Find science research news

APA Online - Psychology in the News
BBC International - Science & Nature
New York Times - Science News
ScienceDaily - see animal behavior
ScienceNOW - AAAS - see evolution and anthropology

For more news sources, see Research Guide: News

Learn about the research cycle

Cycle of scientific literature - primary, secondary, tertiary ([no date given] - Accessed August 31, 2007 - http://www.ohiolink.edu
Peer-review - Linux Information Project (c) 2005 - Accessed September 9, 2007 - http://linfo.org/peer_review.html
Open Access - Peter Suber - December 29, 2004 - Accessed March 2, 2008 - http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/brief.htm
Scholarly or Popular? - Diane Mizrachi, UCLA Library (c) 2004, Accessed March 2, 2008 - http://www.library.ucla.edu/college/help/scholorpop.htm

Find background / overview

Reference works (online or print) can help you acquire basic information on an unfamiliar concept or gather ideas for your topic.

Quick Lookups
APA Dictionary of Psychology - Science Reference BF31 .A65 2007
Oxford Reference Online (ORO) - multiple dictionaries - try 'Entry Heading' first - two relevant dictionaries from ORO below:

• Dictionary of Animal Behaviour
• Dictionary of Zoology
  

Longer explanations
AccessScience - scientific encyclopedia
Grzimek's Animal-Life Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Encyclopedia of Mammals
Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory - Clapp Reference GN281 .E53 2000
International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences

Research the final paper - tips

• Think about your topic broadly: what fields are involved besides primatology? Psychology? Biology? Anthropology?
• Brainstorm about the concepts in your topic - develop synonyms and related terms to enrich your searching
• Read a general essay or article in an encyclopedia to get an overview - it may help you narrow your topic and find a few key resources
• Look for books on your topic or for chapters in more general books
• Look for articles in databases - generally articles are more narrowly focused than books, and your search can be more specific
• Use Interlibrary Loan (NExpress or ILL) and/or the BLC Card early to get material from other libraries
• Build your bibliography by checking resources in the footnotes and bibliographies of each source you read
• Learn how to use bibliographic management software like EndNote or Zotero to keep track of your references

• Test drive the 'Road to Research' (UCLA College Library) to assess your research skills
  
• Login as 'Guest' and take their pretest

Find books

Search the Wellesley College Library Catalog - tips

• Perform a subject search on a general concept or a specific animal
  • Start with a keyword search > choose a useful book > view Full Record tab
  • Follow the subject links to find more on that topic

• Use truncation to save time and typing:
  • Truncation = specify 'trunk' or wordstem
  • * = wildcard = variable ending
  • Example: behav* for behavior, behavioral, behaviour, behavioural

• In advanced search mode, use synonyms to find all the different ways your topic is expressed
• Combine multiple concepts using a Boolean operator (e.g., AND, OR, NOT) for best results
• Enclose your search terms in parentheses

Find journal articles

The following databases provide either full-text articles or citations (information about when and where the peer-reviewed article was published).

• Use the Find It! @ Wellesleylink from each citation to search one or more electronic journal sources or to search our Library Catalog.
• If Wellesley College cannot access the article, use the 'Find It' link to Interlibrary Loan, which automatically links the requestor to a form to submit for either
  • NExpress ( nearby libraries, arrives in 2-3 days) or
  • ILL (thousands of libraries worldwide, arrives in 2days - 2weeks).

Great places to start your research - scholarly and popular articles in many disciplines

• Academic Search Premier - dates vary
• Expanded Academic ASAP - 1980 - present

• Scientific American Archive - 1993-present - interdisciplinary science magazine for intelligent laypersons

More databases - peer-reviewed articles

• PsycINFO - 1887-present
• Web of Science - dates vary
  • Life and physical sciences - 1900-present
  • Social sciences - 1956-present
  • Arts and humanities - 1975-present
• JSTOR - journal archive, from first volume but only up to the last 3-5 years - use limits

For individual help with your topic, please consult Irene or her colleagues in the Research & Instruction Group.

Find EndNote software - instructions for download and its documentation

How to Evaluate and Cite Sources

Evaluate web resources that you find with a search engine the same way you would evaluate print sources

General criteria
Accuracy: How factual is the web page? Are the facts well-documented?
Authority: What are the professional credentials of the authors? Can you recognize the difference between a webpage author and a webmaster?
Objectivity: Pros and cons? Are there conflicting interests? Is the page advocating a cause? Who is the intended audience?
Currency: Is the page being updated regularly? How current is it now?
Coverage: Does the page require special software to view it? Is there a fee to view it, or is it free? Is the information presented cited correctly?
Ease of Use: Is the page easy to navigate? Are directions straightforward? Is advertising clearly labeled?

More on Evaluation/Critical Thinking for Web Surfing

Cite your sources

Concise rules of APA style - Clapp Reference/Science Reference BF76.7 .C66 2005
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association - Clapp Reference/Science Reference/Science Reserve BF76.7 .P83 2001

APA Style Essentials
APA Format for Annotated Bibliographies

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