UMARU MUSA YARADUA UNIVERSITY, KATSINA

[DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY]
CHM 3115: Library Technique and Chemical Literature [1 Unit]
Course Outline
❖ Introduction (chemical literature and library technique)
❖ Reason for chemical literature and library technique studies
❖ Classification and Sources of Chemical Data (Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary sources).
❖ Searching on Computer Interfaces (Search and Select and Un-satisfied
Answers)
❖ Arrangement of Materials (Library of congress classification)
❖ Retrieved of information
❖ Language and scientific terms
❖ Writing of scientific reports

Introduction
Scientific knowledge has been defined as the objective knowledge of the universe
and its phenomena, generated by the scientific method of inquiry and validated to
conform to empirical observations of natural phenomena; Michael Faraday once
stated that the three necessary stages of useful resources were to begin it, to end
it, and to publish it.

Science is sustained by its literature, which is both the foundation for and a
product of continuing progress in scientific research. The production,
dissemination and assimilation of information report proceeds through both formal
and informal channels resulting in the production of various forms of research
projects. However, a research project is not complete until it has been published
and can be accessed by other scientists in support of their research. As Isaac
Newton said in a letter to Robert Hooke in 1675/76; :If I have seen further it is by
standing on the shoulders of giants.
All discoveries made in the laboratory must be published somewhere if the
information is to be known – “is known” or “has been done” really mean “has
been published”. The chemical literature is both vast and complex. I hope to give
you some basic tools and concepts to make more efficient use of the literature and
computerized databases. The ability to use the scientific literature is a necessary
requirement of the practicing chemist. These are the dominant tools for both
current awareness and in-depth literature searching. Thus, necessitate the use of
library as a coordinating body of all education sectors to compile and manage all
contribution from all discipline of learning.
A library is a collection of sources, resources, and services, and the structure in
which it is housed; it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an
institution, or a private individual.
Library catalogs index all items in any format held in a particular library, Book,
journals, newspapers, government publications, reference materials, and non –
textual materials such as films, videos, computer software, maps, photographs are
some of the items that may be included. A catalog record includes both a
bibliographic and physical description of the item, subject indexing, the physical
location and call number of the item within the library. Library catalogs are now
beginning to include records for items that are not physically held in library, but
which can be accessed by authorized users, such as electronic journals or
databases. Individual library catalogs from all over the world can now be accessed
via the internet.
Reason for chemical literature and library technique studies
The reasons why the studies are important are:
1. Because the subject is HUGE
 (a) Chemistry strictly defined is large, and it overlaps into physics, biology,
medicine, pharma`ceutics, geology, materials engineering, forensics,
etc.
(b) In many areas of chemistry, notably synthesis, the older literature is as
th
relevant as the newest literature. 19 century journals are still consulted
for synthesis work!
(c) In many areas of chemistry, the patent literature is as important as the
more familiar journal literature.
2. Because the subject is COMPLEX...
(a) Chemistsare interested in information which cannot be readily
defined merely by key words, such as ranges of numeric data, sets of
substances with particular structural features, or macromolecules
(both biomolecules and synthetics) with particular sequences of
structural units.
(b) Theterminology of chemistry, especially chemical nomenclature, is
incredibly complex!
(c) The
patent segment of the literature is often written in terminology
obscure even to trained chemists.
3. Because the tools available for chemists are RAPIDLY EVOLVING...
(a) Onlya few years ago, there was very little on the Internet of interest
to chemists. Now, traditional journals and databases have been
reinvented for the World Wide Web, and new resources have sprung
up.
The chemical researcher can benefit from learning how to search chemical
information and how it is organized.
Sources of chemical literature
Sources of scientific information can be classified into three; namely,
primary, secondary and tertiary sources.
Primary Literature Sources
Primary sources present information that has not been previously published
in any form in any other source. These sources may evolve through either formal
or informal channels of communication examples of primary sources are:

