This page provides a summary of the Library resources you will find useful for your Molecular Genetics presentation. I've highlighted a few different strategies for finding a primary research article using library tools.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions! I am also available to meet with you either online or in person. Use the Book an Appointment button below my profile box on this link or simply reach out via the email below.
~ Celia Brinkerhoff, Biology Librarian
Following the library workshop, please take 1 minute to provide me with some feedback. Thanks!
In the life sciences, primary sources are reports of original research, written by the people who conducted the research themselves, and are published in peer-reviewed, scientific journals. They always reference other research in the field, contained in a reference list at the end of the article, and include an experimental methods section as well as results displayed in graphs and tables.
Most scientific journals will include these primary sources, often in sections called "research" or "articles." Journals also contain additional types of content such as editorials, commentaries, and review articles.
For this assignment, you will have to scan the results of your searches to ensure that you've found a primary article reporting on original research, and not a "review article."
Features of a primary source article include:
If your article DOES NOT have these sections, it's likely not a primary source. Look for some thing else!
Now test yourself:
Look at the following article closely. Would you consider it to be a primary source article? Why or why not?
Use the Library's Summon search box on the homepage.
Here is an example search:
For a broad topic search related to viruses in hops, an important agricultural crop, consider starting with these keywords: Humulus lupulus and virus and genomics
Limit to: scholarly and peer review articles, published in the last 5 years, and use the topic filter for articles primarily about genomes or viruses
Scan: abstracts to find an article that is reporting on original research
Verify: access the full text (either pdf or html version) and look for structures of scientific article
Locate: related articles using the reference list or the "cited by" feature, which will list other articles that cite this one
The screenshot below demonstrates this search strategy.
Use the Journal by Title search on the library homepage if you know a key journal for your topic, or you are tracking citations from a reference list of another article. Using this search will link you to the database which contains the journal.
Key journals available through library databases are:
A few important Open Access journals, freely available:
Use one of the "Best Bets" databases on the Articles tab of the Biology subject guide to search across many journals all at once.
Database Tips:
Once you have run a search and begin to look at results, from the individual article record you will see links to "related" or "recommended" articles.
Like the Summon example above, most databases offer a "cited by" or "citing" list of articles that reference the one you are looking at.
Do your research early! If you find the citation for an article the Library doesn't have, you may request it through Interlibrary Loan. Just give yourself enough time (approx.1 week), and we'll get the article for you, for free!
The Library's APA citation style guide will give you examples of how to make in-text citations and reference lists for your paper.
For details about how to number, title, and caption any figures you use, please see the Tables, Figures and Images page on the guide.
A note about references in presentations: Although APA does not specify how to do this, be sure to include a note at the bottom of your slides when referencing other works. It is also good practice to include a final slide listing all sources you have used.
See the Presentations page on the library's guide.
Zotero is a free browser tool that keeps track of your articles and webpages, and creates citations in several formats. Sign up for a free account, and your personal library will be accessible from any computer with an internet connection.
For help learning how to use Zotero, please visit Zotero.org for downloading and support.