Washington and Lee University Research Guides: Biology: Beginner/Introductory Research

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How To Use This Guide

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Beginner/Introductory Research

If you are taking a First Year Seminar or BIOL 111, you are in the right place! Scroll down to see some accessible, user friendly resources to get you started on your research. Browsing the Journals and Magazine below will help you either find or narrow down a topic, while the Databases will help you really drill into your topic with scholarly information.

Journals and Magazines

These two journals are probably the best place to start. Either browse online or flip through the print copy in Telford Science Library.

Nature Nature is a weekly international journal publishing the finest peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology on the basis of its originality, importance, interdisciplinary interest, timeliness, accessibility, elegance and surprising conclusions. Nature also provides rapid, authoritative, insightful and arresting news and interpretation of topical and coming trends affecting science, scientists and the wider public.
Science Science has been at the center of important scientific discovery since its founding in 1880—with seed money from Thomas Edison. Today, Science continues to publish the very best in research across the sciences, with articles that consistently rank among the most cited in the world. In the last half century alone, Science published: The entire human genome for the first time Never-before seen images of the Martian surface The first studies tying AIDS to human immunodeficiency virus

The following journals are a little more specialized in subject matter, but great to help you really narrow down your topic and discover new terminology.

Bioethics Bioethics provides a forum for well-argued articles on the ethical questions raised by current issues such as: international collaborative clinical research in developing countries, organ transplants and xenotransplantation, ageing and the human lifespan, AIDS, genomics, and stem cell research. These questions are considered in relation to concrete ethical, legal and policy problems, or in terms of the fundamental concepts, principles and theories used in discussions of such problems.
American Midland Naturalist The American Midland Naturalist has entered the 21st Century publishing a broad spectrum of field and experimental biology in an era of fundamental changes in scientific publishing. Its diversity and significance are evident in that it is among the most frequently cited sources in journals of botany, general ecology, mammalogy, zoology, herpetology, behavior, vegetation, wildlife management, parasitology, ornithology, aquatic biology and other disciplines. Recent concern about biodiversity has long been evident in the journal.
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biomedicine.
New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one.

Advanced Topics

Subject Specific

Cell Biology

Genetics

Ecology

Data

Medicine

Citation Styles

Zotero, offered either as a Firefox plug-in, Google Chrome connector, Safari connector, or a standalone desktop download, provides all the functions of a standard citation manager. It aids in data collection, organization, and collaboration.

This free, downloadable citation manager captures screen images and citation data from web pages, databases, and online catalogs.

Learn more

Zotero's standalone desktop citation manager is downloadable for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

New, free, mobile apps are also available for Zotero.

Scientific Style and Format by Council of Science Editors
ISBN: 9780226116495
Publication Date: 2014-05-07
For more than fifty years, authors, editors, and publishers in the scientific community have turned to Scientific Style and Format for authoritative recommendations on all matters of writing style and citation. Developed by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), the leading professional association in science publishing, this indispensable guide encompasses all areas of the sciences. Now in its eighth edition, it has been fully revised to reflect today’s best practices in scientific publishing. nbsp; Scientific Style and Format citation style has been comprehensively reorganized, and its style recommendations have been updated to align with the advice of authoritative international bodies. Also new to the eighth edition are guidelines and examples for citing online images and information graphics, podcasts and webcasts, online videos, blogs, social networking sites, and e-books. Style instructions for physics, chemistry, genetics, biological sciences, and astronomy have been adjusted to reflect developments in each field. The coverage of numbers, units, mathematical expressions, and statistics has been revised and now includes more information on managing tables, figures, and indexes. Additionally, a full discussion of plagiarism and other aspects of academic integrity is incorporated, along with a complete treatment of developments in copyright law, including Creative Commons. nbsp; For the first time in its history, Scientific Style and Format will be available simultaneously in print and online at www.scientificstyleandformat.org.nbsp;Online subscribers will receive access to full-text searches of the new edition and other online tools, as well as the popular Chicago Manual of Style Online Forum, a community discussion board for editors and authors. Whether online or in print, the eighth edition of Scientific Style and Format remains the essential resource for those writing, editing, and publishing in the scientific community.
Citing Medicine, 2nd edition by Karen Patrias; Dan Wendling
Call Number: Ebook
Publication Date: 2007
Citing Medicine provides assistance to authors in compiling lists of references for their publications, to editors in revising such lists, to publishers in setting reference standards for their authors and editors, and to librarians and others in formatting bibliographic citations.