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HON 4960 Lifehacking the Literature: Research Ethics & Peer Review

Concepts

  • What is peer-review? What purpose(s) does it serve? Does it work well, or is there a better system?
  • What do you think are the major ethical problems in your field of study?

Required Materials

Citations Assignment

Scholarship does not exist in a vacuum, but is a conversation carried out between researchers, sometimes over the course of many years.  Cited references in scholarly communication are a means of tracing this conversation and linking together thoughts on a particular subject.  This assignment will allow you to analyse how you might use your current research as a starting point for further research forward or backward in this chain.

Using the materials (books, journal articles, etc.) that you have collected to date, do both of the following

  • find one article that you would like to follow up on to see if it was cited elsewhere.  Why is this article important to you to follow up on?  Has it been cited since publication?  If so, how did the citing authors use the original work?  If not, why do you think it hasn't been cited?
  • find a reference in the reference list or bibliography of one of your materials that you would like to follow up on.  Why do you want to trace this citation back?  What new information will it bring to your research?

Other Readings & Diversions

PhD Comics: OMG! ROTFL!!

A new Method for Reviewing

Honest Academic Rejection Letter

Peer Review in xkcd comic

PhD Comics: Addressing Reviewer comments