Literature searches
Citing sources
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Why search (and cite) the literature
of your field?
? Credibility: To be sure that your work is based on current,
sound research--the best in your field.
? Focus: To be able to place your work in context.
? Efficiency: To be sure that you’re not duplicating work
unnecessarily.
? Professional ethics: If you don’t show your awareness of
current research and give appropriate citation, you risk
appearing na?ve or arrogant or dishonest.
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Where do literature searches appear?
? Sometimes they are separate documents.
? More often, they are embedded in complex
documents (proposals, reports, thesis).
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Where to find literature to search?
? Start with a respected, current source, and look at
that author’s list of sources.
? Talk to your professor or to a professional in that
field.
? Ask a reference librarian for help in searching
–Books
– Journal articles
– Electronic databases
– Conference proceedings
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Where to find literature. . . ?
? Use the Internet judiciously.
– Find out as much as you can about the site and
the site manager, the date of posting, and whether
or not the material was peer-reviewed.
– If a posted article is important to your work, print
the article for future documentation.
? Join a professional listserve and put out a request
for information.
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Other keys to searching
? Know your purpose in searching the literature.
? Narrow the scope of the material you’re searching.
? Assess the author’s credibility.
? Get a sense of how the piece of material relates to
others.
? Write a summary of the key points of the article.
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Gather bibliographical details
systematically.
? Books ? Articles
– Author (s) or editor’s full
name
– Exact title
– Publication information
? Year of publication
? City of publication
? Publisher
? Edition
? Page numbers
– Author (s) or editor’s full
name
– Exact title of article
– Publication information
? Exact journal title
? Volume and issue
? Year of publication
? Page numbers
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Getting details systematically
? Electronic sources
– All of the information for
articles previously listed
– URL of the site
– Type of source/site
– Date you accessed it
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Retrievable vs.. non-retrievable
sources
Retrievable sources:
? Non-retrievable sources:
?
sources that anyone could
access.
These go into the list of sources
cited at the end of the document,
and they’re noted by superscript
numbers in the text.
sources that are personal;
sources that not every member
of the public could access
– Unpublished papers but not
dissertations
– Personal Web sites
– E-mails and conversations
These sources are cited in
footnotes and indicated by
symbol at the bottom of the
page, NOT superscript
numbers.
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As you do the literature search,
what’s your purpose?
? Critical or evaluative summary of information
relevant to your research
– Not just a report but rather a critical discussion of
the validity of this work and its relevance to your
work.
– Choose a method of organization that suits your
purpose.
? To trace development, organize your findings chronologically.
? To reflect controversy, organize around the positions held.
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When to cite
? You must cite a source when you use that person’s
ideas or specific facts.
– Within quotation marks, if the quote is exact.
– Without quotation marks, if you are paraphrasing
or noting the key idea or fact.
? You do not have to cite ideas/facts that are
common knowledge.
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How to cite retrievable sources
according to AIAA standards
1
? Journals:
– Walker, R. E., Stone, A. R., and Shandor, M.,
"Secondary Gas Injection in a Conical Rocket
Nozzle," AIAA Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1963,
pp.334-338.
? Books:
– Turner, M. J., Martin, H. C., and Leible, R. C.,
"Further Development and Applications of
Stiffness Method," Matrix Methods of Structural
Analysis, 1st ed., Vol. 1, Wiley, New York, 1963,
pp. 6-210.
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? Reports:
– Book, E., and Bratman, H., "Using Compilers to Build
Compilers,” Systems Development Corp., SP-176, Santa
Monica, CA, Aug. 1960.
? Transactions/Proceedings:
– Soo, S. L., "Boundary-Layer Motion of a Gas-Solid
Suspension," Proceedings of the Symposium on Interaction
Between Fluids and Particles, Vol. 1, Inst. of Chemical
Engineers, New York, 1962, pp. 50-63.
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? AIAA Meeting Papers:
– Bhutta, V. A., and Lewis, C. H.,
"Aerothermodynamic Performance of 3-D and
Bent-Nose RVs under Hypersonic Conditions,"
AIAA Paper 90-3068, Aug. 1990.
? Unpublished thesis or dissertation:
– Glazer, Frederick G., “Hierarchical Motion
Detection,” Ph.D. diss., University of
Massachusetts, 1987.
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? Web site (not a personal one)
– Lego Mindstorms Community Page,
http://mindstorms.lego.com/eng/community/resources/default/asp,
Date accessed: 10/20/2002
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How to cite non-retrievable sources
2
? Non-retrievable sources are footnoted with
symbols, not with numbers.
– Personal conversation:
? *E.G. Greitzer, personal communication, October,
2002.
– E-mail:
? **E.G. Greitzer, personal e-mail, October, 2002.
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Class activity
? Study the models handed out to see how the writer moves
from one piece of literature to the next.
– Do you get an idea of how valuable this previous work is?
How it relates to the writer’s project?
? With your partner, list 5 places you might find sources
relevant to your project and decide who will explore them.
– Do you have some sources that are peer-reviewed (sources
whose validity have been reviewed by academic
colleagues)?
– Check this list with your project advisor.
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Sources cited
1. AIAA Web site: http://www.aiaa.org/
Date accessed, October 3, 2002.
2. Perelman, L., Paradis, J., Barrett, E., The
Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific
Writing, Mayfield, CA: 1998.
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