Finding Research Papers For Your Lab Reports

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Finding Research Papers For Your Lab Reports

• Leila Fernandez (leilaf_at_yorku.ca)
• Rajiv Nariani (rajivn_at_yorku.ca)

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(No Transcript)
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Library Home Page
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Title Quick Search
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Book search in YUL Catalogue
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Course Reserve
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Ho w do I find a Journal
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Typical Journal Article Citation
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Journal Abbreviations

• CISTI Journal Abbreviations
• http//cat.cisti.nrc.ca/search/t
• Some examples
• Can. J. Physics
• Mol. biol. evol.
• Appl. math. comput.

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Peer-reviewed Journal Article ?

• A process by which articles are reviewed by
  researchers for scientific and technical merit.
• Researchers submit their article to the journal
  for publishing.
• The publisher sends it to experts who assess the
  submitted article and report back to the
  publisher with their comments.
• Comments may include information which will
  improve the chances of the article receiving a
  positive review.
• Rerun some experiments
• Provide more proof
• Rewrite some parts etc.
• Once the article has been brought up to the
  required standards it is accepted for publication
  in the journal.

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A Model Lab Report (e.g. Quick ref. UfT)

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Materials Methods
• Results
• Discussions
• Analysis
• Interpretation
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendices

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Introduction
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Method

• Can usually be a simple list, but make sure it
  is accurate and complete. 
• In some cases, you can simply refer to a lab
  manual or standard procedure. However that is not
  the case always and you may have to consult your
  TA or follow the guidelines for that assignment!

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Results
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Analysis
Interpretation

• What do the results indicate clearly?
• What have you found?
• Explain what you know with certainty based on
  your results and draw conclusions

• What is the significance of the results?
• What ambiguities exist?
• What questions might we raise? 
• Find logical explanations for problems in the data

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Conclusion
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Appendices

• Contains calculations, raw data, graphs,
  pictures or tables that have not been included in
  the report
• Each kind of item should be included in a
  separate appendix ( e.g in-text reference to
  Appendix A)
• Make sure you refer to each appendix at least
  once in your report.

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Citations Styles

• APA
• owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• CSE
• www.lib.unc.edu/instruct/citations/cse/
• Chicago
• www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
• ACS
• www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/discipline/chem/acs_ref.html
  
• Other Styles

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Additional Resources

• General Guides
• http//www.ecf.utoronto.ca/writing/handbook.html
• http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/lab_report
  _complete.html
• Physics
• http//physics.mercer.edu/labs/guidelines.pdf
• Chemistry
• http//www.chemistry.oregonstate.edu/writing/Writi
  ngGuide2000.htm
• Biology
• http//biology.wsc.ma.edu/wscwg/biology/labrep.htm
  l
• http//www.union.edu/academic_depts/biology/Resear
  chReports.php