Literature searches Citing sources Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 1 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2 Where do literature searches appear? ? Sometimes they are separate documents. ? More often, they are embedded in complex documents (proposals, reports, thesis). Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 3 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 Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 4 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 5 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 6 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 Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 7 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 Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 8 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 9 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 10 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 11 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 12 ? 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 13 ? 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 14 ? Web site (not a personal one) – Lego Mindstorms Community Page, http://mindstorms.lego.com/eng/community/resources/default/asp, Date accessed: 10/20/2002 Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 15 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 16 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 17 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. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 18