Questions for the course "Scientific Methods" with the topic: Information search (lecture 6 - Guest lecture).
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What are some key areas to focus on, when formulating a search string for online databases?
Keywords
Spelling (UK vs US)
Broad terms
Narrow terms
Translation
Abbreviations
Synonyms
Homonyms
Classifications
What are some of the material types that you can search for, when formulating a search string for online databases?
Books
Journal articles
Conference proceedings
Review articles
Reports
Patents
PHD theses
Statistical reference works
What are some of the key aspects of random search, when searching for information?
Easy to do
Good for preliminary searches
Gain insight
Expand research vocabulary
formulate better query
What are some of the key aspects of cited reference searching, when searching for information?
One key article can lead to more relevant articles
Understanding of research fields development
Moving forward or backward in time
What are some of the weaknesses of cited reference searching?
High number of citations does not guarantee quality
New publications have a few citations
Self citing groups
What are some of the key aspects of evaluating and documenting, when searching for information?
Scan titles and/or abstracts for relevance
Record all findings, and how they where found
Peer-review status
Who is the publisher?
Up to date with current information