Research paper
Computer Science Seminar
Engineering Library:
Services and Resources
Judy Siebert Maseles
March 10, 2011
What do Libraries provide today in the way of “collections”
Electronic books
eBrary, Safari
Electronic journals
Print and online
2/3 of all engineering journals are electronic only
Scholarly Journals, Trade publications
Databases
Citation, Full-text
Articles, Standards
Google Scholar
Freely available:
Patents
Government documents
Technical Reports
Strategic Approach to the Research Literature
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Primary Sources
Background Sources
Journals, Standards, Patents, Conference papers
Books, Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Textbooks, Dissertations
Background Resources
ebooks
Ebrary Academic Complete
Databases
Academic Search Premier
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia of Computer Science
Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science
Kernel Patterns for Key Analysis
Bayesian Approach to Image Interpretation
Safari Technical Books
Background and Primary Resources
Trade Publications
Dr. Dobbs
PC Magazine
Popular Science
Magazines
Scholarly Articles
Artificial Intelligence
Journal of the ACM
Scientific Computing
What is meant by SCHOLARLY?
Author’s Credentials — Often listed at end of article, tell colleges attended, degrees earned, university affiliations, etc.
Parenthetical references — i.e. (Jones, 1993), and/or footnotes
Bibliography or Works Cited at the end of article
Basic sections of a research paper (abstract, method, discussion, etc.)
Tables, charts, or graphs — Usually show the results of a study or the methods used to calculate results.
Length — While longer does not necessarily imply scholarly or better, short one or two page articles are not often scholarly.
Aiken Gregg-Graniteville Library, University of South Carolina, Aiken http://library.usca.edu/index.php/Instruction/EvaluatingFull-textArticles
What are Peer-reviewed/Refereed Journals?
¹ A Guide to InfoTrac OneFile. Gale Group Training Guide. http://www.galegroup.com/onefile/
A publication, usually scholarly, in which articles are reviewed by a panel or two external reviewers, experts in the same field as the writer, before being accepted for publication. Also sometimes called scholarly or peer reviewed.
The Referee process judges whether the paper makes a contribution to the advancement of knowledge.
“Peer review does not guarantee that an article is correct, but it helps to ensure that data and methodology have met a high standard.”¹
Journals’ Acceptance Rates
The method of calculating acceptance rates varies among journals.
Some journals use all manuscripts received as a base for computing this rate.
Many editors do not maintain accurate records on this data and provide only a rough estimate.
The number of people associated with a particular area of specialization influences the acceptance rate. If only a few people can write papers in an area, it tends to increase the journals' acceptance rate.
Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Psychology and Administration, David W.E. Cabell, Editor, 6th edition, 2002-2003 on page XIV.
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The following definition is found in Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Psychology and Administration, David W.E. Cabell, Editor, 6th edition, 2002-2003 on page XIV.
What’s this all about?
Discipline-Based
Corrections to the Literature
Research Misconduct, Retraction, and Cleansing the Medical Literature: Lessons from the Poehlman Case H. C. Sox and D. Rennie Full Text Ann Intern Med 2006; 60520-7.
Science & Technology
Newspapers
Correction notices (last page?)
Law
Legal research, case histories, statutes
Overruled
Superseded
Criticized
Distinguished
Repealed (for a statute)
Retraction: An investigation has shown that an article contains faked data or has been plagiarized. It tells the reader to ignore that article.
Correction: The journal corrects a mistake by substituting correct information or by asking the reader to disregard.
Expression of Concern: The editor is concerned that an article contains faked data or has been plagiarized but an investigation has either not begun or has begun but has not reached a conclusion about that article.
A search of MEDLINE from 1966 through August 1997 found 235 articles that had been retracted
error was acknowledged in relation to 91 articles
results could not be replicated in 38
misconduct was evident in 86
The 235 retracted articles were cited 2,034 times after the retraction notice.
Examination of 299 of those citations reveals that in only 19 instances was the retraction noted;
The remaining 280 citations treated the retracted article either explicitly or implicitly as though it were valid research.
Conclusion.-- Retracted articles continue to be cited as valid work in the biomedical literature after publication of the retraction; these citations signal potential problems for biomedical science
John M. Budd; MaryEllen Sievert; Tom R. Schultz Phenomena of Retraction: Reasons for Retraction and Citations to the Publications JAMA 1998 280: 296-297
Citing Problematic Research
Library Services: What do the Libraries do for you?
MERLIN/ MOBIUS
My Accounts
ILL@MU
Workshops
MERLIN/MOBIUS
All the libraries in Missouri are at your fingertips: MST, SLU, WU
Request a book: 2-3 days and it’s in your hands
Reserve Desk
MERLIN: My Accounts
Reading History
My Lists
My Alerts
ILL @MU - Also borrow books from across the country
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Interlibrary Loan (ILL@MU)
$30 average cost – FREE to you
Article version of the e-greeting card
2-3 days and it’s in your e-mail inbox
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Workshops
Zotero
EndNote
LibX
LibX Firefox Plug-in
Context Search
Toolbar
Amazon.com
LibX: Taking it out for a Test Drive
Clustering algorithms in biomedical research
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Install LibX
Adjust Context Settings
Search CiteSeer Database
Dissecting a Database
Teaching Yourself How to Search
Scope:
What is in the database?
Subject areas?
Computer Science, Engineering
Science & Technology
Years covered?
2000-2011
1980-2011
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine)
All Disciplines
What is in the database?
Scope:
Type of Materials
Journals
Proceedings
Books, Chapters
Dissertations, Theses
Patents
Technical Reports
What is in the database?
