CHEM 352: Physical Chemistry II

Dr. Chiang

• Select a topic. This can be challenging. If your topic is too narrow, you will have difficulty finding enough information; if it is too broad, you will be swamped with information. If you are looking for ideas, ScienceDirect lists the most popular papers in all disciplines.
• Background information can often be found in encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference works.
• Find books (Books often treat a topic more comprehensively than journal articles. Books can be a good place to find an overview of a topic. References to additional articles and books can often be found in a bibliography at the end of a chapter.)
• Use Primary sources whenever available.
• Find articles (Journal articles usually have the most up to date information on a topic. Since journal articles are often more focused than books, they may provide more specific information than books. References to additional articles and books can often be found in a bibliography at the end of an article.)
• If it is allowed, consider supplementary materials (such as internet sites).
• For information how to cite sources, see the ACS Style Guide .

For academic research, it is often important to use peer-reviewed (or refereed) journals rather than popular magazines. Peer-review is the process by which a journal article is evaluated by experts in the field. An example of a peer-reviewed journal is Chemical Reviews. An example of a popular magazine is Time.

Review articles: It is often useful to begin your research with a "review article".  A "review article" includes a listing of all the important research on a topic. Annual Review of Physical Chemistry (also available in print QD1 .A732)  is a good source for review articles.

Journal articles

Chemical Abstracts: Student Edition  

Available through FirstSearch. A good place to begin your research. Provides indexing and abstracts for over 250 core chemistry journals. The search can be limited to print journals available in Milne Library. Covers from 1967 to the present. 2 simultaneous users: please be sure to log out when you are finished! Searchable by CAS registry number--the Sigma-Aldrich catalog can be used to find CAS registry numbers.

 

American Chemical Society Web Edition

Access to about 30 peer-reviewed research journals published by the American Chemical Society. The Advanced Search box is located on the left hand upper corner of the page. ACS web editions user guide. (The ACS Journal of Chemical Education is available on a separate web site)

 

Academic Search Premier (link off the Milne Library home page under Databases by Name A-Z)

Provides full text for nearly 4,650 journals (including more than 3,600 peer-reviewed publications) and indexing and abstracts for more than 8,200 journals in nearly every area of academic study. You can limit a search to one journal.

 

ScienceDirect (link off the Milne Library home page under Databases by Name A-Z)

Provides full text access to over 2000 Elsevier journals in the fields of science, psychology, medicine, and technology.

It may be possible to find peer-reviewed journal articles by using Google Scholar; however, some of these articles may be author preprints and therefore may not be exactly the same as the final version. Some articles are available full-text due to Milne Library subscriptions.

Finding the full-text of online articles:

When the full text is not in the database, follow these steps, beginning with number one, until you are able to obtain a copy of the article.

1.      Find It! Look for Find It! button. This links to a menu that indicates other databases where the full text of the article might be found. Often there is a direct link to the full text of the article. If not, search the indicated database by the title of the article. If the full text isn’t available, go to step 2.

2.      Serials Solutions. Open a new browser window. From the library home page select Serials Solutions. Type in the title of the periodical (NOT the title of the article) you’re looking for. This will bring up a screen listing databases that have full text for the periodical you want. Once in a databases, search by the title of the article. If one of the listed databases doesn’t have the full text of the article you want, go to step 3.

3.      Library Subscription. From the library home page select Search the Catalog. Click on Reserves or Journals in the top bar, then choose Journal Titles in Milne Library, then type in the title of the journal. This will tell you if the library subscribes to the journal in print. Due to library renovations, you will need to fill out a request form for the journal.  If the library does not subscribe to the periodical, the article can be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan.

The Publication process: primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in chemistry

Wiki originally created by Gary Wiggins.

Primary sources are original works by an author.  Examples in chemistry include firsthand reports of research such as lab reports as well as many journal articles. Most new research in chemistry is published in the form of journal articles.

Secondary sources, such as Chemical Abstracts, can be used to find references to primary sources.  Books that are not the original work of the researcher are also considered secondary sources.

Tertiary sources include guides to the literature and textbooks.

Flow of scientific information

From the University of Waterloo.

Milne Library Catalog

Find books, videos, compact discs, reserves, and other materials. It does NOT have information about individual journal articles. The Advanced Search feature allows limiting by language, collection, document type, year.

 

To view detailed information about an item, click on the number link on the left of the entry. Subjects are listed at the bottom of the detailed entry. These subjects will link to other materials on the same exact subject.

 

Hartwick College

SUNY Oneonta students may borrow materials with a valid SUNY ID card.

 

WorldCAT  

A catalog of books owned by libraries world wide. Good for in-depth research of a topic. Interlibrary loan often takes only a few days  but occasionally can take as long as three weeks. Be sure to allow plenty of time!

Reference materials can be useful to find background information.

Chemistry: Foundations and Applications.  Milne Library Reference QD4 .C48 2004  4 volumes

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics Milne Library Reference QD65 .H3

Material Safety Data Sheets (http://www.ilpi.com/msds/)

McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of science & technology Milne Library Reference  Q121 .M3 1997 20 volumes.

Merck Index: an Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals.  Milne Library Reference RS51 .M4

NIST Data Gateway. Access to free National Institute of Standards and Technology databases that cover a broad range of substances and properties.

NIST Chemisty Web Book

NIST Physical Reference Data

WebElements Online periodic table of the elements. Also includes key data, history, uses, biology.

*Anyone* can publish on the Internet. Therefore, it is important to learn to evaluate any information found on the net.

Five points to consider in the evaluation of a web site:

1. AUTHORITY: Who is responsible for creating the page? Does the URL contain .edu (education), .gov (US government), .org (organization) .int (international organization)? Or does the URL contain  .com (commercial) or .biz (business)? Is it a personal site (.name)? (Country codes also may be part of a URL. See Domain name registries around the world for a listing of country codes.)

2. CURRENCY: Is there a date indicating when the page was created or updated? Is the information up to date?

3. COVERAGE: What is the purpose of the site? Does it address your research topic?

4. OBJECTIVITY: Is the site expressing a slanted point of view or trying to sway your opinion?

5. ACCURACY: Can you verify that the information is correct? Are the facts consistent within the page?

Examine these web sites. Which information is accurate?

FDA approves new high-intensity sweetener Sucralose

Splenda/Sucralose Homepage

Sucralose Toxicity Information Center

When you use information from a book, article, or web site, don't forget to cite it in proper fashion!  Remember to paraphrase and use your own language. For further tips see:

Plagiarism-  What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It

The latest print version of the ACS Style guide is available in Milne Library Reference QD8.5 A25 2006. It is more complete than the online version below.

 

ACS Style Guide

 

Nancy Cannon
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