physics 4999: literature searching: tricks & tools

Physics 4999:

Literature searching: tricks & tools

Dan Sich

Physics Librarian

Oct 21, 2010

What do you need?

You need…

• to do a comprehensive overview

• 1 or 2 review articles

• articles other than review articles

• to cite your sources to avoid plagiarism

You want to use…

• more than just 1 or 2 review articles

• articles referenced by review articles

• scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles

Why?

How will you find articles?

How to find articles

• peer-reviewed journal articles,

• conference proceedings,

• review articles,

…are indexed in databases:

– Google Scholar

– arXiv

– ADS

– Web of Science

Physics 4999 page

arXiv.org

• physics pre-print server

• try atmospheric wave

• try “atmospheric wave”

• What’s the difference?

• Can you get full text?

• Have they been submitted, accepted,

published?

ADS

• astronomy & astrophysics

• try “long period” AND “atmospheric waves”

• Title of journal?

• Full text?

• Citations to article?

Web of Science

• Science Citation Index

• try “long period” AND “atmospheric wave*”

• What’s the most highly cited article?

• How many references does this article have?

• How can you find other articles that reference

some of the same articles?

• How can you keep track of new citations to a

particular article?

Other databases

• Google Scholar (very general)

• Scopus (like Web of Science)

• PubMed (medicine)

• MathSciNet (math)

• Inspec (ECE, info tech, physics?)

• Compendex (engineering)

Off-Campus Access

• article databases

• eJournals

How to get articles

1. Get it @ Western

2. the library catalogue (journal title search)

3. free on the web?

4. Interlibrary Loan (RACER)

Interlibrary Loan (RACER)

• Journal issue not in library catalogue?

• Free photocopies of articles, loan of books

• Averages 4-10 business days

• Need to create a RACER account

• Three ways to create request:

– Link from Get it @ Western (quickest)

– Search RACER by “journal title”

– Use Blank Request Form (slowest)

Why cite sources?

Cite sources to…

• avoid plagiarism

• give credit

• back up your claims

• help other researchers

True or False?

• If I paraphrase an original piece of work, I do not

need to cite the original author.

• It is plagiarism if I purchase a paper from a

paper mill, website or other source and submit it

as my own.

• The University of Western Ontario considers

plagiarism to be a scholastic offense.

• If an article cites another article, it’s safe to cite

that 2nd article without reading it.

Avoiding plagiarism

• Keep track of your sources

• Don’t look at articles while writing

• Use a consistent citation style

• UWO plagiarism tutorial

• SJSU plagiarism tutorial

• Turnitin

Citing sources

• Citation Style Guides

– copy examples

– be consistent

– bibliography? endnotes? footnotes?

• Try RefWorks & Write-N-Cite

• …or BibTeX & LaTeX

Review

• arXiv

• ADS

• Web of Science

• off-campus access

• Get it @ Western

• Interlibrary Loan (RACER)

• citing sources, plagiarism, RefWorks

Feedback

• On a piece of paper, briefly describe the

one thing that you’re still confused by

• It doesn’t have to be something I covered

in the session

contact info

Dan Sich, Physics & Astronomy Librarian

email: dsich2@uwo.ca

Subject: Physics 4999