Thursday, September 4, 2014

Literature Searches (Part 4): Fast Forward

“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” -- Winston Churchill (British Orator, Author and Prime Minister during World War II. 1874-1965)
 
The literature search process involves three basic steps …
 
  1. Key word searching
  2. Backward reference searching
  3. Forward reference and author searching
 
Today’s tip covers forward reference searches.
 
Yair Levy and Timothy J. Ellis define and describe the concept so well in their article “A Systems Approach to Conduct an Effective Literature Review in Support of Information Systems Research,” that I can do no better than to offer a direct quote …
 
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“The third step in the process of exploring the knowledge base for references about the phenomenon deals with forward literature search. Similar to the process of the backward literature search, the forward search can be divided into two specific sub-steps: forward references search, and forward authors search.
Forward references search refers to reviewing additional articles that have cited the article. For example, a forward reference search for Compeau and Higgins’s (1995) article can be accomplished by conducting an electronic library database search for all articles that include either “Compeau” or “Higgins” in their citations. Doing so will enable to researcher to extend their knowledge even further by locating follow-up studies or newer developments related to the phenomenon under study.
Forward authors search refers to reviewing what the authors have published following the article. For example, a forward authors search for Compeau and Higgins’s (1995) article can be accomplished by conducting an electronic library database search for all articles that include either “Compeau” or “Higgins” as the author. Doing so will enable the researcher to extend even more their knowledge about the authors by identifying improvements or new findings related to the phenomenon under study.”
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As with the backward search, this step is both straight forward and labor intensive. You will want your research assistant to help with this … unless you are the research assistant, in which case, never mind.
 
In the forward reference search sub-step, you simply review additional articles that have cited your primary target article(s).  Let’s continue using the article we have selected as an example …
 
Mohebali, G., & Ball, A. S. (2008). Biocatalytic desulfurization (BDS) of petrodiesel fuels. Microbiology (Reading, England), 154(Pt 8), 2169–2183. doi:10.1099/mic.0.2008/017608-0phene; 4, cis-4-[2-(3 ... Rhodococcus sp ...
Cited by 46
 
Google® Scholar reports that the article has been cited 47 times. Clicking the Cited 47 Times hyperlink results in a list of articles whose authors have cited the target article. The first five on that list are …
 
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Recent advances in petroleum microbiology
JD Van Hamme, A Singh, OP Ward - Microbiology and molecular …, 2003 - Am Soc Microbiol
SUMMARY Recent advances in molecular biology have extended our understanding of the metabolic processes related to microbial transformation of petroleum hydrocarbons. The physiological responses of microorganisms to the presence of hydrocarbons, including  ...
Cited by 827
 
Recent advances in the science and technology of ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) production
A Stanislaus, A Marafi, MS Rana - Catalysis Today, 2010 - Elsevier
Sulfur content of diesel fuel has been cut down to ultra low levels by environmental regulation in many countries with the aim of reducing diesel engine's harmful emissions and improving air quality. As a result, research on the production of ultra low sulfur diesel ( ...
Cited by 266
 
Oxidative processes of desulfurization of liquid fuels
JM Campos
Martin, MC CapelSanchez… - Journal of chemical …, 2010 - Wiley Online Library
Abstract Environmental concerns have introduced a need to remove sulfur-containing compounds from light oil. As oxidative desulfurization is conducted under very mild reaction conditions, much attention has recently been devoted to this process. In this contribution,  ...
Cited by 89

Retracted article: Towards near zero-sulfur liquid fuels: a perspective review
B Pawelec, RM Navarro, JM Campos-Martin… - Catalysis Science & …, 2011 - pubs.rsc.org
This perspective review discuses the fundamentals and factors influencing the removal of the least reactive sterically hindered S-containing compounds present in transportation fuels, and more specifically in the diesel fraction. The challenge for deep desulfurisation of  ...
Cited by 84

Prokaryotic hydrocarbon degraders
RC Prince, A Gramain, TJ McGenity - Handbook of hydrocarbon and lipid …, 2010 - Springer
Abstract: Hydrocarbons have been part of the biosphere for millions of years, and a diverse group of prokaryotes has evolved to use them as a source of carbon and energy. To date, all the formally defined genera are eubacterial, in 7 of the 24 major phyla currently  ...
Cited by 26
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So what have we gained? To repeat Levy and Ellis …

“Doing so will enable the researcher to extend their knowledge even further by locating follow-up studies or newer developments related to the phenomenon under study.”

The next post will cover forward author searches.

Visit www.JeanSteinhardtConsulting.com for more tips and tricks.


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