Lab 1

Objective of Lab 1: Selecting a Research Topic

First, select a research topic. Later you will analyze a primary research article pertinent to this topic. Your topic must be relevant to microbial adaptation and development so your work on the Research Lab will help you with the other course material.

Research articles are challenging to read and understand because they describe specific sets of original experiments. It is therefore essential that you develop a strategy before approaching a journal article database in search of that ideal article.

Review articles provide an essential bridge between textbook knowledge and the primary research literature - the domain of original research articles. In review articles (and some book chapters), experts explain our current knowledge of a particular topic, indicating which studies (research articles) have contributed to that knowledge, how they have contributed and what questions remain to be answered. You will use your review article as a bridge during your selection of a research topic and an article for analysis.

Browse the Review Article List and find an article that interests you. If you prefer a different topic, ask your Professor for help in finding an appropriate starting reference. Obtain the article. If you're not sure how to do that, follow this link: link to FAQs to learn how to obtain the article.

Can you answer "yes" to the following questions?

• Does this topic interest me?
• Will study of this topic and analysis of a related research article help me to understand the course material?
• Do I have background knowledge that will help me to understand this topic/analyze this article?
• Is the article written clearly?
• Does this article cite at least 25 primary research articles?

If you can answer yes to all these questions, read the article thoroughly. This will give you background knowledge essential to your analysis.

Later, you will select a research article cited by the reviewers as the subject of your analysis (Research Lab 2). Note: Very short reviews with very short reference lists may provide a good introduction to a topic, but they may also restrict your choice of research articles!

Now you can be sure that the research article you'll select next week was considered useful and even significant, at least by the "experts" who wrote your review article!