dissertation techniques for your fhs project judith pinfold bodleian subject specialist (biology)...
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Dissertation Techniques
for your FHS project
Judith PinfoldBodleian Subject
Specialist (Biology)May 2011
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Dissertation Techniques
Plagiarism v. ReferencingSOLO, OLIS & OXLIP+Reference worksDatabasesSearching techniquesManaging your references
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Plagiarism
All academic work will inevitably at some point involve the use and discussion of critical material written by others with due acknowledgement and with references given. This is standard critical practice and can be clearly distinguished from appropriating without acknowledgement and presenting as your own material produced by others, which is what constitutes plagiarism. (Modern History and English - Preliminary Exams Handbook 2003/4)
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Avoiding Plagiarism"...You must always indicate to the examiners when you
have drawn on the work of others; other people's original ideas and methods should be clearly distinguished from your own, and other people's words, illustrations, diagrams etc. should be clearly indicated regardless of whether they are copied exactly, paraphrased, or adapted...
...The University reserves the right to use software applications to screen any individual's submitted work for matches either to published sources or to other submitted work. Any such matches respectively might indicate either plagiarism or collusion...
...Although the use of electronic resources by students in their academic work is encouraged, you should remember that the regulations on plagiarism apply to on-line material and other digital material just as much as to printed material..."
Section 9.5 Proctors' and Assessor's Memorandum
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Plagiarism : it’s taken extremely seriously
‘Turnitin’ software may be used by the University for screening your work
If plagiarism suspected, the Proctors will fully investigate and interview you
Where plagiarism is proven, this can result in expulsion from the University …
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But don’t worry, there’s plenty of help and advice available
Pdf guide ‘ Academic good practice : a practical guide’ at
www.admin.ox.ac.uk/edc/goodpractice/
Plenty of guidanceon Weblearn too
• From homepage scroll down to subsite ‘Weblearn guidance’
• select subsite ‘Plagiarism support (Turnitin)’
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/
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Good academic practice
So by following the citation principles and practices in place in your subject area, you will develop a rigorous approach to academic referencing, and avoid inadvertent plagiarism
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Referencing and Citation
2 main ways of organizing your references
a) Parenthetical or author/date – often called the Harvard system (Smith and Jones, 2010)
b) Footnotes on a page or endnotes for a chapter. N.B. This is not to be confused with the computer package of the same name.1
1. Smith, J. and Jones, B. Title. London : 2010.
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References / Bibliography
Be uniform in your referencing system:- Probably use the Harvard system
(author / date) suggested in the FHS project guidelines on Weblearn – but whatever you do use – just be consistent!
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Citation practice
Also large number of manuals available to give
guidance and sound practice 1. Doing a literature review / Chris Hart (London, 1998) [H62 HAR ]
2. Manual for writers / Kate Turabian (7th ed. Chicago, 2007) [LB 2369 TUR ]
3. Communicating in geography & the environmental sciences / Ian Hay (3rd ed. Oxford, 2006) [G70 HAY ]
4. Cite them right / Pears & Shields (2010 ed.) [LB 2369 PEA]
5. Complete guide to referencing & avoiding plagiarism / Neville (2nd ed. 2010) [LB2369 NEV] 1st ed. (2007) also available on-line via NetLibrary
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Recommended purchase
Citing references : a guide for students / David Fisher and Terry Hanstock (Nottingham, 1998)
Available in Blackwell’s at the tills in the Norrington Room and the first floor
Price £1.00
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References / Bibliography
Organize your research and manage your database of references
Include citations while you write your paper
Build a bibliography in a variety of styles
Import references from many different data sources
Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)
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WISER course Reference Management Software
Thursday 16 June 2011, 2-5 pm
Introductory session to pros and cons of RefWorks, Endnote, Zotero and Mendeley
Keeping track of your references
Formatting your references
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/training/wiser
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References / Bibliography
EndNote system:-
Web version available within the Oxford domain www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/sers/resources/endnote
Also a software package that you purchase from OUCS for £81.60, but you then have it permanently
Courses laid on (www.oucs.ox.ac.uk)
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References / Bibliography
RefWorks www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/eresources/refworks
RefWorks is a free (even after you leave Oxford) web-based bibliographic software package.
Being web-based means no software to download and update, and you can access your personal account from any computer connected to the web.
