FAQs:

How can I obtain a copy of a review or research article, if I have only its citation?
What are the criteria for selection of a research article?
What is a reference citation? a citation format? What reference citation format should I use?

FAQ #1

Question: I've found the reference for a research article that interests me. How can I obtain a copy of this article?

Answer: Follow the steps below:

Use TRELLIS or PRIMO to look for the journal/book in which your review article is published. Then find the article on the internet! If you need help using PRIMO or finding an article that's not available online, ask a librarian, your TA or your Instructor for help. If the journal/book containing your article has been borrowed, you can request its return by placing a Recall (use the Request button to do this).
If a journal/book is not available at Guelph but it is available in one of the other TUG libraries (Waterloo or Wilfrid Laurier), request a circulating book by placing a Hold or a Recall (use the Request button to do this), or request a photocopy by using either RACER or TUGDoc. Turn around time for an article ordered through RACER is two weeks versus 2-3 days for a TUGdoc article.

If you don't know how to use the resources listed above, just ask for help. Although all published material can be obtained in at least one of the ways described above, some of them take a little time (up to a week or two). Rather than falling far behind with your work, choose an article for review that is available locally. The slower mechanisms can be used to obtain additional information.

NOTE: "It's not in our library" or "It's not online" are not acceptable reasons for not having obtained and read material relevant to this and subsequent courses and projects!

FAQ #2

Question: What are the criteria for selection of a research article?

Answer: The assigned article will meet the following criteria:

It will provide background information relevant to your thesis research.
Your Advisor will not be an author of the article.
It will have been published at least 5 years before it is assigned (i.e. not in or after 2010 for students taking the course in F2014). This is important because your analysis will include a search for information on the context and outcome of the research. There may be no outcome for more recent articles!
It will be a full research paper, not a review article or a "Note". To be certain that you have been assigned a research article, verify that it includes a distinct section labeled "Methods", "Materials and Methods", "Experimental Procedures" or the equivalent.
It will clearly list the experimental techniques used by the researchers. Some methods may be explained in supplementary information that is available on the journal web site but separate from the article itself. Look for supplementary information as your analysis must include it.
It will report the application of methods likely to be used during your thesis research, and it will not report the application of every method known to humanity (too much work for you!).

FAQ #3

Questions: How should I format the reference citations in my Lab Reports? What are reference citation formats? Why are they used? What format will we use?

Have you ever been frustrated because you couldn't find a book or article that was cited in a reference you were using? Have you ever found a citation that was incomplete or incorrect? You can prevent that from happening to readers of your work.

Reference citations are footnotes that list the peer-reviewed publications that are the sources of information included in technical reports, like your Lab Reports. Citations provide evidence to support written statements. Standardized formats are used for citations. This helps authors to include all pertinent information and makes it easy for readers to locate that information. Different publishers use different citation styles. It's essential to choose a citation style for each writing project, then use it consistently.

The reference citation format for each scientific journal is described in the "Instructions to Authors" published on the journal's website. For this course, use the citation format of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Citing Internet Sources Only peer-reviewed information can be cited in the text of your reports (using the citation system specified by Molecular and Cellular Biology) and listed in your reference lists. Other sources - particularly computer software, databases, and websites that are not peer reviewed - must be cited by providing the relevant URL in the text of your reports (using the format specified by Molecular and Cellular Biology). URLs are cumbersome, so you may prefer to include them as footnotes on the pages where they are cited.

Since personal communications (information received in person, by telephone or by email) cannot be substantiated, they must not be cited in your reports.

How can I make sure my citation format is correct?

Don't be frustrated by losing Lab Report marks for using incorrect or incomplete reference citations. No excuses will be accepted for incorrect formatting of citations! Learn the citation format now - including:

the required information (for journal articles, this includes author names, year of publication, article title, journal name, volume and page numbers);
the correct punctuation, character spacing, and fonts (including bold);
the correct abbreviations for author names and journal titles.

Common errors included incorrect name formats, incorrect journal name abbreviations and the inclusion of unnecessary information (e.g. issue numbers). There is a standard abbreviation for each journal title. If you are not certain of an abbreviation, consult our library's lists of journal abbreviations. Remember to italicize organism names, if applicable!

How can reference management software help me?

Reference management software can help you by building a database of references relevant to any project (drawing the information directly from the internet), interfacing with word processing software to insert references in the text as you write a report, and then using the format you choose to create the in-text citations and reference list when your document is complete. Unless you already use a different reference management system, use Mendeley to accomplish those goals for this course. This will take the "editorial pain" out of report writing!