Different types of Resources• Primary literature

• Secondary literature

• Tertiary literature

Primary Literature• Research Papers

• Case Studies

• Conference Proceedings

• Dissertations

Primary Literature• Research papers

• Original data

• First published record of the findings of an experiment

• Peer reviewed

• Normally a group of authors

Primary Literature• Case studies

• Medical/veterinary/psychology literature

• Normally peer reviewed

• Report the circumstances of a particular case• i.e. an unusual repair technique for a ruptured achilles tendon

Primary Literature• Conference proceedings

• Vary in length and quality!

• Sometimes reviewed, sometimes not

• Often preliminary data

• Will often appear later in research paper form

Primary Literature• Dissertations

Secondary Literature• Has been removed from its original source and

repackaged• Restates, rearranges, examines, or interprets

information from one or more primary sources• Review articles

• Information about primary sources

• Compilation or synthesis of ideas and data

• Should be reasonably objective (although often aren’t)

• Usually peer reviewed

Tertiary Literature• Even Further removed from the original information than a

secondary source• Leads you to a secondary information

• Textbooks – present science theory rather than contributing to it

• Index to newspaper articles, an index to articles from scientific research journals, or a bibliography of an author’s original works

Let’s look at the instructions for authors from three scholarly / peer-reviewed journals…

article submission & review process• Nature publication guidelines:

http://www.nature.com/nature/authors/get_published/

• Science publication guidelines:http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/contribinfo/prep/gen_info.xhtml

• Health Affairs publication guidelines:http://www.healthaffairs.org/1410i_for_authors_prep_and_review.php

Type of reviewRigor / acceptance rate

Process & criteria

• Is the subject appropriate to the editorial aims and scope of the journal?

• Originality: does the article say something original, does it add to the body of knowledge, etc.? If a case study, is this its first use?

• Research methodology: most journals are concerned about this, as would be expected for an academic publisher. Is the research design, methodology, theoretical approach, critical review, etc. sound? Are the results well presented, do they correlate to the theory, and have they been correctly interpreted? Is the analysis sufficiently rigourous?

• Is the paper set in the context of the wider literature, are there sufficient relevant citings, are these well referenced and are other people's views credited?

• Is the paper accurate, is any information missing or wrong?

• Is the structure logical, is the sequence of the material appropriate, is there a good introduction and are the summary and conclusions adequate?

• Does the title of the article accurately reflect its content?

• How useful would the article be to a practitioner, is it a useful example of "good practice"?

• Could the study be replicated with similar results?

• Is the material clearly presented, readable? Are graphs and tables used to good effect? Is the level of detail appropriate? Is the use of terminology appropriate to the readership?

• Is the perspective appropriate for an international audience?

• Questions of format: are the abstract, keywords etc. appropriate?

• Is it an appropriate length (note: many journals will stipulate length requirements in their author guidelines)?

Submissions judged on criteria such as…

[Handout: analyzing research articles]

Does knuckle cracking lead to arthritis of the fingers?

During the author’s childhood, various renowned authorities (his mother, several aunts, and, later, his mother-in law [personal communication]) informed him that cracking his knuckles would lead to arthritis of the fingers. To test the accuracy of this hypothesis, the following study was undertaken.

For 50 years, the author cracked the knuckles of his left hand at least twice a day, leaving those on the right as a control. Thus, the knuckles on the left were cracked at least 36,500 times, while those on the right cracked rarely and spontaneously. At the end of the 50 years, the hands were compared for the presence of arthritis. There was no arthritis in either hand, and no apparent differences between the two hands.

Knuckle cracking did not lead to arthritis after a 50-year controlled study by the one participant. While a larger group would be necessary to confirm this result, this preliminary investigation suggests a lack of correlation between knuckle cracking and the development of arthritis of the fingers. A search of the literature revealed only one previous paper on this subject, and the authors came to the same conclusion (Swezey RL. Swezey SE. The consequences of habitual knuckle cracking. West J Med 1973;122:377-9.).

This result calls into question whether other parental beliefs, e.g., the importance of eating spinach, are also flawed. Further investigation is likely warranted.

In conclusion, there is no apparent relationship between knuckle cracking and the subsequent development of arthritis of the fingers. This study was done entirely at the author’s expense, with no grants from any governmental or pharmaceutical source.

Donald L. Unger, MD, Thousand Oaks, CA

Research Paper Structure• Abstract

• Introduction

• Materials and Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• References

Read In This Order

• Title• Abstract

• Introduction/ Discussion

• Methods/ Results

Abstract• Advertisement for the paper

• Summary of paper• Reason for performing the study

• Hypothesis

• Important results

• Implications of the findings

Introduction• Background to the study

• Brief overview of the current state of the field• Citing other people’s work

“The function of tendons can be classified into two categories: tensile force transmission, and storage of elastic strain energy during locomotion (Ker et al., 1988, 2000; Shadwick, 1990; Pollock and Shadwick, 1994).”

(Maganaris and Paul, 2002)

Introduction• Background to the study

• Brief overview of the current state of the field• Citing other people’s work

• How the authors arrived at their research question

• Why this is the most important question in the world!

