Biology 1: essay / briefing paper assistance

• Get up to speed before you start....
  • What types of information should I use?
  • Journal articles - what are they and how do I find them?
  • Using the internet to find information? Tips for finding information that is suitable to include in an essay.
    
    
• 2009 essay topic/briefing paper guides

• Help and advice

Before you start

To get started on your essay you will need to work out:

What types of information should I use?

Now that you're at University, the expectations for how you research information, and the sources you use, are somewhat different. Gone are the days where you could type some words into Google and grab what ever comes up - but this is definitely not a bad thing.

The big two sources of academic / scholarly information are:

• Books (although in the Sciences they are generally not considered primary sources of information)
  
• Journal articles
• ... but other sources can include newspaper articles, websites, reports (particularly government reports), subject specific encyclopaedias and conference proceedings.

Take a look at the guide provided for your essay topic - that will help you to identify useful sources of information.

Journals and journal articles

What is a journal/journal article?

A lot of the information that you will need will be found in Journals. A journal is a publication in which new issues are published regularly. Each issue contains a new set of articles on topics of interest to the reader or researcher.

Within a journal there can be several different types of information, including journal articles, book reviews and letters to the editor. Journal articles can contain a variety of different types of information, but often focus on:

• The processes, findings and interpretation of a piece of research
• A summary of the research on a given topic or in a given area
• A re-interpretation or analysis of an issue, event or concept.

Types of journals
The academic or scholarly "gold standard" is the peer reviewed or refereed journal, which basically means that each of the articles published in the journal has been scrutinised by experts in that field to ensure that the research and/or article is of high quality. As part of the peer or expert review process, some articles are sent back to the authors for amendments before they are published, while other articles are rejected. An example of a peer reviewed Journal is Nature Geoscience.

Want to know more? Watch a short video on scholarly Vs popular journals (from Vanderbuilt University, requires flash. 3.12m).

Where to search for journal articles on a given subject
There are several ways to search for journal articles on a specific subject, and the best way is to search using one of the Library databases. A database is a searchable collection of references to articles published in journals.

For example, you know that there was an article on "cooking chocolate raisin cake" in one of the issues of the journal Food Weekly, but you can't remember which one it was in. You could either flip through each issue of the journal, hoping that you come across the right one (and that could take hours, considering the Journal was first published in 1987!). Or you could search a database to find the reference to the "cooking chocolate raisin cake" article. Once you've found the reference, you can look to see which year and issue the article was published in, and it will even give you the page numbers. That way, you can go directly to the right issue and cook the chocolate raisin cake!

The Library has a large number of databases. The important thing to remember is that each database has its own specialty area (or areas) and each database includes references to journal articles published within a specific range of Journals. See the individual essay/briefing paper guides for recommended databases for your essay topic/briefing paper.

To give you an idea of just how many journal article references are in a database, and how many Journals you can search across in one go: Scopus includes article references from over 15,400 peer-reviewed journals. A search in Scopus will take in over 37 million references.

>> Listen to the Library's own podcast on finding journal articles using databases (mp3, 3MB).

The internet

The internet is a fantastic source of information. But it is also a fantastic source of disinformation. When searching the web you have to take a lot of care when determining whether the information or the source of the information is credible, and whether it is of a high enough standard for inclusion in your essay.

Anyone with 5 minutes and an internet connection can create their own website. There is no quality control, and no-one to verify that what you're reading is even remotely correct. You'll often get better results, for less time and effort, if you use the Library databases relevant for your topic (see the individual essay guides for recommendations). There are a lot of journal articles (plus reports and conference papers) that you simply won't find by searching the internet, as they are only discoverable via databases.

>> Visit the Internet Detective (UK based, Intute Virtual Training Suite) to find out more on evaluating what you find on the web. You'll may also be surprised to discover just how much trouble you can get yourself into if you don't critically think about, and evaluate the information you find on the web.

To use the web, make sure you use it smartly. Tips include:

• Using Google?
  • Use Google Advanced search and use the "search within a site or domain" option (Google advanced search) to restrict your search results to documents and webpages found on Australian government sites (.gov.au) or Australian educational sites (.edu.au).
  • Use Google Scholar to limit your search results to scholarly information - but you still need to evaluate what you find.
• If you find a journal article that you would like to read but you can't get access to the full-text, always check the Library catalogue to see whether you can get access to that Journal via the Library.
• Try a Science oriented search engine, such as Scirus: www.scirus.com
• Above all, evaluate or critically think about what you find - who is the site produced by? Do they have their own agenda? Are they an authoritative or reliable source of information?
   
  

 2009 Essay topics/briefing papers

This information is provided as a guide to finding information for your essay or briefing paper. The guide should not be used as a definitive guide to answering the questions. Keep in mind that you may well have your own interpretation of what the question is asking!

Essay topics

1. Essay 1: Many species of birds...
2. Essay 2: How important are odours...
3. Essay 3: Why are there so many different orchid flowers...
4. Essay 4: Is biological control of insect pests...
5. Essay 5: Obesity is reported to cause health problems....

Briefing papers

1. Briefing 1: Medical researchers often use mice...
2. Briefing 2: The human influenza virus has caused...
3. Briefing 3: Drought and reduced water flow in the Murray....

Help and advice

Help is at hand! For general advice or assistance with using the Library please ask at the Research Help Desk, call us on +61 8 8303 5372 or send an email to library@adelaide.edu.au. Detailed services and resources information can be found on the Library A to Z. There is also an ever expanding range of online tutorials and demonstrations.

If you are having trouble finding the information you need, please contact Ursula Henderson, the Research Librarian for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology to book in a time to have a chat about finding information for your essay or briefing paper.

Best of luck with your assignment!