Courses laid on by the Computing Services IT Learning Programme
(www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp)
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OUCS course
RefWorks for Sciences and Social Sciences
Wednesday 22 June 2011, 2-5 pm Cost: £8 for course book
www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/
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Dissertation Techniques
SOLO: Search Oxford Libraries Online
Search and discovery tool for the Oxford Libraries' vast collections of resources.
Mainly OLIS (Oxford's union catalogue of printed and electronic books and journals)
Title link over 1,000 databases on OxLIP+
Now for some actual searching. You are obviously familiar with SOLO – gives access to a vast range of resources – both print and electronics, books, serials and databases.
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E-Journals
I didn't check for the hard copy - as I’m so used to getting
online access!
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Dissertation Techniques
Use SOLO or OxLIP+ to access
Reference tools
Abstracting and indexing services
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Reference Sources
General reference tools CREDO Reference : reference works
including dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. Standalone major reference works e.g.
OED, Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
Oxford Reference Online
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E-books (texts)
NetLibrary
Taylor and Francis
Oxford Scholarship Online
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Taylor and Francis
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E-resources
Also look at the RSL Science Portal for further ideas on e-resources
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/science/eresources
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Dissertation Techniques
Abstracting and Indexing Services
(for finding the actual journal articles)
Vast range
SciVerse / Scopus OVID SP CSA (Cambridge Scientific
Abstracts) Web of Knowledge
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Bibliographic Databases
Excellent for locating journal articles , book chapters and book reviews (NB. References only)
General or specific subject coverage Different interfaces but similar functionality Not tied to library holdings Frequently will provide link to full text
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Databases vs. Search engines
Contents are indexed by subject specialists
Subject headings Limiting functions
e.g. publication types, language
Allow you to View Search history Combine searches Mark and sort results Print/save/email/
export Save searches Set up alerts
Searches done by automated “web crawlers”
No thesaurus / subject headings – just free text searching
No limiting functions
Usually none of these!
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Search Strategies Boolean logic
Truncation
Wild cards
Synonyms
Which language are you using?
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Boolean connectors
AND – combines terms to restrict results
OR – useful for covering synonyms
NOT – excludes unwanted areas of research
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AND, OR, NOT
Circadian clock
TemperaturePlant
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Truncation
Use an asterisk (usually – check help pages)
enzym* will retrieve enzyme, enzymes, enzymatic, enzymology
Wildcards
Behavio$r* will retrieve Behavior, Behaviour, Behavioural, Behaviours, Behaviors
Phrase searching“electromagnetic field”
SynonymsHoney bee* OR honeybee* OR “apis mellifera”
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How do I find the relevant databases?
Go via SOLO or Oxlip+ Databases are listed alphabetically and
in broad subject groupings 34 bibliographic databases listed under
‘Biology’
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Information About Databases
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SCOPUS
Bibliographic database for science, medicine, and some social sciences, ecological sciences
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Feeds and alerts
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds Web feed format used to update
content automatically. Subscribe to feed and save having to check web pages manually
Access to new work, downloads and updates as it becomes available
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Feeds and alerts
Citation alerts Receive an email when an article you
are interested in has been cited Can do for authors too You will have to have your own
account and register for this service with each database
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Databases vs. Search engines
Contents are indexed by subject specialists
Subject headings Limiting functions e.g.
publication types, languageAllow you to View Search history Combine searches Mark and sort results Print/save/email/export Save searches Set up alerts
Searches done by automated “web crawlers”
No thesaurus / subject headings – just free text searching
No limiting functions
Usually none of these!
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Platforms for other biology databases
Web of Knowledge (WoK)
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Bibliographic Databases
OvidSP CAB Abstracts – agriculture, forestry and allied life
sciences. Coverage 1910-present Forest Science – forest and wood science (also
sustainable forestry, tropical deforestation, climate change, carbon sequestration, forest genetic resources and related issues) (1939 – present)
Zoological Record Archive (1864-1977) Zoological Record (1978-2009)
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Bibliographic Databases
CSA (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) Hosts various useful databases (and not just
science) - including : Aquatic Science and Fisheries Abstracts Ecology Abstracts Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management Oceanic Abstracts
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Bibliographic Databases
Web of Science/Knowledge
Includes Science, Social Science & Arts and Humanities Citation Indexes
Citation indexes can be used in the same way as any other abstracting and indexing service. Their extra facility is the option to search the bibliographies of any articles- a citation search. Academics use the citation index to find out who has cited their work.