• HYPOTHESIS• Simple

• Easily answered

Materials and Methods• Clear concise description of what they did

• Often includes figure of experimental setup if appropriate

• Subjects

• Data collection – what they were measuring and how

• Analysis

• Statistics

• Methods should be clear enough to repeat the experiment and give the same results

Results

• What they found

• Visual representation of the data• Graphs

• Tables

• Good figure legends

• Description of their results - no discussion of the implications

Discussion• Interpretation of the results

• How they relate to previous research

• Implication and/or applications of the findings• How supplement A might improve endurance

• How knowledge of the forces at the knee during a cutting manoeuvre might be used to reduce injury risk

• Future directions for research

References• Expansion of the citations in the text• Record of the authors, title and journal where the

papers were published• Critically important to avoid plagiarism – must

include the sources of all information that is other people’s intellectual property

• Two citation methods• Harvard System• Numeric System

• Individual journals will request specific methods

References• Harvard System

• Cite references in the text by giving author’s surname(s) and year of publication.

“The function of tendons can be classified into two categories: tensile force transmission, and storage of elastic strain energy during locomotion (Ker et al., 1988, 2000; Shadwick, 1990; Pollock and Shadwick, 1994).”

References• Harvard System

• Cite references in the text by giving author’s surname(s) and year of publication.

“The function of tendons can be classified into two categories: tensile force transmission, and storage of elastic strain energy during locomotion (Ker et al., 1988, 2000; Shadwick, 1990; Pollock and Shadwick, 1994).”

(Maganaris and Paul, 2002)

• Reference list – alphabetical orderKer, R.F., Alexander, R.McN. and Bennet, M.B. 1988. Why are

mammalian tendons so thick? Journal of Zoology, London 216, 309-324

• Don’t use capitals for authors’ names as in library guide to referencing

References• Numeric System

• Each citation is given a number in parentheses. These are numbered according to where they appear in the text. First reference is (1), second reference is (2) etc

“However, excess tendon elongation leads to a partial or complete tendon rupture (4), and the Achilles tendon is one of the most frequently injured tendons in the human body (5)”

(Muraoka et al., 2005)

• Reference list – listed in numerical order based on number you have given each citation in the text.

4. Butler, D.L., Grood, E.S., Noyes, F.R.and Zernicke, R.F. 1978. Biomechanics of ligaments and tendons. Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev. 6, 125-181

References• Library Guide to Referencinghttp://www.bath.ac.uk/library/guides/references.html

What is a literature review?• Critical look at existing research relevant to your question in order to

• Identify the problem• Develop a hypothesis• Develop a method

• It is NOT just a summary of a series of research papers• You must evaluate the research papers and show the relationships

between different work

What is a literature review?• Approach it with the following questions

• What do we already know in the area concerned?

• What are the key concepts?

• What are the existing theories?

• What are the inconsistencies?

• What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradictory or too limited?

• What views need to be tested further?

Selecting a topic• Real World vs Theoretical

• Research at Bath or another institution

• Controversial issues

• Relevant to your sport

• Review papers

• Interesting!!!

Six Step Procedure

• Problem statement

• Consult secondary sources• Reviews – Exercise and Sport Science reviews

• Be wary of www sources

Evaluating Internet Sources• Is it someone’s ‘personal’ page?

• What type of domain does it come from?• academic, charity, industry, government

• Who published the page?

• What are the author’s credentials?

• Are sources documented?

• When was it last updated?

Six Step Procedure

• Problem statement• Consult secondary sources

• Reviews – Exercise and Sport Science reviews• Be wary of www sources

• Determine descriptors• Search terms

• Search for primary sources• Read and record literature• Write literature review

Read and Record Literature• Hypothesis / Question• Methods

• Subjects• Instruments/tests used• Testing procedures

• Independent/dependent variables• Analysis• Findings and Conclusions• Critique of paper – strengths/weaknesses

How to Write a Literature Review• Background

• Introduce to topic to the reader

• Make it interesting and easily understandable by explaining it in plain language and relating to actual or potential applications

• Explain scientific principles underlying the topic

• Define and justify the scope of the review – i.e. your question

How to Write a Literature Review• Critique of the Literature

• Do not give a summary paper by paper

• Deal with themes and try to draw together the results from several papers into each theme.

• Use sub-headings to identify your themes

• Try and create a logical progression through the subject/argument

• Use what you have learnt about research design to critically evaluate the results of the papers you are discussing

How to Write a Literature Review• Tables and Figures

• Tables can be a useful, concise way of summarising the findings of a number of similar studies

• You must cite the sources of the information

• Use tables alongside your evaluation of the data in the text, not instead of it

• Figures and diagrams can be very useful to explain important principles• Cite source of information

How to Write a Literature Review• Conclusions

• Should be short and concise

• What is your opinion

• Further Research• Finish your review with some ideas for further research that needs to be

done in the area and why.

How to Write a Literature Review• References

• As used in Journal of Sports Sciences• Names of author (s) and date of publication in the text

• Full references listed in alphabetical order in the reference list

• Instructions on formatting references can be found in all issues of JSS or on the JSS website

• http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/rjspauth.pdf Section 5(h)