The key objectives for you in working through this Library Guide are for you to:
Citation management software allows you to save and organize items found via searching the library's databases. It also can be used to create reference lists and citations for papers. There are a number of software systems available.
Two of the most popular free software management systems are Mendeley and Zotero.
Using Zotero in Google Docs video describes adding citations and building a bibliography using Zotero from University of Lynchburg - Knight-Capron Library
Using Zotero to format papers in Google Docs guide from Northwestern University
How do you find the impact of a Journal?
Further reading on the use of impact factor for evaluating resources:
The 2014 presentation by MRU Librarians to MRU Faculty: Dirty secrets revealed : Journal publishing and marketing, impact factors and access to scholarship. You might find the reference list of this presentation helpful with your assignment.
DORA declaration on research assessment
Canadian Institutes of Health Research information on research assessment
One of the core requirements for your assignment is that you are using a primary research papers. But what does that actually mean and how can you tell when you are looking at your library search results?
Following are two resources to help you out, they identify key areas you should be considering when you are evaluating resources:
The University of Northern Colorado has a brief explanation on how to identify a primary research article.
Suffolk University in Boston provides a more detailed explanation and process for determining Is it primary? How do I know?
Types of Scientific Evidence provides a description of different types of scientific evidence ranked by strength.
Sun, M. Y., Ma, D. S., Zhao, S., Wang, L., Ma, C. Y., & Bai, Y. (2018). Salidroside mitigates hypoxia/reoxygenation injury by alleviating endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Molecular Medicine Reports, 18(4), 3760-3768.
| From Google Scholar | From PubMed & Publisher |
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NEVER PAY FOR ACCESS TO A JOURNAL ARTICLE!
If you find an article for your assignment that MRU doesn't have access to - you can interlibrary loan it by clicking on this link
Log in with your myMRU login and password and enter as much information about the article as you can into the request form.
Often ILL can have a document in your email inbox within 2-3 business days of your request!
General Scopus search tips
Start with your most broad search terms and narrow from the results list.
It is possible to add a date range on your original search entry page i.e. Published from [year] To [present] (you can also limit by date later in the search process).
Use Search within results box on the left side of the results page to limit by species, system, physiological process etc. Add one topic at a time and review results after each search.
The Refine Results options on the left side of the search results page can be used to limit to specific Year, Document type (e.g. Article), and Language. Note, all abstracts in Scopus are in English, but not all articles are necessarily in English.
Sort on Relevance to see the results most related to your search terms at the top of the list or Date (newest) to see the most recent articles on your topic at the top of the list.
Remember this is not a full-text database you will need to link out to the article and you may even need to use Interlibrary Loan to obtain a copy of it.
General PubMed search tips
Use search terms that are as specific as possible, but don't use quotation marks, operators, punctuation, or tags.
You may limit to the year on the left. After doing so, change "Sort by" to "Best Match" to see the most on-topic results first.
Try a MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) search.
Select "Abstract" view under "Display Settings" to see full text MRU links (the "Look for a copy" button)
You may wish to use the Article Types limit on the left to see only certain types of article: List of PubMed article types.
Once you find a good article, you can use it to find others: In PubMed you can look at the "Similar Articles" section of the article page. You can review the citations at the end of the article you have found for the resources the author used. You could also copy and paste the title into Google Scholar to find related and subsequent research.
What is citation chaining?
Citation chaining means searching backwards and forwards in time for materials that are cited by and also that cite an article or resource you already have. One resource links you to another, which links you to another, and so on to create a chain of relevant literature.
~ Walden University
Advantages of citation chaining
Strategies for Citation Chaining:
Strategy 1: Carefully review the references of relevant articles you've found
Trajanovska, S., Ban, J., Huang, J., Gregorevic, P., Morsch, M., Allen, D. G., & Phillips, W. D. (2019). Muscle specific kinase protects dystrophic mdx mouse muscles from eccentric contraction‐induced loss of force‐producing capacity. The Journal of Physiology, 597(18), 4831-4850.
Strategy 2: Use Google Scholar or Scopus to find out who cited the articles you've found
Google Scholar result
The following are a few resources for you to consider when you find that you need to look up terminology, definitions, concepts, or more detailed explanations. Remember, they are not primary research!
Reference articles on the evolving science of physiology for researchers and clinicians in the life and health sciences.
The most basic explanation of what an evidence based paragraph can look like.
An evidence based paragraph makes a point using evidence from the literature to strengthen that point. It usually has three parts:
Point + Proof + Relevance = Developed!
Here is an example of how one could look:
Some kinds of honey have potential for use as an alternative to traditional antibiotics. Researchers found that after use for two days the area of skin colonised by bacteria was reduced by 100-fold on the skin that was treated with honey (Kwakman et al, 2008, p.1). The number of positive tests for bacteria were also significantly reduced (Kwakman et al, 2008, p.1). Honey is relatively cheap and available and may be able to play an important role in health care as a replacement for some of the antibiotics to which bacteria are developing resistance.
Kwakman, P. H. S., Van den Akker, J. P. C., Guclu, A., Aslami, H., Binnekade, J. M., de Boer, L., . . . Zaat, S. A. (2008). Medical-grade honey kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria in vitro and eradicates skin colonization. Clinical Infectious Disease 46(11), 1677-1682. htttp://dx.doi.org/10.1086/587892
APA 6th Edition referencing used.
To avoid plagiarism when paraphrasing / summarising remember these five important points:
1) Your paraphrased text should be significantly different from the original (i.e. don't just change a few words here and there)
2) You must change the structure of the sentence or paragraph you are paraphrasing, not just the words.
3) If you use anyone else's words verbatim (word for word) you need to put quotation marks around it. Warning: Quotations are rarely used in the sciences
4) Use proper citation methods (in this case use APA) to give credit for the ideas, opinions or theories you are presenting.
5) Check that you have preserved the original meaning of the text in your paraphrased version
Paraphrasing and summarising exercises from Purdue University
The following APA resources will help you cite in-text, create a reference list, and format your reference list:
If you have questions about assignment requirements, due dates and submission, or the science you encounter in the assignment contact your Instructor!
If you have difficulty finding information (either too much or too little), challenges with databases not working, or have questions about citation or citation management software, please contact me, your Librarian! My contact details are available on the right-hand side of the page, under my photo. The best way to reach me these days is by email or using the 'schedule appointment' button under my name.
If you are looking for writing help contact Student Learning Services!
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