This document provides an overview of scientific literature for biology students. It defines primary and secondary research articles and how to distinguish between them. Primary articles report original research while secondary articles summarize or comment on other studies. The document reviews the typical sections of a research article and explains the peer review process. It also provides guidance on how to search for books and articles in library databases and determining if a library has access to a specific journal or article. Students learn how to critically evaluate research sources and effectively conduct literature searches.

1. BIO 181 Danielle Carlock d.carlock@sccmail.maricopa.edu 480-425-6765

2. The Scientific Literature As a student of biology it is important to understand the scientific literature Why and how it is published How to distinguish between different types of scientific literature How to find it Examples of types

3. BY THE END OF TODAY’S SESSION YOU WILL BE ABLE TO Conduct a search for books in the library catalog Determine journal holdings at various libraries Determine the nature of an article Conduct a search for peer reviewed articles Complete the library lab assignment!

4. PRIMARY RESEARCH ARTICLES Report the results of a single study or experiment The author(s) is/are the person(s) who conducted the study or experiment; i.e. it is firsthand information Components of a primary research article: Example: Morphological response of songbirds to 100 years of landscape change in North America

5. TYPICAL FORMAT OF A FULL LENGTH PRIMARY RESEARCH ARTICLE Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion Works cited Not all primary research articles will follow this format. Some brief reports, etc do not. There are also non primary articles that use this format.

6. PRACTICE Go to http://library-guides.scottsdalecc.edu/sciarticles Look at the three primary articles For each article come up with an explanation of how you can tell it’s primary Groups will come up to front, show an article, and explain their rationale

7. SECONDARY ARTICLES Author(s) describe, summarize, or make comments on someone else’s research Could come in the form of : 1. An editorial, commentary, magazine article, news article…… 2. A review article or literature review-summarizes the results of several studies or experiments, often attempting to identify trends or draw broader conclusions

8. PRACTICE Go to http://library-guides.scottsdalecc.edu/sciarticles Look at the three secondary articles For each article come up with an explanation of how you can tell it’s secondary Decide what type of secondary article it is and how you know Groups will come up to front, show an article, and explain their rationale

9. PEER REVIEW Expert reviewers (peers) evaluate an article’s methodology, merit, and overall unique contribution to research in a specific discipline PRIOR to publication In the sciences and medicine, peer review is almost universal when it comes to primary research Some types of secondary literature (review articles) are also peer reviewed

10. NOTE: ALL OF THESE ARTICLE TYPES CAN APPEAR IN A PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL

11. Does the library have journal X???? Question 2… determining whether a library has a given journal SCC-SCC periodical holdings ASU-One Search (journals) UA-Other Search Options (ejournals)

12. Does the library have article X??? A library may have access to a particular journal, but not a particular article in that journal Must look at the year the article was published & compare that to the range of years listed as the availability of that journal. EX: SCC has access to the journal Evolution, but only in a certain date range. What is it?

13. NEXT STEPS Now that you know how to find articles and how to distinguish between article types, work on question 4.

14. FINDING ARTICLES When you want to find articles use article databases available thru library These search engines are not available freely thru the web (ie. by googling) For question 6 and your Research Assignment you will need to use article databases

15. SUGGESTED DATABASES Science Direct PubMed (health/medical topics) JSTOR Wiley Online Library

16. How to find books Question 1 How to look up books in the library catalog

17. GETTING HELP WITH RESEARCH Call the library 480-423-6650 Use the 24/7 chat service Visit the library information desk Contact me at 480 425 6765 or d.carlock@sccmail.maricopa.edu Refer to the BIO 181 libguide