Research Tips and Biology Links/References

Quick Guide to Online Research
Originally posted by Paralith on 10 May 2009
Please contact The Biologista with regard to further updates.

I’m sure it goes without saying that the internet is a fantastic source of information. Whether you’re just curious or you’re working on a research paper, chances are you can find almost everything you need on the internet if you know how and where to look. But if you aren’t familiar with online research, you might not know these things. Hopefully this quick guide will give you a jump start.

Realize that research takes time.

Depending on the subject you’re researching, a two-minute Google search may simply not be enough, so don’t start complaining if you can’t find everything you need right away. This is also important to keep in mind if you plan on coming to this forum to ask others to help you in your search – unless a resident expert happens to be around, you are probably asking the other members for a serious commitment of time and energy. Do not be surprised if such requests are not honored.

Basic background knowledge helps.

Don’t get me wrong: Google searches and sites like Wikipedia are great first stops when you begin your research, especially if you aren’t very familiar with the subject you’re researching. While Wikipedia is not an acceptable reference for a final paper, it can help you gain a general understanding of your topic, give you more ideas for search keywords, help you narrow your focus (which can be especially important for writing papers), and link you to acceptable references like journal articles.

Note to Students: Acceptable References for School Assignments

Some websites may be considered acceptable references, especially if they are written by universities and/or researchers, but you should always check with your teacher or professor to make sure you know what is and what is not acceptable. In my opinion all university/college students should assume that journal articles or books written by researchers (often referred to as scientific literature) are the only acceptable references.

Notes on Searching for Scientific Literature

You can almost always access the abstract of any article you are looking for online; accessing the entire article, however, can be difficult, especially if you are not attending/employed by a university which pays for subscription access to scientific journals. Google Scholar is ideal in these cases, as this search engine will list all internet copies of a given article (below each entry in the search return list there will be a link that says "All # versions", and hopefully one of those copies will be available to you).