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BIOSIS previews is YOUR database – so explore!
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Dissertation Techniques
Search for - “circadian clock” & “plant*” and “temperature*” published between 2006-2011
Scopus = 76 articles Ovid = 53 (55 before deduplication) CSA = 115 (124 before deduplication) WoS = 93
Total = 339
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Dissertation Techniques
Search for - “circadian clock” & “plant*” and “temperature*” published between 2006-2011
Scopus = 76 articles Ovid = 53 (55 before deduplication in OVID) CSA = 115 (124 before deduplication in CSA) WoS = 93
Total no references retrieved = 339 After RefWorks deduplication = 189 unique
items
Output style chosenis ‘Harvard’ – which you might want to usefor your project
Many styles to choose from – preview each one. All your referenceswill be reformattedinstantly!
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Dissertation Techniques
Search Tip 1 Important to remember that although
each database covers thousands of journal titles no single database is ever comprehensive.
If you are having difficulty finding material on a topic use the keywords you find in any relevant reference and search again.
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Dissertation Techniques
Search Tip 2 Use Boolean Logical Operators AND, OR,
NOT also proximity operators Adj (literally adjacent); Near(same sentence); With(same field)
Field descriptors: AU(author); TI(title); AB (abstract); SO(source or reference); DE (general descriptor) etc are likely to be specific to each database and won’t operate in ‘cross searches’
Combining searches: #1 and #2
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Dissertation TechniquesSearch Tip 3
Take time to explore the various databases and platforms available
Some will be more useful to you than others
Scopus OvidSP Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Web of Knowledge
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/training/wiser
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Dissertation TechniquesSearch Tip 4
Consider subject synonyms and variants in British and US spellings
Apply truncation, usually * to find plurals/alternative word endings and ? to replace a single character
Expand search by following hypertext links esp subject headings
Use tagging facilities within database to mark articles for printing, emailing, downloading or exporting
Authors’ names: check the online help for formats. Use the database index to find different forms of author’s name, otherwise truncate first initial
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Dissertation Techniques
Some ways to keep up-to-date:
Email alerts – you can specify a search to be repeated and the results emailed to you at chosen intervals
Zetoc - the British Library’s table of contents – receive an email when the next issue of a journal is available. You can find Zetoc in Oxlip+
Saving and rerunning searches – you can save a search and run it again in the future
Citation alerts – you will receive an email every time a particular article is cited in another WoK or Scopus indexed article
RSS feeds – for new search results
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Former FHS projects
These are available from 1987 Projects for 1987-2007 kept in
Southwood Lab (Zoology) Projects for 2008-2010 kept in
Weldon Lab (Zoology) Ref only – must not leave Zoology You must sign them out (clipboard
kept with newer projects)
List of projects at:www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/science/libraries/zoology
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Reading Rooms – RSL / ZOO Radcliffe Science Library
lots of quiet areas for reading and study Alexander Library in Zoology Dept.
On the same floor as Darwin’s cafe Staffed, free entry with university card Details in the LibGuide atlibguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/
alexanderlibrary
***All material reference only***
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Reading Rooms - PLS Sherardian Library in Dept of Plant
Sciences (swipe card entry – using your University card) Limited capacity Also used by staff and postgraduates Strictly for reading only – not computer
work
***All material reference only***
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Card access to PLS reading room
email Kirsty McNeil (undergraduate teaching co-ordinator)
[email protected] She will confirm when your card
has been activated
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Further assistance - OUCS -
Word: creating professional documents
Course available every term Prequisite for: Word: managing
your thesis Cost: £6 each, for course bookwww.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/atoz
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Further assistance
This presentation will shortly be available on-line at:
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/science/training/biosciencesMore courses available:
www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlpOther presentations
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/training/wiser/
presentations
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Further assistance: subject librarians
[email protected] (biology)
[email protected] (plant taxonomy)
[email protected] (ornithology)
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Dissertation Techniques
Please ask a Librarian if you get stuck trying to use any of the resources or would like advice on the most suitable databases for your enquiries
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECTS!