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Day two of biology symposium library research!
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Searching for Scholarly Sources
Biology Symposium
Do Now!
• Go to m.socrative.com• Join Room Number 795231• Answer the question: What do you know about
peer-reviewed sources? – Who writes them? Who reads them? – How are articles accepted for publication? – What common features are you likely to see? – What else are peer-reviewed articles called? – How can you tell if your source is a peer-reviewed
article?
Agenda
• Defining peer-reviewed sources (review!)• Searching for peer-reviewed sources – Recommended databases – Keyword searching– Interlibrary loan
• Reading peer-reviewed sources
Defining Scholarly Articles
• Written by experts for experts, evaluated by other experts who specialize in the same scholarly area (“peers”) for validity and quality
Identifying Scholarly Articles• Is the publication scholarly or
peer-reviewed?• Is there an abstract (summary)
at the beginning of the article?• Is the tone of the article
thoughtful, restrained and serious?
• Does the article have footnotes or citations of other sources?
• Does the article have a bibliography or list of references at the end?
• Are the author's credentials listed?
• Is the topic of the article narrowly focused and explored in depth?
• Is the article based on either original research or authorities in the field (as opposed to personal opinion)?
• Is the article written for readers with some prior knowledge of the subject?
Source: Lloyd Sealy Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Types of Scientific Articles
• What does it mean when a study is a – Literature review– Systematic review– Meta-analysis
• Does the scientific method still apply? • What are the strengths or weaknesses of
these articles for YOUR research?
Finding Scholarly Articles
• Search online library databases that specialize in peer-reviewed sources – Use advanced search options to filter for peer-
reviewed and full-text results • Chaining from other articles, popular or
scholarly• Interlibrary loan requests, after you have
searched available databases
Keyword Searching
• Conduct background research to identify specialized terminology for your topic – Subject headings may differ by database
• Put key phrases in quotation marks • Try out combinations of keywords to get all
the main ideas (and be creative!)• Use advanced search features (e.g., title
search)
Sample Search: Diet or Exercise?• Started with popular sources:
– http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/is-30-minutes-of-daily-exercise-a-sweet-spot-for-weight-loss/
– http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise-for-weight-loss/
• Chained from there to peer-reviewed sources: – http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1014296?query=TOC&#t=
abstract– http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22681398– http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22855277
• Then tried a few database searches and submitted an interlibrary loan request for one I really wanted
Reading Scholarly Articles
• Read background information first – Scholarly articles are written for people with prior
knowledge, so go get some!• Focus on key sections– Abstract, introduction and discussion, figures
• Make sure you’re ready to commit • Read hard articles in hard copy• Ask for help when you need it
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