Literature and Ethics
C344
Role of Literature in the Paper
• “Research becomes meaningful only
when viewed in the context of the field’s
developing knowledge.”
• How can the contribution be judged
outside of the current state of
knowledge?
• Citations serve to acknowledge others,
direct readers to further information,
and place research into the paradigm—
either support, or showing a gap
Role of Citation in the Introduction
•
•
•
•
•
Credibility—the author knows the field
Introduction for non-expert reader
Context of the current state of knowledge
Shows gaps in knowledge
What needs cited? Depends on assumptions
about the audience
– ASSUME A GENERALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE
ORGANIC CHEMIST AUDIENCE
Role of Citation in the
Results/Discussion
• Compare/contrast previous
methods
• Compare/contrast previous
data
• Validate experimental design
and interpretations
• What contribution(s) have
been made to the field?
Role of Citation in Experimental
• Indicates whether or not molecule has been
made before
• How well does current characterization match
previously reported data?
• Allows for comparisons of procedure and
percent yield
Literature and Proposals
• We won’t be proposing research based on
literature, but here are some questions that
can still be useful
– What does the field know about the subject?
– What studies have been done?
– What methods have been used, and how useful
were they?
– What information is still needed?
Writing in the Sciences, Penrose and Katz
Finding Literature: Index
• We will use SciFinder Scholar
• Free web-based access for IUB students
• Advantages of SciFinder
– Comprehensive (CAS numbers)
– Search on topic, author
– SEARCH ON STRUCTURE!
– Search reference lists (backwards) or citation lists
(forwards)
Citing Sources in the Text
• Three major types
– Name-year
– Citation-sequence (most common for us)
– Citation-name
• Use of names
– Direct citation—uses names in text when
appropriate
– Indirect citation—names only appear in references
Format of References
• DEPENDENT ON THE JOURNAL!
• We will follow JOC, and use almost exclusively
primary journals as our sources
• Format:
Last Name, Initial(s).; Last name, Initials. Journal Abb. Year, Volume, pages.
Ethics
• Academic Misconduct
– Fabrication
– Falsification
– Plagiarism
• Types of Plagiarism—Figure 3.4 in Writing in the
Sciences
–
–
–
–
Direct plagiarism of words without quotes and citation
Mosaic—taking ideas and scattered words without credit
Paraphrase—restating ideas in own words without citation
Insufficient acknowledgment—unclear citation that does
not allow reader to know what is original and what is
borrowed
Authorship
• Academic Misbehavior rather than
misconduct
• Authorship means
– Contribution
– Responsibility
• Acknowledgments
• Where does proofreading come in?