How to select a database?
MERLIN
Summon
Safari
Compendex
Academic Search Premier
Scopus
ACM Digital Library
IEEE Xplore
BTW - All of these Resources Cost a Lot of $$$$
The Libraries spend about $6,000,000 per year on books, journals, and databases
Databases
Scopus (over $150,000 a year for 4 campuses)
ACM Digital Library ($15,828 for 4 campuses)
Journals
Theoretical Computer Science ($7,089 a year)
E-books
ebrary (about $6,000 a year for 5,000 books)
Artificial Intelligence ($2,868 a year)
What is in the database?
How are these materials represented?
Citation Databases
MERLIN
Compendex
Full-Text Databases
eBrary
Combination of Both
Academic Search Premier
IEEE Xplore
ACM Digital Library
Citation:
keyword
subject
author
title of article
title of the journal
Full Text:
all words in the document
Citation vs Full-Text Databases
What does it search?
Looking for Books: What does the database search?
Citation
Summon
MERLIN
Full-text
Safari
Ebrary
Summon
Looking for Articles: What does the database search?
Citation
Summon
MERLIN
Full-text
Summon
Academic Search Premier
Academic Search Premier
ACM Digital Library
Compendex
How does it search? Phrase versus Word searching Are multiple words …
a single phrase?
a combination of words connected by AND (all of the words)?
a combination of words connected by OR (any of the words)?
Natural Animation and Simulation
How does it search? Phrase versus Word Search Are multiple words … a single phrase?
“Natural Language and Simulation”
How does it search? Phrase versus Word searching Are multiple words … An intersection?
A combination of words connected by AND -- all of the words must appear in the document.
AND
animation
simulation
natural
How does it search? Words combined with OR search Are multiple words … .. A union?
A combination of words connected by OR -- at least one of the phrases must appear in the document.
OR
simulation
modeling
modelling
How does it search? Recap
What is the default search?
Are other options available?
Phrase Search?
AND ?
OR ?
Natural Language Algorithm ?
How does it search?
Controlled vocabulary terms / thesaurus searching
Ensure that items retrieved are specifically on the topic of interest
Why use these terms?
Controlled vocabulary terms?
Authorized terms describe topics in the database
Are frequently collected in a thesaurus
How does it search?
Controlled vocabulary terms / thesaurus searching
Bridge (disambiguation)
Bridge
Overpass
Highway bridge
Bridge
Dental Bridge
Bridge
Card game
Bridge
Bridge circuits
Network bridge
How does it search?
EI Compendex: Controlled vocabulary terms / Codes
Classification Codes
401.1: Bridges (structures)
713: Electronic Circuits
Controlled Vocabulary
Bridge Circuits
Computer Graphics
723.2: Data Processing and Image Processing
How does it search?
Truncation
Most databases allow searching of truncated (abbreviated) form of a word plus a wildcard.
What truncation sign (if any) does the database use?
The most common truncation sign is *
For example, comp* will retrieve items on composition, comprehensive, compelling, computer, compost, etc.
Hands-on Time
Search for scholarly articles on
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Compendex
ACM Digital Library
Google Scholar
Google?
Scopus?
Summon?
What do I do if I get too many results?
Limit by….
Dates:
Last 2 years
2005-2011
Language:
English, Spanish, Chinese…
Field:
Title,
Subject Headings
Document Type:
Articles, Book chapters Reviews, Patents…
Limit by Field
Use OR searches to broaden your search.
Use AND searches to narrow your search.
TOPIC: Simulation of realistic animals in computer graphics Separate search into concepts; note any synonyms and truncation
| Concept 1 / Synonyms | Concept 2 / Synonyms | Concept 3 / Synonyms |
| simulation* | animation | animal* |
| model* | computer graphics | human* |
| virtual | life forms |
TOPIC: Simulation of realistic animals in computer graphics
| 1 | Animal* or human* or “life forms” |
| 2 | Simulat* or model* or virtual |
| 3 | “Computer graphics” or animation |
Search Strategy
Engineering Village - Compendex
What do I do if I get too few results?
Eliminate concepts
The more concepts you combine in a search, the fewer results you are likely to retrieve.
If you get little or no results from your search, try eliminating some of your concepts, limits, or modifiers.
| Concept 1 / (Synonyms) | Concept 2 / (Synonyms) | Concept 3 / (Synonyms) |
| Image Segmentation | Unified graphical model | Conditional Random Field |
What do I do if I get too few results?
Examine records for additional keywords to expand your search.
Computed tomography
Look for “Related Articles” feature to expand your search.
Found only one or two articles?
CT scan, CAT scan, Computerized axial tomography
Click on a Related Articles link to retrieve more articles similar to the one with which you started.
What do I do if I get too few results?
Find more current, up-to-date material on your topic.
Check references at the end of the article
Cited reference search in Scopus, Google Scholar
Retrieved material from references will naturally be older than your retrieved article
More recent articles cite the original article.
How do I locate the full text of the articles ?
Click on the Findit@MU button to determine which articles are available on the web or print at MU.
will also give you the location (call number) for the print version in the library.
How do I print, e-mail or download my results?
Print, email or download your results.
Select items of interest:
click in the check box next to the citation.
click on the print, e-mail, or download option and follow the on-screen directions
Customize the results to display abstracts and/or subject terms.
Download into bibliographic management software, such as EndNote or Zotero: check to see your options and format your results appropriately.
Content and format borrowed from UCLA Biomedical Library http://www2.library.ucla.edu/pdf/dissecting_database.pdf