COMMUNICATION
IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Department
of Biology
COMMUNICATION
IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Department
of Biology
CHOOSING A TOPIC
You may
be...
| ...assigned a topic | Your
instructor may assign everyone in the class a different topic.
The first step is to perform a preliminary survey of the literature. |
| ...asked to pick a topic, and have some idea what you would like to choose | You
may have heard about a topic in class that you found particularly interesting.
A family member may have just been diagnosed with a disease that you would
like to study further.
The first step is to perform a preliminary survey of the literature. |
| ...asked to pick a topic, and have no idea what you would like to choose | The first
step is to find a general topic (see next section below).
|
| Peruse your textbook and class notes | Find a relatively
narrow topic that interests you.
When you find
a topic, go to preliminary survey of literature.
|
| Review tables of contents of some recent issues of journals in the library | Pick prominent
journals in the appropriate field of biology. Consult your instructor
for a list of respected journals in that field.
Read the abstracts of those papers with interesting titles. If you find a good article, this may help narrow your topic and serve as a good research resource. When you find a topic, go to preliminary survey of literature. |
| Read review articles journals like American Scientist, Scientific American, BioScience, Nature, the Quarterly Review of Biology, or Science | These journals
provide good review articles in many fields of science. For example, in
Science
these are called "Perspectives" or "Reviews". In Nature these are
called "News and Views".
If you find a good article, this may help to narrow down your topic, and serve as a good research resource. When you find a topic (you guessed it!), go to preliminary survey of literature. |
| AVOID performing a database or internet search with a general topic like "cancer" or "evolution" | It would be difficult to take the first
eight references from a database search and tie them together into a cohesive
story.
It would be difficult and time consuming to read through the first 50 papers in a general search to decide which are relevant to your story. Internet sites are usually not peer-reviewed
and the scientific content is not always reliable.
|
Preliminary
Survey of Literature
| Where to search | General Internet
searches using search engines such as "www.Google.com" may yield much information
on your topic. However, you will need to base your work on more reliable
and scientifically legitimate sources of information obtained from primary
literature and other appropriate technical references.
The following approaches are useful to obtain a good idea about the variety of reference information available on specific topics. Also, feel free to consult with your instructor or someone else who is knowledgeable in the topic area that interests you. Searching for information in technical reference books Use the
Murphy Library Catalog to search for books on your topic by keyword, author,
title, or subject. Not finding books on your topic? As a UW-L student, you
have rights to check out books from all UW campus libraries (even the biology
library at UW-Madison) through a service called
Universal Borrowing. Books you
request will be van-delivered to the Murphy Library circulation desk in as
little as three days. Searching primary literature (articles in peer-reviewed journals) A good way to start your search is to use the online databases in Murphy Library. Its web address is: http://www.uwlax.edu/murphylibrary/. Under "Subject Resources", select "Biology". There are several excellent online literature databases to search. Abstracts of articles are a good source of preliminary information about journal articles. Murphy has online access to full-text articles from a number of science journals. Although in most cases online access to the entire article is not available, Murphy does have hard copies of many science journals. |
| What to look for | Current research questions
|
Formulate
a Focused Topic Question, Hypothesis, or Thesis
| Breadth of the topic | Choose a topic with enough background
material available to make your project factual and interesting, but not
so broad that you cannot address the topic thoroughly in the allotted space.
It is best to think of the topic as a thesis, hypothesis, or question to be proven, tested, or answered. |
| Examples of bad topics | "Cancer" is too broad of a topic.
"Is Tibetan Chanting a Cure for Cancer?" probably has not been well investigated scientifically. |
| Examples of good topics | "The use of Taxol from the Pacific Yew
to Treat Ovarian Cancer" is a fairly concise topic thesis that should yield
enough scientific data for a decent project.
"Taxol from the Pacific Yew is Effective in Treating Ovarian Cancer" is a concise topic hypothesis. "Is Taxol from the Pacific Yew Effective in Treating Ovarian Cancer?" is a concise topic question. You should discuss your topic with your instructor and if she/he approves it, go on to research your topic (see next topic below). |
| Finding relevant papers | As noted elsewhere, you will want to base
most of your research on scientifically
legitimate sources of information obtained from primary
literature and other appropriate technical references.
If you find a technical book or journal article that Murphy does not carry, you may request these materials through "Interlibrary Loan". Murphy has an online interlibrary loan request form to complete. Interlibrary loan requests are free. However, you should allow at least two weeks for your requests to be filled. |
| Analyze the data you have collected | Which studies support your hypothesis/thesis/question?
Do some studies support alternative hypotheses? Is there controversy in the scientific community over this topic, or general agreement? Collect relevant graphs, figures or tables that can be used in your presentation. |
Copyright © 2001, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin.