Introduction to Research and Writing in Health

Step 1 - Getting Started

Getting Started -Finding Your Topic -Background Resources -Books -Journals -News websites	Searching for Information	Evaluating What You Find	Citing What You Find
	Locating What You Find	Writing Term Papers	Questions?

Where you start depends on what you know already and what you've choosen to research.

Do you have a topic and list of a references to locate? Then start with the section on Locating Identified Information.

Do you have a topic you that have a good understanding of, but do not have any journal articles or books yet? Then start with the section on Searching for Information.

Do you have a topic, but don't really know much about it? Then start with the section on Background Resources to learn more about it.

Finally, do you not have any ideas on what you want to research? Then start at the beginning with Finding a Topic.

Finding Your Topic

There are a variety of different ways of coming up with a topic:

Did a particular class lecture intrigue you?
Did a section of your textbook make you want to find out more about it? If so, are there additional references given?
Scan through a book or encyclopedia that deals with the broad subject. These books listed below can provide you with an introduction to your topic and have good literature cited sections.
You can skim some recent issues of journals in this area to get ideas for topics.
Or look at a news website that covers health and science issues.

As you read background resources or scan the current issues of journals, look for the following which can help you in constructing your search:

Terms and phrases used to describe the subject. The English language is very rich in synomyms, so make a note of the different terms used for the same concept.
Identify parameters such as disease state, geographic location, environment, gender, ethnicity, age group.
Identify important researchers.

Selected BOOKS and ENCYCLOPEDIAS include:

Gale encyclopedia of medicine . D Olendorf, C Jeryan, K Boyden, eds. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1999. RC41.G35 1999 v.1-5 Science Reference

Britannica.com. Chicago, IL: Britannica.com Inc. (Fully searchable, expanded version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica).

The World Health Report. World Health Organization. Geneva: World Health Organization. RA8.A265 1999 Sci Ref Desk (Year 2000 is available online at http://www.who.int/whr/.)

International handbook of public health. K Hurrelmann and U Laaser, eds. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. RA427.I54 1996 Science Reference

Women and health. MB Goldman, MC Hatch, eds. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 2000. RA778.W742 2000 Science Reference

Healthy People 2010: The Conference Edition. Washington DC: US Dept of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, 2000.

Online book: http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/Document/default.htm

HE 20.2:P 39/3/ v.1-2 Gov Pubs US

Cambridge world history of human disease. KF Kipple, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. R131.C233 1993 Science Reference

Whaley & Wong's nursing care of infants and children. 6th ed. DL Wong et al. St. Louis: Mosby, 1999. RJ245.W47 1999 Science Reference

Selected JOURNALS include:

JAMA
American Journal of Public Health
American Family Physcian
Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Emerging Infectious Diseases
Health Care for Women International
Health Education and Behavior
Journal of Transcultural Nursing
The Lancet
Nursing
Pediatrics

Selected NEWS SERVICES WEBSITES include:

CNN Health

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/

Reuters Health Information

http://www.reutershealth.com/

BBC News: Health Section

http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/default.stm

World Health News

http://www.worldhealthnews.harvard.edu/

an online public health news digest covering key issues and stories from around the world.

Science in the Headlines (National Research Council)

http://www.nas.edu/headlines/

SciTech Daily Review

http://www.scitechdaily.com/

Step 2 - Searching for Information

Getting Started

Locating What
You Find

Evaluating What
You Find

Citing What
You Find

Searching for
Information

-Journal Articles
-Books
-Websites

Writing Term
Papers

Questions?

Finding Journal Articles

Selected journal databases include:

Proquest and Academic Search Premier (EBSCO): - Two multidisciplinary and selectively fulltext databases available through the SDSU Library database network. Both have options to search only scholarly, peer-reviewed information.

Other subject specific databases you might want to try at a later date include:

Medline: - Covers 1966 to date; - Includes all aspects (especially clinical and research) of medicine, nursing, and dentistry; - Focus is research, uses medical terminology; - International in scope; - Indexes journals only
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature): - Covers 1982 to date; - Includes all aspects of nursing, physical therapy, communicative disorders and other allied health fields; - Focus is practice with a growing research aspect, uses nursing terminology; - International in scope but mainly English language articles; - Indexes journals, books, pamphlets, dissertations, instruments
Popline: - Freely available via Internet Grateful Med from the National Library of Medicine; - 1970 to date; - Worldwide coverage of population, family planning, and related health issues, including AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, maternal and child health in developing countries; - Primarily English language items but international in scope; - Indexes journal articles, books, technical reports, and unpublished works

A complete list of databases is available on Infodome, the Library's homepage.

