative information and to obtain full publications
Google scholar provides primary literature
PubMed and the university library offer more reliable and structured way of finding good quality info
Distinguishing between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources
Primary - original, peer-reviewed publication of a scientists new data
Ex) Scientific journal articles
Secondary - analyze & discuss information from primary
Ex) Review articles
Tertiary - compile information provided in secondary sources
Ex) Textbooks, Wikipedia
7.2: Scientific Reference Databases
Most important science databases
MEDLINE
Basic biomedical research and clinical science
PubMed
Biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books
HighWire
largest free, full-text articles
Web of Science
Includes international science and engineering journals
Google Scholar
Most peer-reviewed online journals
Other science databases
Current Contents
All the science editions of the current contents search
Scopus
Broad international coverage of the sciences and social sciences
BIOSIS
Premier database for botany research
7.3: Source Material
Appropriate search terms
If you already know the topic you want to search for, you can research articles using keywords and refining the search by limiting databases or time of publication
Library databases search for the exact words that are entered: If it doesn't find all of the words, it will not give any results. It is important to search only the keywords
use wildcards such as " * " to find words containing the same root
Conjunctions such as "and" and "or" can expand your search (referred to as Boolean operators)
You can search for a cited reference on a topic which might lead to other cited sources for even more information
Most relevant references
Relevant references apply to the content of your writing and to the flow of your thoughts
An indication of the importance of a paper is the # of times it has been cited compared to other articles on the topic
"Impact factor" - ranks the journal based on frequency which average articles in it have been cited in a given year
Use primary sources to validate specific findings. For general overviews, secondary sources or certain tertiary sources can be used
Verify your references
When you use references found in other sources, you need to verify them against the original document
Also ensure that every reference in the text is included in the reference list and that every reference in that list is cited in the text
Citations and references follow the format requested
Evaluate web sources
If the website is that of a peer reviewed journal / open access site, it contains primary sources
BioMed Central and PubMed
Many websites also contain informative secondary sources
Reliable info have the domain extension ".edu" or ".gov" or ".ac"
Check who created the website
Do they have expertise or credentials?
Is it a reputable organization?
Is their purpose clear?
Check the site
Who is the intended audience?
Is information current?
Does the site look professional?
Uses correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar
Facts are represented as facts and opinions as opinions
In addition to open access journals, preprint services are becoming more popular
Enable to immediate publishing of research without peer review
Although the quality cannot be automatically trusted, they do allow early dissemination of findings
7.4: Managing Sources
Make a list of your references to keep organized
EndNote, RefWorks, Mendeley, Zotero help store references