How we communicate science.

Concussions and the peer review process

Learning objectives

• Contrast peer-reviewed articles vs. popular sources for biomedical topics.

• Identify parts of peer reviewed/primary source literature in the sciences.

• Recall steps of the peer review process.

Use the library web site to find books and articles.

http://library.uoregon.edu

(not mendeley)

Remember!

David Howell’s research presented by Jim Davis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrHqgsABcRs

http://cascade.uoregon.edu/winter2014/online-extras/walk-this-way/

http://cascade.uoregon.edu/winter2014/natural-sciences/not-so-fast-concussions-and-recovery-time/

More on Dr. Chou’s work on concussions

Faking it

Ignoramous ExpertFaking it,withhonor

Peer-review v. Popular

• Groups of 3-5.• 1 person from your group to get 3 magazines/journals -

1 from each pile & a chart for recording your answers.• On the chart write down WHY you think the magazine

or journal you have is peer-reviewed or a popular source.

• 1 person who is willing to share what you found, should come back to the front.

• Juniors and Seniors – make sure you can tell us which ones are unique to this format.

Peer reviewed articles Popular newspaper or magazine articles

Write down WHY the journal or magazine is in each category.

Bring the journals back to the front of the class.

Survey Q & As

Who is the first author and where do the authors work?

Q3: Read the introduction (NOT the abstract). What is the big question?

A. Does monitoring a person's gait while administering single and duel function Stroop tests the best way to judge recovery from a concussion?

B. Are high school students playing sports getting more concussions each year and aren't studied enough?

C. How long does it take adolescents to recover their ability to control balance while walking and completing a simultaneous cognitive task in comparison to healthy control subjects?

Q4: What are the authors trying to answer specifically in this article?

A. Mental and motor skills are impaired for up to 2 months after a sports related concussion in young people.

B. Quantifies the degree of gait balance control disturbances in different conditions from the time of injury and through the following two months of recovery.

C. Gait balance in adolescents recovering from concussions should be studied.

D. None of these.

Q5: What do the authors think the results mean?

A. Adolescents recovering from a concussion have greater difficulty with their balance while walking and doing other tasks for several months or more. This can be used to diagnose and treat the patients.

B. Adolescents recover quickly after concussions and should be cleared to return to play as soon as possible.

C. Dual task tests in adolescents are difficult to do and it's impossible to account for all of the variables.

D. Something else.

Is this article an example of a peer-reviewed or popular source?

Q7-9: The Associated Press. Congressmen Chide College Conferences’ Concussion Policies. The New York

Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/sports/football/02concussions.html. Published February 2, 2010.

Who is the intended audience?, Who are the authors?, What is the big question?, Specific question?A. An educated person, reading the newspaper; written by reporters;

generally it's about who should protect young athletes who get concussions; specifically about what regulations should be used.

B. For medical researchers; written by medical doctors; concussions; regulations.

C. Only intended to be understandable for specialists with years of experience on concussions; written by leading doctors in the field; traumatic brain injuries in young people; long term health impacts on college athletes.

Can this be both Peer Reviewed journal article

as well as aPopular magazine article?

WHAT IS A PEER REVIEWED ARTICLE?

http://vimeo.com/27119325

h

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/scholarly-articles/

1. 8.2. 9.3. 10.4. 11.5. 12.6. 13. 7. 14.

Name all the parts of a peer reviewed article

the peer review journal article process

What does peer-review look like?

Peer Review ProcessManuscript (potential article)

Sent to journal editor

Blind review Blind review Blind review

Sent to three to five experts in the field

Manuscript (potential article)

1. Accept2. Revise3. Reject

The wikipedia entry

How can we improve the information about concussions in wikipedia?

Next steps: Your project

Concussion page is semi-protected

Your ideas included:A. Fix the citations (find better sources, fix dead links, etc.)B. Fix the citations and check for accuracy (see if the

articles say what the wiki entry says they should say, are there better sources to use for those sections/improve the citations, etc.)

C. Improve the citations used and revise the existing information in the article.

D. Expand the article (sports concussions, gender differences, treatment options, brain activity, severity, causes, etc.)

E. Do research on a concussion related topic of your own.

The wikipedia entry

How can we improve the information about concussions in wikipedia?

Tell the story!

What do you need to know?

Peer reviewed articles Popular newspaper or magazine articles

Write down WHY the journal or magazine is in each category.

1. 8.2. 9.3. 10.4. 11.5. 12.6. 13. 7. 14.

Name all the parts of a peer reviewed article