Start Here!
BIOL 309 - Start Here
For this class, you are required to conduct some research on a particular disease. You need to find background information such as how it spreads, its pathophysiology, current therapies, etc. In addition, you need to locate current information on the disease using scholarly articles.
To begin, look online to learn a bit about your disease. Some good places to start are:
- Medline Plus - consumer health information from the National Libraries of Medicine
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - U.S. government agency that works to detect and respond to new and emerging health threats
- World Health Organization - International organization that works to prevent and treat both communicable and non-communicable diseases
Tips:
- Your disease might have multiple names -- search for all of them. For example, bird flu = avian flu = H5N1.
- Combine your search terms to find more specific information about your disease. For example: H5N1 AND epidemiology.
- Don't forget about books! Search the library's book catalog by your disease name to see what we have.
Finding Journal Articles
BIOL 309 - Journal Articles
For your assignment, you need to find 3 scholarly articles on your topic. Use the library's article databases to locate what you need.
- PubMed - START HERE! PubMed is the premier database of world biomedical literature on clinical medicine and preclinical research. Search by keywords, such as: "H5N1" AND epidemiology.
- Biological Abstracts - A complete collection of bibliographic references covering life science and biomedical research literature published from more than 4,000 journals internationally.
Search Tips:
- To find the full text of an article, look for icons for PDFs, full text links, or "Get It!".
- Finding too much? Try adding additional keywords or limiting your search by date (for instance, only the last 5 years).
- Finding too little? First, make sure you're spelling everything correctly. Still not finding enough? Remove some keywords or combine similar terms with "OR". For example, search for: "bird flu" OR "H5N1" OR "avian influenza".
- Can't tell if an article is "scholarly"? Check this guide from the Rutgers Library.
Citations
CSE Citation Style (General)
What is CSE Style?
Each discipline uses a different citation style. In Biology, the most commonly used style is CSE. CSE uses three different formats: citation-sequence, citation-name, and name-year -- you will want to check with your professor to see which format they prefer.
Citation-sequence: Citations are included in a numbered list at the end of the paper, in the order in which they appear in the text. Within the text of your paper, use superscript numbers to refer to the corresponding citation in your citation list.
Citation-name: Citations are included in a numbered list at the end of the paper in a numbered list, in alphabetical order by author last name. Within the text of your paper, use superscript numbers to refer to the corresponding citation in your list.
Name-year: Citations are listed at the end of the paper in alphabetical order by author last name, but not numbered. Within the text of your paper, cite sources by using the author's last name followed by the year of publication in parentheses. For example: Jones (2005).
CSE Tips
CSE uses journal title abbreviations:
- To find the abbreviation, go to: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals
- Search for your journal title by name
- Click on the record for your journal and copy/paste the ISO 4 abbreviation
A couple of examples:
|
Journal Article |
Author AA, Author BB. Article title. Journal Abbrev. Year;volume(issues):pages. URL (if any). doi (if any). |
|
Newspaper/Magazine Article |
Author AA. Article title. Newspaper Title. Year Mo Date. URL. |
|
Webpage |
Author AA, Author BB. Title of homepage/website. Place of publication: Publisher; Date of publication [dated updated; date accessed]. URL. |
CSE Guides & Resources
These resources may provide you with additional help and examples.
- CSUSM Quick Guide to CSE Style
- Need help? Watch this tutorial on how to cite in CSE.
- Scientific Style and Format Citation Quick Guide (Univ of Chicago Press)
- Council of Science Editors Documentation Style (The Writing Center @ the University of Wisconsin - Madison)
- Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (Northwest Missouri State University B.D. Owens Library)
CSE Manual at CSUSM Library
The most current version (eighth edition) of Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers was published in 2014.
Library copy (T11 .S386 2014)
The CSUSM Library owns a copy of the official CSE manual that you can consult in person.
Not sure how to write your citations?
Get started with this flow chart created by CSUSM librarians.
How to Write a Citation: a flowchart
Talitha Matlin
760-750-4342
KEL 3423