Tag Archives: Scientific research

Compare databases

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We are forever recommending the big databases for finding journal articles and conference proceedings but do you ever wonder how much overlap there is between the databases in science and engineering? You can compare databases using the Academic Database Assessment Tool from the Center for Research Libraries.

Compare the journal coverage of the two major multidisciplinary databases, Web of Science and Scopus, or see how the content overlaps with Compendex (engineering), Inspec (physics) and Geobase (geosciences). According to this tool, there are 11377 overlapping journal titles between Web of Science and Scopus – not a small number.

The redundancy in the search results from searching multiple databases is why we also recommend using citation management software. You can send all of your records to EndNote, for example, from the different databases and then remove the duplicates before you look through them to delete ones you don’t like and select papers of interest you’d like to read. EndNote can also check the McGill Library holdings and attach full text PDFs to records (just fyi).

Calling all citizen scientists

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GalaxyZoo

There is room for everyone in science and researchers are harnessing the enthusiasm of everyday people (not to mention their free time) to work on projects.

Galaxy Zoo is perhaps the most famous example of citizen science, with over 200,000 volunteers classifying galaxy images taken from a robotic telescope. Citizens have always played an important role in astronomy but now anyone can contribute without buying expensive equipment. We humans are needed to describe the images but the task is too large for a researcher or group of researchers to take on. Thus far over 150 million galaxies have been classified by volunteer astronomers (zooites) and a few have gone on to make really neat discoveries.

A more local example is Phylo, a citizen science project from McGill. A lot of these projects are actually games that people can play (yes, science can be fun!) and this one uses your pattern recognition skills to solve DNA puzzles in order to learn more about gene mutations and genetic disorders.

I urge you to find a citizen science project that interests you. Take a look at this list from Scientific American. There are a lot of weather or nature watching options (Snowtweets, RinkWatch, ZomBee Watch, SubseaObservers). There is even an Open Dinosaur Project.

Happy exploring!

The year’s best images in science

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A picture is worth a thousand words.  Check out the winners and runners-up of the 2012 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.  According to Breanna Draxler of Discover magazine, “the visualization challenge is designed to encourage a better public understanding of scientific research and is sponsored by the journal Science and the U.S. National Science Foundation.  Criteria for entries include visual impact, effective communication, freshness and originality.”

My favorite image is the “Polar Mapping of Structures in the Universe.”  What’s yours?

A look at 2012’s scientific achievements

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In the latest issue of the New Scientist magazine, there is an article that briefly summarizes last year’s discoveries and debates in the physical sciences.  These were:

1- “Beyond Higgs: Deviant decays hint at exotic physics” [read more]

2- “Neutrino speed errors dash exotic physics dreams” [read more]

3- “If you want to be president, hire geeks not pundits” [read more]

4- “Why physicists can’t avoid a creation event” [read more]

5- “Fiendish ‘ABC proof’ heralds new mathematical universe” [read more]

6- “Death-defying time crystal could outlast the universe” [read more]

7- “Truth of the matter: The Majorana particle mystery” [read more]

8- “Quantum measurements leave Schrödinger’s cat alive” [read more]

9- “US judge rules that you can’t copyright pi” [read more]

10- “Move over graphene, silicene is the new star material” [read more]

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Extreme scientific analysis

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Discoblog is one of my favorite blogs.  It reports on weird, humorous, and astonishing studies that have been published.  Here are links to some posts about studies that the Disco-bloggers labeled, “analysis taken too far”:

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The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE)

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Here at The Turret we like videos a lot. We assume our readers do too. What if I told you that there was a peer-reviewed (scholarly) video journal that publishes biological, medical, chemical and physical research in a video format? Check out The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) through McGill’s journal subscriptions if you don’t believe me. McGill has select access to three of the six sections covered in JoVE: General, Neuroscience, and Immunology and Infection. It’s worth mentioning that each “video article” is accompanied by a textual equivalent with abstract, discussion, step-by-step instructions and a materials list. JoVE also won the “Best Original Content” award from the Library Journal earlier this month. Librarian approved!

Image from the JoVE website www.jove.com

Science & technology research in Canada

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The Council of Canadian Academies recently released a report entitled, The State of Science and Technology in Canada, 2012.  It reveals the 6 research fields in which Canada is among the best.  These are:

  • Clinical Medicine
  • Historical Studies
  • Information and Communication Technologies
  • Physics and Astronomy
  • Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
  • Visual and Performing Arts

For more information, read the report or watch the video below:

Validating scientific research

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The New York Times reported earlier this year that the number of published scientific articles that were retracted by journals has increased over the years.  The articles were withdrawn due to false claims or errors in research data.

The Reproducibility Initiative was recently launched to improve the quality of preclinical biological research.  According to its website, “the Reproducibility Initiative is a new program to help scientists validate studies for publication or commercialization. Simply submit your study, and we’ll match you to one of our 1000+ expert providers for validation. Validations are conducted blind, on a fee-for-service basis.”

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