FOR 2006 Guide Ask Us

Welcome to the FOR 2006 library research guide!

This guide is designed to help you successfully complete your library assignment by connecting you with the most fitting research tools, tips, and resources accessible through UNB Libraries. Use the tabs above to guide you as you complete this assignment. If you have any questions along the way please do not hesitate to reach out to Emily Connor Dafoe, your subject librarian - happy researching! 

This guide provides an essential roadmap to effectively utilizing the library’s vast resources and services, which are pivotal for your academic success.

Before beginning your research or assignment, be sure to read the "Getting Started Guide" and explore the content on "Library Help Videos". It introduces you to all the relevant resources available in the library and is essential for all your courses.

Key Resources

When researching, it is important to remember that searching is non-linear and iterative. If you don't find what you're looking for on your first attempt, try to play around with your keywords and where you are searching. 

Boolean searching

If you are searching for multiple keywords or concepts, try combining them using boolean operators. This will expand or narrow your results and give you more control over your search. 

• Adding AND between keywords will narrow your results and only retrieve items including both concepts.
• Adding NOT between your keywords will narrow your results and eliminate results using the word following not.
• Adding OR between your keywords will expand your results and retrieve results using either keyword.

Truncation and Wildcards

Truncation and wildcards can be applied to a keyword search in a database or search engine to broaden your results and allow you to look for variations of words.

For example, if you search for conservation you will only retrieve items using the keyword conservation. However, if you search for conserv* you will retrieve results using the keywords: conservation, conserve, conserved, conserving, conservation, and conservancy. 

Phrase searching

When searching a keyword or concept that is multiple words, combine them using quotation marks. This will search for these words as a phrase, rather than individual concepts. 

For example, search for "sustainable management" rather than sustainable management. 

There are many different types of scholarly literature available to you when researching. Most of these sources fall into one of the following categories: 

Primary Sources

Primary Literature sources are original studies based on direct evidence. It is where new findings and data are first reported. These original materials often authored by researchers and published in peer-reviewed journals.

• Examples of primary literature include research articles, theses and dissertations, and conference proceedings. 

Secondary Sources

Secondary Literature sources review articles and synthesize and summarize existing research rather than present new findings.

• Examples of secondary literature include systematic reviews and textbooks. 

Tertiary Sources

Tertiary Literature sources aim to provide the distilled essence of knowledge. These sources typically lack a specific author because their primary mission is to compile and present existing ideas and information.

• Examples of tertiary literature include textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and manuals.

Researching with Scopus

Scopus is a multi-disciplinary scientific database which includes journal articles. Scopus also tracks cited references, allowing users to search for subsequently published papers that cite an original research paper.

Key Resources

Conducting a Search in Scopus

1. To conduct a search in Scopus, start by selecting the field you wish to search within. 
2. Next, enter in your search terms and click search 
3. From your results page, use the filters along the left of the page to narrow your results down
4. To open an article, click on the article title

Finding a journal's CiteScore in Scopus

1. Search for a journal title (in the field Source Type)
2. From the results click on the journal title
3. View CiteScore from this page

Finding an author's h-index in Scopus

Within Scopus, an h-index is a score that measures a researcher's productivity and citation impact of their publications. 

1. Search for author’s name in the author’s tab of Scopus
2. Click on corresponding author from results
3. View h-index from here

What is a citation style?

A citation style is a set of rules on how to cite sources of information in your academic writing. There are many different citation styles out there. Two that you may encounter in your studies are the Canadian Journal of Forest Research format and the American Psychological Association (APA) format.

Journal article format in Canadian Journal of Forest Research citation style:

Author, A., and Author, A. Year. Title of article. Title of journal. Volume number(issue number): page range. doi:xx.xxx/yyyyb

Elements of a Citation

Here are the key elements of a citation: 

• Author(s): Who wrote the source? In some cases you may have editors instead or in addition to authors. 
• Publisher: What company published the source? This is most common with books and websites. 
• Date of Publication: When was the source published? 
• Title: When was this source published? If citing a scientific article you will use both journal and article titles:
  • Journal Title: The name of the publication that your article was published within. 
  • Article Title: The name of the specific article you are citing. 
• Volume: Common with scientific articles and typically references how many years that journal has been publishing. 
• Issue: Common with scientific articles and typically references how many times within a specific year that journal has published. 
• Page range: Page range of source, if applicable. 
• URL/DOI: When citing scientific articles include a DOI, not URL. 

When to Cite

There are three ways to refer to information:

1. Quoting: using the exact same words as the original author

• not used much at all in scientific writing

2. Summarizing: uses fewer words than the original author, leaves out unnecessary details

• generally, less than 50% of what you are summarizing

3. Paraphrasing: using the ideas of the author, but not using their exact words

• the meaning should be the same
• likely the most common way to refer to external information in scientific writing

Immediately following any information that is not your own, you must provide a citation for that reference. Whenever you write a scientific paper, it is important to adhere to a citation style you have decided on.

Why Citation Matters

There are many reasons why citing sources is essential. You must cite your sources to avoid plagiarism, build credibility to your argument, and allow your reader to verify your claims (among others). 

Citation Help

If you have any questions about formatting your citations, please reach out to your subject Librarian (Emily Connor Dafoe). 

There are also free software available to help you with citation. At UNB, librarians can help you with Zotero.