While Wikipedia can sometimes be a good starting point, it is not considered "scholarly." If you are you having trouble distinguishing between the peer-reviewed/scholarly journals from the trade publication or popular magazines, Below is a link to a document that will help explain the differences.
REVIEW VERSUS RESEARCH
It is also important to be able to distinguish between review articles and research articles. A review article’s primary purpose is not to present new research, but to summarize, analyze, discuss, and provide an overview of previously published work on a topic. A research article is designed to present new research, methods, and/or findings. Research articles often employ the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Research, and Discussion) format. Below are a few articles of interest on this topic.
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One of the first steps in creating a research plan is to select "key words" which best describe the topic you plan to research.
If you are unfamiliar with the terminology you encounter while searching article databases (or while reading articles in journals) you may wish to refer to sources such as textbooks, dictionaries, and other reference resource in the field of study. Contact your instructor if you are unsure if a particular topic is appropriate. It is usually wise to make sure you are on target with your topic before you begin to spend much time researching a project.
Here is a short list of some possible terms (be sure to scroll down to check out the whole list). Use the following terms individually or in combination with one another:
"Acquired immunity"
"Acute phase proteins"
"Adhesion molecules"
Affinity
Allele
Allergen
Alloimmunization
Anaphylaxis
Antibody
"Antigen processing cell" (APC)
"Antigenic determinant" (epitope)
Antigen
APC
Apoptosis (programmed cell death)
Atopy
"Autoimmune disease"
"B cell"
Basophil
CDBs
Chemokines
Chemotaxis
"Chimaeric antibody"
"Class switch"
"Class switching"
Clone
Complement
Complementarity determining regions" (CDBs)
Cytokines
Cytotoxicity
"Delayed-type hypersensitivity" (dth)
"Dendritic cells"
dth
Eosinophil
Epitope
"Gene recombination"
"Gene segment"
"Germ-line DNA"
"Germinal centre"
Haplotype
"Hay fever"
Histamine
HLA
Hybridoma
Idiotype
IFNs
Imaging
"Immune complex"
Immune surveillance"
Immunoassay
Immunocompetence
Immunoglobulins
Immunologic
Inflammation
"Innate immunity"
Interferons (IFNs)
Interleukins
"Internal image"
"K cells"
"Killer cells"
LAK
"Langerhans cell"
"Large granular lymphocytes (LGLs)
LGLs
"Lymph node"
"Lymphokine-activated killer cells" (LAK)
Lymphocyte
Lymphokines
Lysozyme
Macrophage
"Major histocompatibility complex" (MHC)
"Mast cell"
Memory (Immunologic)
MHC
"Monoclonal antibody"
Monocyte
"Mucous membranes" (mucus)
Mucus
Mutation
"Natural killer cell " (NK)
NK
Oncogenes
Opsonization
"Plasma cell"
PMN
Polymorphism
"Polymorphonuclear neutrophil leucoyte" (PMN)
"Privileged sites"
"Programmed cell death"
Prostaglandins
"Secondary response"
"Serum sickness"
"Site-directed mutagenesis"
Specificity
Spleen
"Stem cell"
Superantigens
"T-cell receptor" (TCR)
"T cell"
"T-cytotoxic cell"
"T-helper cell"
"T-suppressor cell"
TCR
Thrombocytopenia
Thymus
"Tissue typing"
"Transplantation antigen"
Vaccination
Check out these databases if you are looking for scholarly articles.
Below are some databases that will be more relevant/useful for the "sciences" and "health sciences." Be sure to "scroll" down through the box to see additional choices.
Check out these databases if you are looking for scholarly articles.
Below are some databases that will be more relevant/useful for topics related to the "natural sciences" and "mathematics." Be sure to "scroll" down through the box to see additional choices.
There is a lot of content in this box, be sure to scroll down for additional tips/techniques.
If you need a better understanding of Boolean logic and searching, here are a few resources to help:
Or, sometimes called a Survey of the Scholarship.
A literature review is a text written by someone to consider the critical points of current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and as such, do not report any new or original experimental work. Also, a literature review can be interpreted as a review of an abstract accomplishment.
Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such as a thesis or peer-reviewed article, a literature review usually precedes a research proposal and results section. Its main goals are to situate the current study within the body of literature and to provide context for the particular reader. Literature reviews are a staple for research in nearly every academic field.