BIOL30001 Reproduction
Introduction to practical classes
Literature Review
Accessing the primary
literature (Scientific Journals)
Literature Review
• You will research the background and what
has happened following up on this research
with respect to the focus of the specific
question.
• We will assess your understanding of the
field using several short written-answer
directed questions. This assessment will be
in the format of a invigilated test (5 mins
reading, 30 mins writing time) in a class
venue (3 sessions to be held on Thurs 26th
and Fri 27th Sept, one topic per session).
Groups released Monday noon
• Topics available Monday 16th Sept (120
max per topic, sign up via LMS group. Each
topic will have a different assessment time
(see below))
• We will provide you with a seminal paper or
two that changed the paradigm in a
particular area, along with a specific
question regarding work that has followed
from this.
Conventional paradigm
Y chromosome (SRY)
 testis
 hormones
 sexual differentiation
BUT…
Not all sexual dimorphisms
caused by testicular
hormones in wallabies ….
* Background
* What has this new
perspective led to?
Why the new approach
Topic
Assessment time
Topic 1 Sexual differentiation – nonhormonal pathways
Thurs 26 Oct 1-2 PM
?
Topic 2 New-hormonal pathways in
virilisation
Friday 27 Oct 9-10 AM
Topic 3 IVF children – differences in
phenotype to naturally conceived
children
Friday 27 Oct 1-2 PM
• with over 330 students we could not
mark a 1500 word essay in a timely
fashion
• Less work for you
• some of slides following not relevant to
this format but are useful generic skills.
MAX 120 per topic
Lecture 1
1
BIOL30001 Reproduction
Is the internet always correct?
• Google searches go to sometimes unreliable
sources.
• Wikipedia can be wrong: e.g.
– 13/8/12 : “PMSG is marked by the fact that it produces both
follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone
(LH).” - note misleading wording
– 15/8/12: “In equids PMSG has only LH like activity, but in
other species it has activity like both follicle-stimulating
hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH).” corrected.
Introduction to practical classes
Primary literature search- some sources
1. Unimelb Library Discovery- Indexes to material available
through library, but can be slow and difficult to find things.
http://www.library.unimelb.edu.au/
library proxy:
http://pubmed.org.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/pubmed/16735538
1. PubMed – free – indexes medical and related life science
literature, gene database info and so on. http://pubmed.org
-- access via library to get “source it at Unimelb” links.
Be careful of sites and sources of information!!
Primary literature search- some
sources
3.
4.
Scopus - Unimelb subscription via Library. Easy to
download PDFs of sets of selected references. http://wwwscopus-com.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/home.url
Google Scholar - broad coverage of material
http://scholar.google.com.au/
Choose your search terms
• Use the right key words and search strategy
– Too broad a term will bring out too much
– Use more complex searches to get more specific
e.g. use parentheses, quoted phrases, and Boolean operators
(i.e. AND, OR) to refine searches
– Use filters like “review” or language or filter by year …
5. Web of Knowledge - http://apps.webofknowledge.com/
– Each search engine has its own syntax – read the instructions.
Web of Science …
Science Citation Index …
Referencing in text
• For all assessments- prac worksheets and lab reports,
literature reviews, publications of all sorts.
• UoM library guidelines http://www.library.unimelb.edu.au/cite/
Referencing-Bibliography
• List references in alphabetical order. Give articles by the same author
in the order:
- Single author
- Two authors alphabetically according to the name of the second author
- Three or more authors chronologically, with a, b and c etc. for articles
published in the same year, in the order in which they are cited in the text.
• Reference in the following format:
• Order
– Chronological (earliest first), then alphabetical
– e.g. (Shaw et al., 1998; Green, 2010; Shaw, 2010)
• Citation styles
– APA …oxytocin is secreted by the posterior pituitary (Shaw et al.,
1998; Green & Shaw, 2005)
– Vancouver …oxytocin is secreted by the posterior pituitary 1, 2.
Lecture 1
Journal article
Green MP, Ledgard AM, Beaumont SE, Berg MC, McNatty KP, Peterson AJ, Back PJ (2011)
Altered ovarian dynamics and follicular steroid concentrations in relation to sub-clinical
endometritis in postpartum dairy cows. Journal of Animal Science 89: 3551-3560.
Suzuki S, Shaw G, Renfree MB (2013) Postnatal epigenetic reprogramming in the germline
of a marsupial, the tammar wallaby. Epigenetics Chromatin 6: 14
Book chapter or section
Shaw G (2006) Reproduction. In Marsupials . pp 83-107. Ed. Armati, P.J., Dickman, C.R. &
Hume, I.D.. Cambridge University Press.
Schneider NY, Shaw G, Renfree MB (2013) The Role of Olfaction at Birth in Marsupial and
Monotreme Mammals. In Chemical Senses in Vertebrates XII . pp 87-96. Ed. East, M. L.
& Dehnhard, M.. New York: Springer .
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BIOL30001 Reproduction
Introduction to practical classes
Referencing - Bibliography
• Many examples and variations of output styles
• Each journal usually has their own
e.g. Reprod. Fert. Develop. http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/47/aid/358.htm#9
Useful Links
• http://www.library.unimelb.edu.au/
– … .ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/...  library proxy
• Unless it is specified (normally for journals) then choose
one.
• http://www-scopuscom.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/home.url
• Just make sure you have all the information in the citation
and be consistent with your format.
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/sit
es/entrez?otool=iaumelblib
e.g. use either the full journal title or the abbreviated titleBiology of Reproduction or Biol. Reprod.
e.g. use full-stops, commas and spaces consistently-
• http://www.library.unimelb.edu.au/cite/
• http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/47/aid/358.htm#9
Shaw, G., Green, M. P., and Parry, L. J. (2012) or
Shaw G, Green MP & Parry LJ (2012)
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Penalties
a) Initial- zero grade and warning
What is it?
• Plagiarism is the act of representing as one's own
original work the creative works of another, without
appropriate acknowledgment of the author or source.
Try to avoid it
https://academichonesty.unimelb.edu.au/advice.html
http://academichonesty.unimelb.edu.au/links.html
• We expect that when a student turns in work for assessment
that it is the independent work of that student, it is written by
that student, and they have written it in their own words. In
most cases, copied assignments will be given a zero
grade for the piece of work for both parties: if A copies B's
assignment, both A and B will get zero. Assignments copied
in whole or large part from books or articles will receive a
zero grade.
b) Full academic misconduct case
• Strict university policy and procedures
• Possible formal disciplinary and expulsion
Questions ???
• on the review
• on the past lectures
• life the universe and everything …
Lecture 1
3