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ASCI 351 - Reproductive Physiology

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Keys to Successful Searching

There are two keys to successful searching:

1. Using the right words
2. Using the right tool (database).

The Right Words

When searching for articles in a database, you will need to identify a number of keyword search terms to use based on your topic.

If your topic was about the hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy in horses, the following search terms would be appropriate:

  • Horse
  • Equine
  • Pregnancy
  • Hormone

Using the * at the end of the root word will tell the database to find the word, the plural form, and any related words with different suffixes (e.g, hormone, hormones, hormonal)

Next, you need to combine these search terms with connectors to create a search statement to use in the database. You will want to create several different search statements to use for searching. 

Here are some search statement examples:

  • horse* AND pregnancy
  • (horse* OR equine) AND pregnancy AND hormones

TIP You won’t want to enter a phrase in the search box of the database or index, because the database will not be able to understand it and you won't get any results. Remember to pick out the important words for your topic and use AND/OR to combine them into a search statement.

The Right Tool

It is equally important to use the right database to search for articles. The databases listed below are appropriate for searching for articles for the research paper assignment. Make sure you select the database that is most appropriate for your topic, and keep in mind that you may need to use more than one database to find articles. 

PubMed Tutorials

Searching for Articles

Use one of the article databases listed below to search for articles on your topic. 

Journal Ranking Tools
Citing Your Sources

For this course, you will use cite your sources in the style that is used for Journal of Animal Science or Biology of Reproduction. 

Below is a list of resources to help you to cite your sources in proper format. Contact Katherine if you need assistance. 

Examples for formatting E-Pub Ahead of Print articles:

Biology of Reproduction style:

Shikina S, Yoshizaki G. Improved in vitro culture conditions to enhance the survival, mitotic activity, and transplantability of rainbow trout type A spermatogonia. Biol Reprod 2010 (in press). Published online ahead of print 28 April 2010; DOI 10.1095/biolreprod.109.082123.

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