BSCI 426: Biophysics of Membranes

Professor Colombini
Web Page created by Tom Harrod, UM Libraries

The University of Maryland Libraries have many resources that will help with the research for your BSCI 426 projects. If you need additional information, please contact the librarian for the Biology Department, Tom Harrod.

Finding Resources in the University of Maryland Library

• Books - to find books in the University of Maryland Libraries, go to the library homepage (www.lib.umd.edu) and click on the 'Catalog'
  Once there, put in some search terms to look for books - just be aware that when you do a 'default' search it will look for those terms anywhere in the record. For example if you want books about New York and you put 'New York' in as a search term, you will also retrieve books that have New York listed as their place of publication on the catalog record


• Articles (Article Databases) - one way to find journal articles is to go to the library homepage (www.lib.umd.edu) and click on the 'Research Port'. This defaults to the 'databases' tab - from there type in the name of your database of interest or search for one by subject area (see below for suggestions of important Biology article databases)


• Articles (Online Journals) - another way to find journal articles is to again start from 'Research Port' (as described above) - but now you would select the 'Journals' tab, type in the name of the online journal that you are interested in

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Choosing the Right Article Database

The University of Maryland subscribes to hundreds of article databases and each one covers a specific range of subjects. Below I have listed a number of databases which you may find helpful in locating articles in Biology.

• Biological & Medical Sciences - General Biology


• BIOSIS Previews - General Biology


• Biotechnology & Bioengineering Abstracts - Biochemistry, Cell Biology, and Related Subjects


• Discovery Gate - Chemistry (finding chemical properties, must download unto your computer)


• PubMed - Cellular, and Molecular Biology & Biomedical Topics


• SciFinder Scholar - Chemistry (finding chemical properties and articles on chemistry)


• Web of Science - General Science



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Identifying Primary Articles

For the purposes of this assignment you will want to consult only Primary, Scholarly articles - the discussion below will help you to learn the distinguishing characteristics of the different kinds of articles.

The following information is adapted from the library's "Identifying Periodical Types" guide - click there for more information.

Here is a link which highlights some of the defining features of a Primary, Scholarly article

SCHOLARLY literature:

• contains the study methods and results of research performed by the author(s) of the article
• is written by/for those with some knowledge in a particular field of study - a certain level of familiarity with the subject is assumed
• gives the professional affiliation of the researcher in order to establish his/her credentials in their field
• is extensively referenced - authors must cite the work of others as it pertains to their own work
• is reviewed by peers who work in the same field (i.e. "peer-reviewed")
POPULAR literature:
• may be written by experts in a given field or by professional writers
• is written for a lay audience
• does not usually contain references

Additionally, it is important to understand the difference between PRIMARY and SECONDARY sources.

PRIMARY literature:

• contains an "experimental methods" section
• recounts experiments that have been been performed by the authors of the articles themselves
• contains "raw data" compiled by the authors which will usually be presented in tables or charts
• attempts to address a specific hypothesis
• has references which give pertinent background information for the hypothesis being addressed in the paper
SECONDARY literature:
• often takes the form of a review article
• contains a summary of experiments performed by the author as well as other researchers
• may contain tables and figures, but usually not as many as a primary source
• is a good place to go to learn about a field of study with which one is unfamiliar
• has references which give a history of the research that has been done in a specific area of study

TERTIARY literature:

• is often comprised of compilations of primary and secondary literature
• is a good place to go to learn basic principles and facts about a particular field of study
• can become outdated as information usually takes a while to find it's way from a primary source to a tertiary source
• includes: almanacs, encyclopedias, text books, manuals, dictionaries, etc.




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Peer Review

"Peer Review" refers to the process whereby scholarly articles are read by several researchers who work in the field that is the subject of the article. These "peers" critique the article in terms of:

• the appropriateness of the experimental methods used
• whether or not the conclusion(s) given necessarily follow from the data presented
• the novelty of the work presented
• etc.
If these "peers" determine that an article is worthy of publication they will so advise the editor of the publication to which the article has been submitted. Oftentimes however these reviewers will suggest new experiments, alternate conclusions, and so forth which must be addressed by the author(s) of the article. In this way, articles go through a rigorous and iterative evaluation process before they are published. It is important to understand what peer-review is, as all scholarly articles will undergo this process - this is one of ways by which the credibility of an article is established.

If you are not sure whether the article you have is peer-reviewed or not, go to Ulrich's, type in the name of the journal where you found the article and look for the little referee's jersey next to the journal's title - this indicates that it is refereed which is another name for peer-reviewed



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Plagiarism / The Honor Pledge

Plagiarism

Plagiarism, along with all other forms of academic dishonesty, is a serious issue at the University of Maryland. Plagiarism refers to any of the following activities:

• "Copying word for word, and neglecting to both enclose the words in quotation marks and to cite the source"
• "Summarizing or paraphrasing someone else's words or ideas and failing to cite the source"
• "Reproducing the organization or structure of another person's work and failing to cite it"
• "Any other act in which someone presents someone else's intellectual material as their own, whether it involves graphics, code, data, charts, etc."
(extracted from the webpage "What is Plagiarism")

For more information, check the library's webpage on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Honor Pledge

It is important to include the university's honor pledge on all assignments that you hand in. At the top of the first page of your paper, copy the following statement and then leave a space below for your signature

I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination.

Go to the Office of Student Conduct page for more information about the honor pledge.



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EndNote Web

The University of Maryland Libraries subscribe to EndNote Web - a citation management program which allows you to download bibliographic information from our article databases and create bibliographies. To register for an account, simply go to 'Science Citation Index (Web of Science)' (listed above) and click on the 'My EndNote Web' link on the top of the page. If you need help using EndNote Web, feel free to set up an appointment with the librarian for the Biology department, Tom Harrod (tharrod@umd.edu)


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Getting Help from a Librarian

If you are having trouble with any aspect of what has been covered above, don't hesitate to contact a reference librarian. The librarian covering the department of Biology is Tom Harrod (tharrod@umd.edu / 301-405-7253 / 1526A Chemistry Library, Chemistry Building) - feel free to email, call, or just drop by for assistance in finding and evaluating articles, properly citing your references, etc.

Reference librarians are here to assist faculty and students at the University of Maryland in finding appropriate sources of information for their specific needs - so take advantage of this resource.


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