The PAC is the main system for identifying books at the SSDU Library. It is also interlinked with two union catalogs. Circuit is a joint catalog of SDSU, UCSD, USD, and CSUSM. Link+ is a joint catalog for several of the CSU campuses plus three private colleges. Books may be borrowed from any of these libraries via the catalogs. See below for more information.

Finding Internet Information

The following websites are good starting points for finding health information on the Internet:

Medlineplus: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/; Reputable resources listed under specific health topics and conditions. Also search a variety of medical encyclopedias, dictionaries and sources of drug information. Medlineplus is produced by the National Library of Medicine.
Hardin Meta Directory: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/; Links to some of the most complete and frequently cited health websites by subject.
Health Information Resources: http://mel.lib.mi.us/health/health-index.html; Good starting point from MEL, the Michigan Electronic Library.
Librarians' Index to the Internet: http://www.lii.org/; Search the Librarians' Index to the Internet to find webpages on a variety of subjects which have been selected and evaluated by librarians.

Step 3 - Locating What You Find

Getting Started	Locating What You Find -The PAC -ILL	Evaluating What You Find	Citing What You Find
Searching for Information	Locating What You Find -The PAC -ILL	Writing Term Papers	Questions?

Remember that the SDSU Library does not own all the journals indexed in the journal databases nor are very many databases fulltext, therefore you must check the library catalog for availability, locations and call numbers.

Using the Library Catalog

The SDSU Library's online catalog, sometimes referred to as the PAC, simply lists the books the library owns and the journals to which we subscribe. It does NOT list individual journal articles or most book chapters.

Below we explain how to interpret a citation to determine if it is a book, book chapter, or journal article, and how to find it using the Library Catalog.

Journal Articles

Niccolai LM, Dorst D, Myers L, Kissinger PJ. Disclosure of HIV status to sexual partners: predictors and temporal patterns. Sex Transm Dis 1999; 26:281-285.

Journal article citations can be identified by the fact that they end with volume and page numbers. Unfortunately many times, you will need to "unabbreviate" the journal title. These can be found in the green List of Serials Indexed for Online Users (located on the Science LION tables). Once you have found the complete journal title, type it into the PAC using the Title/Journal Title Index. Once the record displays for the journal, the call number and location are found by clicking on the blue "Display Call Number, Location and Volumes" link.

Books

Anspaugh, DJ, Dignan, MB, Anspaugh, SL. Developing health promotion programs. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000.

Book citations can be identified by the fact they end not with page numbers, but with a place of publication and publisher, as well as the year. Book chapters are similar but have two titles instead of one. (See below.) You can search either by the book's title or by its authors.

Book Chapters

Morse SA, Knapp JS. The genus Neisseria. In: Balows A, Truper HG, Dworkin M, Harder W, Schleifer K-H, eds. The Prokaryotes. 2nd ed. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1992:2495-2529.

Book chapter citations can be identified by the facts that they have two set of titles and authors. The first set refers to the chapter; the second set to the entire book. Use the second set to look up your book by either title or author.

What if it's not at SDSU?

Journal Articles

If this library does not own the journal, you can request a copy of the article through Inter-Library Loan (ILL).

You can place your requests electronically
The service is free.
Currently no limit to the number of requests you can make.
Takes 1-2 weeks for delivery.
Articles are mailed to your home or campus address. (You may want to check that we have your correct address by using the View Your Circulation Record function on the PAC. If not, update your address at Admission and Records and the Library will get the updated information in about 48 hours.)

Books, etc.

There are three steps to take.

First check Circuit to see if the book is available at one of the other San Diego area university libraries.: If available, request the item.; Circuit deliveries usually take overnight.; Books are picked up at the Main Circulation Desk in the Dome.
Next check Link+, a union catalog of several CSU and private university libraries throughout the state of California.: If available, request the item.; Delivery generally takes 3-5 days.; Pick up the items at the Main Circulation Desk.
Last, fill out an Inter-Library Loan (ILL) request.: ILL will find out which library in the US (or the world, if necessary) has the book and borrow it from them.; Usually takes one to two weeks for delivery.

