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It's Harder Than It Looks: How Students Identify Original Research Articles In An Undergraduate Biology Course, Alyssa Russo, Amy Jankowski

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Biology students must develop a foundational understanding about the role information plays in the scientific research process. Key to this is understanding that original research articles are the primary method of communicating findings from original scientific research. We analyzed data from an information literacy tutorial and worksheet integrated in a core undergraduate biology course to investigate how students identify original research articles. Our results suggest that students conceptually comprehend original research, but they need practice at identifying original research articles in real time and benefit from librarian feedback when they are actively searching for and selecting articles.