Literature Reviews

Outline Strategies for searching Evaluation Synthesis Citation management Search Tools

Learning Objectives Find information quickly and efficiently Evaluate information to see if it is relevant Summarize an information source succinctly Synthesize information from multiple sources into a final integrated whole

Background Information What is your organism of interest? What is your extreme environment of interest? What is your adaptation of interest? Adaptation – high abundance of genes involved in stress tolerance and adaptation strategies, among which DNA repair and oxidative stress

Getting Started Mapping Brainstorming Outline

Mapping You may need to do multiple searches

Brainstorming Photo credits: https://www.slideshare.net/hursman/sorting-skittles-a-user-research-game/14-sskittles_14

Outline Topic Subtopic 1 Subtopic 2 Point 1 Evidence 1 Evidence 2 Etc….

What is the best method for reading a paper? Evaluation What is the best method for reading a paper? How do you tell if a source is reliable? Reading is active Acitve process not passive. Go in with questions

Questions to ask as you read How well do the methods test the hypothesis? Is the sample size adequate? Is the experimental design valid? Were the proper controls performed? What are the limitations of the methodology? Are other techniques available? Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2014). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Questions to ask as you read How fairly have the results been interpreted? How well do the results support the stated conclusion? Has the data’s variability been adequately considered? Do other finding verify (or contradict) the conclusion? What other experiment could test the conclusion? Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2014). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Questions to ask as you read What are the broader implications of the work, and why does it matter Can the results be generalized beyond the system that was studied? What are the work’s practical implications? What questions arise from the work? Which experiments should be done next? Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2014). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Synthesis Synthesis = literature review Your data/evidence is other people’s papers Your contribution is how you organize and make connections between all of these papers It is easy to find sources that confirm your ideas (confirmation bias), try to find diverse sources

Synthesize – organization Sequential Show progression of the field/topic…. Topical Topic 1 with subtopics, topic 2 with subtopics…. Methodological No other method has proven…. Theoretical Contrast and compare theories…. origins of the Coral Triangle biodiversity

Identify Common Themes Hypotheses Populations studied Theories Methods Outcomes

Do different studies agree or disagree? Contrast and Compare Do different studies agree or disagree? Do they agree on some things but disagree on others? Example Although most scientists attribute _____ to _____, X’s result _____ leads to the possibility that _____. Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2014). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

What is the relationship between studies? Examples Make connections What is the relationship between studies? Examples Because ______ does not account for _____, X instead used _____. By demonstrating _____, X’s work extends the finding of Y. Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2014). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

What can be studied next? Example Identify Gaps What is missing? What can be studied next? Example Now that ______ has been established, scientists will likely turn their attention toward ______. Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2014). They say/I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Proofreading and editing Write a draft Let it sit Look at it with fresh eyes Ask your ____ to read it

Scientific Information Timeline Primary Sources Reporting on the experimental process and results Closest to the actual research done Secondary Sources Interpretations, evaluations, syntheses, and responses to research done by others One step away from research, but usually refers to primary information Tertiary Sources Established ideas generally accepted as fact by the scientific community   P - original material S - interpretations and evaluations that are derived from or refer to primary sources T - distillation and collection of primary and secondary sources

Techniques for Searching Boolean operators AND (for combining different concepts, finds fewer results) OR (for combining synonyms, finds more results) Phrase searching Quotations – “extreme environment” Truncation Asterix – oxygen*

Strategies for Searching Main ideas Synonyms New keywords Filters Date Subject categories Document types Search within Author keywords Controlled vocabulary Related/Similar articles Author search Citation tracking Review articles Search topic: ?

Search Tools Web of Science Summon Pubmed Google Scholar