Lab 8

Objective of Lab 8: Evaluation of the Research Outcome

Each research article is like a stone in a foundation, a stitch in a sweater or a step on a journey - a small contribution to a larger enterprise! Candles and Kingfishers by Ann Lewin describes researchers' feelings about their search for knowledge.

Successful research leads to new questions or new applications of existing knowledge. Next you will learn where the research reported in your article led - and think about where it could lead.

1. Perform a Cited Reference Search with your article as the "query" using Science Citation Index (SCI), which is accessed via Web of Science. Ask your Professor, your TA or a librarian for help with this tool or use this tutorial.
2. Enter the resulting list of up to 50 articles that cited your article in the Courselink Dropbox (1 mark). Don't retype it - just show the 50 most recent citations as SCI output. Further instructions are provided in the Courselink Dropbox.
3. Use the list from SCI to find the number of citations each year, how many were "self citations" - later articles published by the authors of your article - and what were the journals in which these articles were published. Tabulate these numbers to gain an impression of the attention paid to your article by the scientific community. Note that the number of articles citing any particular article varies widely, up to hundreds or even thousands. Your analysis should be based on the most recent citations of your article, up to a total of 50 citations.
4. Use the list from SCI to find review articles that cited your article (including the one you used to find your article in the first place). What did other reviewers say about your article?
5. Look at a few research articles that cited your article. These will tell you how other people have used your authors' work. For example, what is the spectrum of journals in which your article has been cited? Do they indicate applications of your authors' work? Are any of these unexpected? Comment on (and cite) a few of these articles in Report 2.
6. Has your article been cited in the patent literature, indicating that it had commercial implications that have been pursued through patenting? If so, cite the patent.

Once you've followed the steps above, complete Report 2 by answering the following questions:

1. Did other researchers value the research reported by your authors (and hence cite it)?
2. Did the research reported in your article result in the formulation of new questions or hypotheses (by the authors, by other researchers or by you, as a reviewer)?
3. What are those questions, and what strategy could be (has been) applied to answer them?
4. Did other researchers support or refute the observations/ interpretations made by your authors?
5. Did the research reported in your article make a significant contribution to human knowledge and/or experience?
6. What practical applications exist for the new knowledge gained by the authors of your article?
7. Was it applicable within a particular geographic location, or globally?
8. What are the social, political, technological, medical... implications of this research?
9. How do you evaluate the significance of the reported research?