Watch the following 3 videos from your SUNLearn module Science Communication Skills 116
1) SiC library guide and valuable tips
2) The treasure of peer review articles
3) Searching ScienceDirect
Examples of HARVARD referencing style
How do I do my assignment? To find, access and use information effectively, use the Step-by-Step Guide.
Need assistance?
Contact the Science Librarian, Pieter du Plessis
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Communication R*501.4 ENC
PressReader provides online access to over 7200 newspapers and magazines.
Sign up with your sun.ac.za email on campus
Download the PressReader app for mobile device access
Scopus (includes PubMed/MedLine)
Scopus from Elsevier is a comprehensive abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature with links to full text. Features tools to track, analyse and visualize research and provides bibliometrics for researchers' output.
Training material
Search and find full text peer review articles on ScienceDirect
ScienceDirect is a multidisciplinary database that includes a large range of journals relevant to all BSc subjects. ScienceDirect also includes several electronic books. and encyclopedias
Refine by "subscribed journals" for full text access
Building blocks of a search:
AND: both terms that you connect with AND must be somewhere in the bibliographic record for that record to be retrieved. AND narrows a search and retrieves fewer articles:
antibiotics AND probiotics will find both terms in the record
OR: only one of the search terms combined with OR is required for the bibliographic record to be retrieved. OR broadens a search and retrieves more articles. Applies also for related or synonym terms:
polymerase chain reaction OR PCR
corn OR maize
NOT: excludes or ignore a particular subset, category, or term. NOT requires the presence of one search term and the exclusion of another.
moths NOT butterflies
Phrase Searching: Adding quotation marks around a phrase, such as "bushy top syndrome" will tell the database to search for these words together, rather than separately:
"microbial ecology" versus microbial and ecology
Truncating (using the *) is a good strategy to use for some terms:
microb* will give the following results: microbe, microbial, microbiome, microbiology, microbolometer,etc. (Choose your * wisely)
When doing research, you should use a variety of sources such as books, articles from newspapers, magazines, or journals, and websites. To ensure you are including only valid information in your research, evaluate your sources using the criteria below.
Consult the Google and Google Scholar Libguide for guidelines on evaluating websites.
Criteria | Questions to Ask |
Authority / Credibility |
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Accuracy |
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Relevance |
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Currency / Date Some written works are ageless (e.g. classic literature) while others (e.g. technological news) become outdated quickly. It is important to determine if currency is pertinent to your research. |
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Objectivity / Bias / Reliability Every author has an opinion. Recognizing this is instrumental in determining if the information presented is objective or biased. |
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Style / Functionality |
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