Understanding your topic
Journal articles are highly technical as they are written for an expert audience. It is a good idea to do some background reading to become more familiar with the concepts in your chosen topic area.
A good source for background information is textbooks, encyclopedias or review articles. Have a look at some recommended sources below.
Recommended online encyclopedia
- AccessScience from McGraw-Hill McGraw-Hill's AccessScience encyclopedia of science & technology online.
Recommended textbooks
- Campbell biology Australia and New Zealand Edition A comprehensive textbook covering the field of Biology.
- Essential Cell Biology This book provides an introduction to topics in cell biology including key principles of cellular function, chemical components of cells, and more.
- Biology (2 ed.) Biology 2e is an OER textbook which provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens.
Finding books & articles
You can find a large range of textbooks and articles in the library catalogue. Watch the video below to see how you can find these resources on the library website.
- Library CatalogueThe Library Catalogue is a good place to start your search. You can find many different information types in the one search.
How to read a library record
Finding web resources using Microsoft CoPilot
Although you can only include academic literature in your assignment, internet resources are also useful sources of background information to aid your understanding.
Microsoft CoPilot is a UTS-endorsed AI research assistant tool that assists with searching for internet materials. It may be a helpful way to turn up background information on your topic.
If you'd like to try Microsoft CoPilot - access from within the Edge browser. Make sure you log in using your UTS email and look for the green shield icon. This indicates that the data you input is secure; however, you should still exercise caution when entering personal and copyrighted information.
Optional activity
Use the following prompt in CoPilot and note the information the response is drawn from. Would you use any of these sources in an assignment? Based on your growing knowledge of this topic area, is the response accurate and useful?
Explain cell function at a level appropriate for an undergraduate biology student
Using CoPilot to develop academic reading skills
If you open up a journal article in the Edge Browser (either from a publisher website or a PDF) CoPilot can also be used as a personal tutor to help you direct your reading.
Try asking it to 'Suggest questions about this page' or 'Generate page summary'
Evaluating information
It's extremely important that you evaluate each source before using them in your assessments, particularly if you are using information you found on the internet. The C.R.A.P Test is a way to evaluate a source based on the following criteria:
- C.R.A.P Test VideoClick here to see the Library's video on how to do the C.R.A.P test.
- C.R.A.P Test WorksheetA downloadable worksheet for evaluating information sources using the C.R.A.P Test.
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