Biology 201A: Biology: Welcome and Primary Literature Search

Welcome to the subject guide for Instructor Veres' Biology 201A: Biology class! Use the tabs above to navigate to different sections of this guide. If you're short on time, these resources are your best bets:

This brief video by Western University Library explains how to efficiently skim a research article. 

Peer reviewed or Scholarly articles will include the following parts to the paper:

Abstract
Introdution
Literature Review
Materials and Methods
Main Body
Discussion
Conclusion
Bibliography/citations

Peer review is also interchangeable with the following terms
Peer reviewed, Scholaraly article, Primary Research, Academic Study, Original Research, Primary Literature, Research article. 

Primary literature contains the original research results reported by scientists. It includes:

• conference proceedings
• dissertations
• journal articles
• patents

Before research results are published in a scientific journal, they must pass a rigorous review process by other scientists, called peer review.

Image courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt, University Library

Using the Cuesta Library Search system in the box below:

1. Search keyword phrase Human genome
2. By default, the system searches all formats (books, articles, videos, etc.). Narrow your results by individually checking each limiter on the left, under Format.
3. Another way to narrow results is to use phrase searching. When you put quotation marks around a phrase, you only see results for that specific phrase. Try searching "human genome."
4. Limit your search further by using Boolean operators. Try searching "human genome" AND disease. This strategy in addition to using the limiters on the left will get the number of results down even more.

Search for reserves, articles, books, films and more...

Click on the Advanced Search button below the Cuesta Library Search above. You have many of the same options that you have after entering a basic search. You will also see a list of all the database choices on the right. If you choose to only use specific databases, be sure to hit the blue Save Changes button near the top of the page.

Here are some tips for recognizing primary research documents:

• Most of them will be PDF (due to containing graphs, tables, etc.)
• Most will have more than one or two authors
• If you open the document, it will have a Summary of the research (Abstract), an introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and a good bibliography. Look for articles that are more than a few pages long.

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