BIO 1100: Thomas

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Welcome! Click on a tab below to find books, articles, and websites for use in this course.

You'll need a College of DuPage Library card in order to use most of the resources below from off campus. If your card is not working, it may need to be reactivated.

Questions? Feel free to use my contact info to the right, stop by the Reference Desk, or contact us by email or chat.

Image Credit: Jennifer Anderson @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database
  1. Scientific Paper Structure
  2. Subject Research

Scientific Paper Structure

The basic structure of a scientific research paper is similar to that of a lab report you'd turn in for class. You'll see most scientific papers broken into the following sections:

  • Introduction: includes a literature review
  • Methods: describes how the experiment was conducted
  • Results: the data retrieved from the experiment
  • Discussion: the section that analyzes the data
  • Conclusion: restates the importance of the research findings and points toward new directions for research
  • Citations: lists all referenced important articles that guided the research

More questions? Check out the Reading Research Articles link on the right.


Using Bioscience

Your professor has suggested Bioscience as a model for your scientific paper writing. You can find current issues of Bioscience in print in the library or online.

Doing Subject Research

Starting Out: Developing a Topic

One of the most important steps you can take is to narrow your topic by gathering background information. This will suggest research words, important developments in the field, and even important scientists whom you can search for when you're looking for work. You can find this type of information in several ways.

Reference books such as those found in the library will give you a start. For example, check out the following:

You can also use Google to give you an idea about keywords and names to use in the databases.


Adding Detail: Using Databases to Find Articles

Scientific research can be best found in academic databases. Here are the top two databases to look for information.

Science Direct is one of the premier databases to find scientific research. Nearly everything listed here is a scientific research article. Be sure to select "Subscribed Journals" when searching, or you will get a lot of citations without full-text.

Academic Search Complete has a mixture of popular and scholarly articles on a variety of subjects. You'll want to be sure that you're using a source appropriate for class when searching.

See the full list of biology databases.


Need some help with Citations?

Find directions about how to cite your sources on the library citation guide.

Most databases will have a Cite link that you can also click to get article citations.

Finally, you are welcome to use NoodleBib if you'd like to use a program to create and organize your citations. You must "Create a New Folder" when you use NoodleBIB for the first time. Click on "I am citing a(n):," choose the type of item you are citing, and then fill in the online form. Your bibliography will be formatted for you.

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