Primary and Secondary Literature Finding good sources for research

Types of Scientific Literature  Popular Science  News Articles  Interest Articles  Books  Meeting Abstracts, Papers, and Proceedings  Research Articles  Review Articles  Encyclopedia or other reference material  Books  Reviews  Textbooks

Primary Literature  Report of original research  Written by the person(s) who conducted the research  Most reliable if published in a reliable peer-reviewed joural  Example: original journal articles  May be a full report or Brief/Note/ Letter

Secondary Literature  Information others have written on the topic  Resource that informs us of scientific research  Science writing in newspaper, magazines, TV news, internet, etc  Position papers, commentary, or review articles in peer reviewed journals

Writing Your Background Research  Should be a summary of your topic of study  Covers journal articles, books and other sources that describe the information that is currently known on the topic  Can establish the validity of your research

What am I trying to find??  Sources that are related to your research topic  They may be identical or may just contain information that is relevant for your topic.  For lab reports  Looking for background information  What have other scientists done on this topic?

Primary or Secondary?

Do I need more primary or secondary sources?  Both are useful  Secondary sources can give you an overview of the topic  Primary sources are most reliable and give more specific information

Searches  Best to use key words  Search synonyms  Sometimes phrases work well  Primary literature, in general shouldn’t be more than 10 years old unless it is a standard paper on which later research is based (source of later research ideas)

Searches  Where do I look?  PubMed   Google Scholar   Jstore   TEL and Gale  Both available through our school library

Understanding the parts of a Scientific Paper Abstract – Brief summary Introduction – Provides background information Materials/Methods – Lists protocols, techniques, and reagents used Results – Clearly summarizes the data generated from the experiments Discussion- Provides explanations for the results References- List Of Citations

What? I don’t get this article  How to read an article to determine relevance  1. Search for key words in the title or well known scientists in the field  2. Read the Abstract!  3. Read the Introduction and Discussion (Conclusion)  4. Then if you think it is relevant, read other parts of the article as needed

What do I do today?  1. Practice search – environmental topic of your choice: by Block day, find 3 Papers ( at least one primary, Cite Them, & Write An Introduction Topic 1 Due Blockday 8/28-29/13  2. Find information for background research for your next lab report  AP Biology: Behavior of Isopods  APES: Acid Rain and pH in the environment  You MUST have a minimum of three sources in your background information one of which must be primary.  Textbook sources may be used in addition to your three sources, but not as one of the three Topic 2 & Lab Report Due Friday 8/30/13