publication

[laffite]

My PI asked me to gather sources in a study he is interested in writing about.
He said he wanted me to get exposure to the process if I'm going to
continue doing research at the institute. He said PubMed would be a good
place to start. I understand that this would probably be where I would find
articles. However, at this point, my job would only be to gather sources relevant to the topic of interest, right?

I would like to learn but do not want to hold up my PI's progress. I definitely
don't want to test his patience. Any advice to the matter would greatly be
appreciated.

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[JediZero]

My PI asked me to gather data in a study he is interested in writing about.
He said he wanted me to get exposure to the process if I'm going to
continue doing research at the institute. He said PubMed would be a good
place to start. I understand that this would probably be where I would find
articles. However, at this point, my job would only be to gather sources relevant to the topic of interest, right?

I would like to learn but do not want to hold up my PI's progress. I definitely
don't want to test his patience. Any advice to the matter would greatly be
appreciated.

I'm assuming he wants you to gather sources, not 'data', which is something different entirely.

Just look for research that addresses questions similar to yours, or that might have similarities in the procedure that can help you and the PI design yours.

 

[ninetynine]

this process is called reviewing and it is the essential beginning to every research project. don't look at this as a homework assignment. this is a valuable opportunity to gain an understanding of the field that you are innovating in. i like to start with google scholar - i find that pubmed often doesn't have links to full pdf's of articles you'll need. after gathering a lot of sources, you need to synthesize and analyze the work that is already out there. what do you already know? how did those who found these findings find them (what are the techniques and methods?) what is significant about this research? where ar ethe holes, and how does my study fit in? ask yourself stuff like that. the point isn't to just get a few papers and hand them to the professor and know nothing about them. consider yourself an expert on the field, as an innovating pioneer discovering new things on the forefront of this research. start with review articles first, then read the landmark studies (the ones that everyone cites over and over), and be familiar with the literature. after you've read a lot, you'll start understanding how this field of study "evolved" - how it moved from a more primitive understanding of an overarching question to its current state today. once there, you're ready to start your research and get to know wher eyou come from.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

scholar.google.com

 

[crasiman]

Not that this is the worst place to go, and not that the advice given isn't useful, but you're probably better/best off seeking the advice/assistance of the librarians at your institution's library--especially if you have a biological or biomedical library. Libraries from larger schools generally hold short seminars or offer 1-on-1 assistance in the process of searching for and reviewing background literature.