Study Notes for Preventive Dentistry: Community Dentistry Division

Preventive Dentistry Department

Community Dentistry Division

Lecture No. 6

• Instructor: Dr. Muhammad Nadeem
• Date: 2005-1251
• Course: Dent.222 (Scientific Literature-1)
• Institution: College of Dentistry, Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia
• Website: www.ju.edu.sa

Introduction to Scientific Literature

• Scientific literature encompasses publications that report findings in natural and social sciences within a scientific field.

Types of Scientific Literature

• Categories of Scientific Literature:
  • Primary Literature: The first report of new research; original studies presented in a format suitable for peer review and publication.
  • Secondary Literature: Reviews, summaries, or compilations of primary research findings.
  • Tertiary Literature: Works that compile, summarize, or distill primary and secondary literature such as encyclopedias or textbooks.
  • Grey Literature: Includes unpublished works, government reports, theses, and conference proceedings.

Usage of Literature Types by Scientists

• Scientists utilize secondary literature to achieve the following:
  • Overview: Gain an overview of research areas close to or relevant to their own work.
  • Familiarization: Acquire familiarity with existing research on new topics that they plan to investigate.

Tertiary Literature

• Definition: Tertiary literature consists of published works based on primary and secondary sources, typically written for a general audience rather than scientific experts.
• Characteristics:
  • Usually lacks references to primary literature.
  • Examples include:
  • Scientific magazines
  • Newsletters
  • Science articles in newspapers
  • Encyclopedias

Types of Publications Based on Availability

1. Print Publications

• Definition: These include tangible materials that are published in physical form.
• Examples:
  • Journal articles
  • Books authored by individuals
  • Magazines
  • Newspapers

2. Electronic Resources

• Definition: These are available in a digital format.
• Examples:
  • Websites (formatted examples available)
  • Professional websites
  • Personal websites
  • Electronic versions of print journal articles
  • Articles published exclusively online.

3. Sources Not Existing in Print or Online

• Definition: These represent communications that are not formally published.
• Example:
  • Personal communication (correspondence, interviews, etc.)

Types of Papers Published in Journals

• There are three main kinds of papers published in journals:
  1. Research Reports (Original Research)
  2. Case Reports
  3. Review Papers

1. Research Report

• Definition: This type of paper describes original, basic, or epidemiological research.
• Structure:
  • A question is identified.
  • The study is designed to test that question.
  • Results of the study are discussed.
  • Conclusions are drawn based on the findings.

2. Case Report

• Definition: Accounts provided by clinicians regarding specific disease conditions and their treatment outcomes.
  • Subcategories:
  • Description of disease conditions.
  • Analysis of treatment outcomes.

3. Review Papers

• Definition: This type of literature summarizes knowledge in a specific area.
• Purpose: To synthesize and evaluate existing research to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic.

Structure of a Research Paper

Materials and Methods Section

• Purpose: To describe the materials and methods used in experiments.
• Importance: The description must be clear enough to enable other researchers to replicate the experiments.

Results Section

• Purpose: This section reports the experiments and the outcomes found.
• Presentation: Generally, results are presented with minimal discussion, which is reserved for the subsequent section.

References

• Definition: References comprise previously published works that serve as sources for the content discussed in the paper.

Acknowledgements

• Definition: An acknowledgement is an expression of gratitude for assistance received during the research process.