Step 4 - Evaluating What You Find

Getting Started	Locating What You Find	Writing Term Papers	Citing What You Find
Searching for Information	Evaluating What You Find -Your Search -Your Articles, etc.		Questions?

Are You Finished with Your Search?

As you survey your reams of photocopies and stacks of books, how can you tell if you're done searching or need to find more material?

Do you find that your references keep repeating themselves?: You're done if you have searched several indexes and you just keep turning up the same books and journal articles.
Are there key articles that most (if not all) your material mention?: Make sure you find those.
Are you overwhelmed by the amount of information?: Narrow or focus your topic by age, gender, geographic location, etc.
Are there any gaps in the material?: Go back to the indexes and see if you can locate material just in those areas.
Do you not have enough information?: Consider using another journal index listed in the Searching section above.; Broaden your search; if you restricted it to a particular age group, drop that restriction.

Evaluating What You Find

It is important to determine your criteria for evaluating the relevance of retrieved books and journal articles. These can include:

Authority of the author(s)
Date of publication
Type of publication
Relevance of content
Intended audience
References cited
Cited or reviewed by others

Some additional websites with more information about evaluation of resources (especially Internet resources) include:

Health On the Net (HON): http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html; Websites which abide by the ten principles of the HON Code of Conduct for medical and health websites may post this logo. HON is trying to address the reliability and credibility of health information on the Internet.

Step 5 - Writing Term Papers

Getting Started	Locating What You Find	Writing Term Papers -Online Resources -Writing Center	Citing What You Find
Searching for Information	Evaluating What You Find		Questions?

As with research, learning to write an effective term paper takes time and practice. We have listed a few sites below which provide useful overviews of the process. Be sure to talk with your professor early in the process and understand their requirements.

Online Resources

The Writing Center at Colorado State University: http://writing.colostate.edu/; Provides good guides and online tutorials to the writing process.
University of Richmond's Writers Web: http://www.urich.edu/~writing/wweb.html; Very thorough site providing information on getting started, writing first drafts, focusing and connecting ideas, editing, grammar and punctuation, and citing references.
Guide to Evaluating Your Own Writing: http://www.utoronto.ca/hswriting/selfeval.htm; A useful checklist from the University of Toronto's Health Sciences Writing Centre.

SDSU Writing Center

San Diego State University Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies offers a 'Drop in' writing clinic where a writing tutor will evaluate your essay.

Drop In Tutoring (for writing from all majors)
Storm Hall, Room 240
First come, first serve.
Bring your essay.
Fall 2000 Hours: Monday 10-1, Tuesday 11-3:30, Wednesday 1-3, Thursday 2-3:30.

For more information, please call the RWS administration office at 619-594-6515.

Step 6 - How to Cite What You Find

Getting Started	Locating What You Find	Writing Term Papers	Questions?
Searching for Information	Evaluating What You Find	Citing What You Find

Bibliographic citations at the end of a paper need to be formatted in a fairly precise way so that others can find the journal articles and books you used. One of the most common styles used for citing references in health is that created by the American Psychological Association. The main items to use are:

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.). (1994). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.: BF 76.7 P83 1994 Sci Circ Desk, Gen Ref Desk, Gen Ref Stacks
American Psychological Association. (2000, August 30). Electronic reference formats recommended by the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved August 31, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html

Additional examples can be found at:

Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center. (n.d.). APA style guide. Rohnert Park, CA: Author. Retrieved from August 31, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://libweb.sonoma.edu/research/citation/apa.html

Step 7 - Questions

Getting Started	Locating What You Find	Writing Term Papers	Questions?
Searching for Information	Evaluating What You Find	Citing What You Find	Questions?

Need some help getting started? Questions about Medline? Call us!

Science Division: 619-594-6715
General Reference Division: 619-594-6728
Government Publications and Maps Division: 619-594-5832

Stuck with computing problems?

Contact the Student Computing Help Desk: Phone: 619-594-3189; Email: problems@rohan.sdsu.edu

Stuck with writing problems?

Check out the Drop In Tutoring: Storm Hall, Room 240; For more information, call the RWS office: 619-594-6515

Other important phone numbers and web sites

Infodome - the Library's homepage: /
Library Hours: 619-594-6721; /about/hours.shtml
Circulation Desk: 619-594-6793
View Your Circulation Record: http://libpac.sdsu.edu/patroninfo
Renew Books Online: /howto/renew.shtml