OC logo
Libraries Home Start Researching Subject Guides Services About Us
Skip to Main Content

Biology

Assignment

BIO 160 – BIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES


POPULAR VS. PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES AS REFERENCES

 

1. List your project topic or question below.

2. Attend the library session during lab time with your class during the first week of class.

3. Find two recent (published since 2010) references that address your selected topic using the research techniques you learn during the library session.   One reference should be from a popular media source (e.g., magazine or newspaper) and one reference should be from a peer-reviewed journal

4. Use American Psychological Association (APA) style documentation to cite each reference below

5. Read both articles thoroughly.

a. Describe one way the articles are similar.

b. Describe two ways the articles are different. 

c. Which article provides more helpful and understandable information about the topic?  Why?

d. Do the references contain any conflicting information?  Explain.

e. Pick the article you will be most likely to use in your report.  For practice, write a summary sentence that references the information in the article, using proper parenthetical citations. 

Outcomes

After this library session, you will be able to:

  • Construct a search strategy using appropriate commands for the information retrieval system selected (e.g. Boolean operators)
  • Identify the purpose and audience of potential resources (e.g., popular vs. scholarly)
  • Identify the parts of a scholarly article and their purposes. 
  • Use APA documentation style to cite a source.