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CHEM 112 - General Chemistry - Professor Bradbury: 1. Finding Articles - Research vs. Review

Introduction to Chemical Literature Research

You are going to perform an online literature search using a few different library databases looking for two different kinds of article.  The first database of scientific journals is the from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the second is EBSCO's Academic Search Complete, and the third is Elsevier's Science Direct. 


  1. Pick one molecules that sounds interesting to you.
  2. What is the name and full structural formula of this molecule? Fill in table provided. (Check out The 100 Most Important Chemical Compounds to get more info on your molecule.)
  3. Find three different research articles from three different journals involving research with or on this molecule and give their titles in the table.  Use the databases below to find your articles.
  4. Give the name of the journal, date and page number range.
  5. Give the first author’s name for each article in the table
  6. Download the pdfs of each of these articles. (You do not need to print them.)
  7. Find one review article related to this molecule.
  8. Now do a search on one of the authors and find one other research article written by this author.  This article does not need to be related to your chosen molecule.
  9. Paste the following information on each article into the table provided: article title, DOI (Digital Object Identifier), author(s,) database used, review article or original research, and did the article have supplemental information?

What is a Scientific Research Article?

Scientific research articles provide a method for scientists to communicate with other scientists about the results of their research. A standard format is used for these articles, in which the author presents the research in an orderly, logical manner.

A research article is a publication of an original, peer reviewed presentation of an experiment with results and conclusions.  Usually the article has the following parts

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Experimental Section
  • Results and Conclusions
  • Diagrams, tables and figures
  • Discussions
  • References and Acknowledgements
  • Supplemental Material

Here's an example of scientific research article from the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry. It was found in the Ebsco database Academic Search Complete.

Quinone-based switches for candidate building blocks of molecular junctions with QTAIM and the stress tensor


You will find an excellent explanation of scientific journal articles on the Vision Learning website:

https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Process-of-Science/49/Understanding-Scientific-Journals-and-Articles/158  

 

Finding Research Articles in Library Databases

Find a Research Article in American Chemical Society

  • Limit to Content Type  > Journal Article
  • Limit to Article Type  > Research Article
  • Limit by Publication Date to further reduce number
  • Limit by Publication > Chemistry titles
  • Limit by Topics > Chemistry topics

Find a Research Article in Academic Search Complete

  • Limit to Full-Text
  • Limit by Source Type > Academic Journals
  • Limit by Publication Date to further reduce number
  • Limit by Publication > Chemistry titles

Find a Research Article in Science Direct

  • Refine by Subscribed journals so you will only see full-text content.
  • Limit to Article Type  > Research Articles
  • Limit by years to further reduce number
  • Limit by Publication > Chemistry titles

What is a Scientific Review Article?

A review article surveys and summarizes previously published studies, rather than reporting new facts or analysis. These articles summarize a broader range of other research articles giving a summary of multiple research articles.

Review articles exist to give researchers a broad view of a particular area of research and may include findings from many different labs. They will not usually have a methodology section but they generally have very extensive bibliographies.

Here's an example of scientific review article from the journal Sensors.

Recent advances is plasmonic sensors

Finding Review Articles in a Library Database

Find a Review Article in American Chemical Society

  • Limit to Content Type  > Journal Article
  • Limit to Article Type  > Review Article
  • Limit by Publication Date to further reduce number
  • Limit by Publication > Chemistry titles
  • Limit by Topics > Chemistry topics

Find a Review Article in Academic Search Complete

  • Add and review to your search
  • Limit to Full-Text
  • Limit by Source Type > Academic Journals
  • Limit by Publication Date to further reduce number
  • Limit by Publication > Chemistry titles

Find a Review Article in Science Direct

  • Refine by Subscribed journals so you will only see full-text content.
  • Limit to Article Type  > Review Articles
  • Limit by years to further reduce number
  • Limit by Publication > Chemistry titles

Supplemental Information in Scientific Articles

What is Supplemental Information?

For scientific publications it’s typically experimental details or additional data that either cannot be included in the main article due to length constraints or is “supplementary” to the necessary information presented in the main paper. It can also be defined as additional details or data that the author thinks could be relevant to the reader but are not essential to include in the main paper. Supporting information may be needed if all the experimental details cannot be included in the main manuscript or if you want to include extra peripheral data that could be useful to the reader of your article.


How to Find Supplemental Information for Articles in Each Database

American Chemical Society

In ASC it's called "Supporting Info" and appears as a link like this:


Academic Search

In Academic Search it's called "Supplementary information" and you can get the link in the PDF itself or in the HTML version in the index to the left.

Or


Science Direct

In Science Direct it's called "Supplementary data" and appears as a link like this:

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