Research Guides: BIOL 805: Professional Scientific Communication (Da Silva Carvalho): Choosing a Topic

Exploring Topics

Narrowing down your topic can be daunting. Searching for related concepts in a reference database can help you get to know the possibilities. The following resources are guaranteed to have resources that will help you find a topic.

Science This link opens in a new window
Understand context for hundreds of science topics through overviews, journals, news, interactive experiments, and more. Contains millions of full-text articles that include national and global publications as well as 200+ experiments, projects, and top reference content.
Credo Reference E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
Reference e-books on a wide range of topics. Sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, key concepts, key thinkers, handbooks, atlases, and more. Search by keyword or browse titles by topic.

Journals

Biology Journals Browse all general biology journals available electronically through Forsyth Library.

Databases

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window A multi-disciplinary database that provides full text for more than 4,600 journals, including approximately 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. Useful for nearly any research topic.
BioOne This link opens in a new window Citations/abstracts and some full-text articles from high-impact, peer-reviewed bioscience journals and bulletins in plant science, animal science, entomology, wildlife management, biology, chemistry and more, published by the American Institute of Biological Sciences and closely related organizations.
Sage Premier This link opens in a new window A multi-disciplinary database with many full-text, scholarly articles back to 1999, and citations/abstracts prior to 1999.

Library Resources

JSTOR Biological Sciences Collection The Biological Sciences Collection from JSTOR contains a variety natural sciences resources.
Biology E-Books Browse all biology e-books in the Forsyth Library catalog.
FHSU Biology Master's Theses The FHSU Biology Department Master's Theses are available online in the FHSU Scholars Repository. Some theses may be limited to on-campus access only due to copyright restrictions.

Data Sources

Dryad Repository of research data underlying scientific and medical publications, predominantly from peer-reviewed journal articles.
Figshare General repository for research outputs, including data sets, media, papers, posters and groups of files.
NIH Data Sharing Repositories List of NIH-supported data repositories and resources that aggregate information about biomedical data. Each entry has a brief description of the repository and links to data submission and access policies.
re3data.org Global registry of research data repositories.

Steps to Developing a Topic

Read your assignment and note any requirements.

Is there a required page length?
How many sources do you need?
Does the paper have to be in a specific format like APA?
Are there any listed goals for the topic, such as synthesizing different opinions, or applying a theory to a real-life example?

Formulate a general idea.

Look at your syllabus or course schedule for broad topic ideas.
Think about reading assignments or class lectures that you found interesting.
Talk with your professor or a librarian.
Check out social media and see what has been trending that is related to your course.
Think about ideas from popular videos, TV shows, and movies.
Read and watch the news to see if there is anything going on related to your course.
- Read The New York Times (FHSU students have free access through the Library)
- Watch NBC Learn (FHSU students have free access through the Library)
Search your library for relevant journals and publications related to your course and browse them for ideas
Browse online discussion forums, news, and blogs for professional organizations for hot topics

Do some background research on your general idea.

Read an encyclopedia entry.
- You have access to reference materials through the Library for background research.
See what your course notes and textbook say about the subject.
Google it.

Credo Reference E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
Reference e-books on a wide range of topics. Sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, key concepts, key thinkers, handbooks, atlases, and more. Search by keyword or browse titles by topic.
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Over 1200 cross-searchable reference e-books on a wide variety of subjects.

Mind map it.

A mind map is an effective way of organizing your thoughts and generating new questions as you learn about your topic.

Video on how to do a mind map.

Coggle
Free mind mapping software that is great for beginners and easy to use.
MindMup
Mindmup is a free, easy to use online software that allows you to publish and share your mind maps with others.

Ask Questions to focus on what interests you.

Who? What? When? Where? Why?

We can focus our ideas by brainstorming what interests us when asking who, what, when where, and why:

anonymous by Gregor Cresnar from the Noun Project Who? special education students, elementary students

what by Dinosoft Labs from the Noun Project What? flexible seating, classroom management

clock by Iconika from the Noun Project When? Past ten years, past five years, Mid-1990's to Present

Map By Parallel Digital Studio vis The Noun Project Where? elementary schools, integrated classrooms, middle schools

Cloud Question Mark by Dinosoft Labs from the Noun Project Why? focus, improved test scores, less disruptive

Research Question: Does flexible seating in an elementary classroom improve student focus?

Write out your topic question & reread the assignment criteria.

Can you answer your question well in the number of pages required?
Does your topic still meet the requirements of the paper? Ex: is the question still about the sociology of gender studies and women?
Is the topic too narrow to find research?

Developing a Topic and Writing a Research Question

The following tutorial from Forsyth Library will walk you through the process of defining your topic.