Journals Conference papers and proceedings

Dissertations, Theses and project report, Memoranda,
Government publications (Bulletins) E-mail
Technical report Patents Laboratory notebooks
Personal communication

Journals
Journals articles are publications that are issued on a regular schedule and
that present detailed reports of current research in a particular field. Some journals
cover research in all areas of science and technology, while others concentrate on a
narrow subject area. The science journals are the most important tool in
dissemination of scientific information. Study has shown that 94% of the citations
in the chemical literature come from journal articles. All articles submitted to
scholarly scientific journals subjected to a peer review process, which helps to
maintain the quality of the scientific literature.
Citations to articles published in scientific journals are located using print
or online indexing and abstracting services. Journals are available by subscription
from the publisher. An increasing number of journals are now available in
electronic format.
Scientific Journals
The scientific journal was invented in the mid-1600's as a means of speeding
scholarly communication: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. As science
grew, so did the volume of literature and the specialization of journals. Today there are
over 100,000 scientific journals.
Types of Journals
Journals vary widely in degree of specialization, from
❖ Nature; Science
Very broad, covering all of science (more or less...)
❖ Journal of the American Chemical Society (1879); Angewandte Chemie (1888)
Covering all of a major section of science, such as chemistry, biology or geology.
❖ Journal of Organic Chemistry (1936); Journal of Biological Chemistry
Covering a major subsection of science, such as organic chemistry or solid state
physics
❖ Journal of Peptide Science; Nucleic Acids Research
Covering a highly specialized area of chemical research.
Type of Article
Journals vary in types of articles:
❖ News and reviews: Chemistry World (RSC); Chemical & Engineering News (ACS)
These magazines specialize in short summaries of "hot" current research, usually
in language aimed at the non-specialist, often written by professional journalists
(with some scientific background) rather than by professional scientists.
❖ Major reviews: Accounts of Chemical Research; Chemical Society Reviews
These journals specialize in longer articles summarizing the research in a
particular field, usually over a specified chronological range. These are generally
written by scientists who are expert in the field. An intensive survey of a rather
narrow field of study (eg. “The use of chemically modified RNA in breast cancer
gene silencing”.) A good review article is of enormous value as it represents a
thorough survey of all the work done in the field under discussion.
❖ Major original papers: Dalton Transactions; Tetrahedron
These journals (the majority of scholarly journals) carry full-length articles on
original research.
❖ Brief communications: Chemical Communications; Organic Letters, Rapid
Communications in Mass Spectrometry
Some journals specialize in rapid publication of short announcements of research
results.
Some major journals of interest to organic chemists include:
From the American Chemical Society:
Accounts of Chemical Research (1968) – reviews
Chemical Reviews (1924) - reviews
Journal of the American Chemical Society (1879)
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
Journal of Organic Chemistry (1936)
Heterocycles (1973)
From the Royal Society of Chemistry:
Chemical Communications (1965)
Chemical Society Reviews (1972) - reviews
Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry (formerly Perkin Transactions I, (1841), Journal of
the Chemical Society)
Russian Chemical Reviews
From Elsevier publishers:
Tetrahedron Letters (1959)
Tetrahedron (1958) -reviews

Others:
Angewandte Chemie, Intl. Ed. Engl. (1962) - reviews
Canadian Journal of Chemistry (1929)

Some specialist journals that I look at for my research:

Electronic Journal of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Nigerian Journal of Biochemical and Molecular Biology
Italian Journal of Food Science
Chemclass Journal
Pakistan Journal of Nutrition
African Journal of Environmental Studies
Nigerian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences
American Journal of Chinese Medicine
Journal of food compositional analyses
International Journal of Food Science and Technology
Journal of Nutrition and Food Science
Journal of American Chemical Society
African Journal of Biotechnology
Asian Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences
Nigerian Food Journal
The Journal of technological sciences
Journal of Nigerian Society for Experimental Biology
Journal of Food Technology
Plant Foods for Human Nutrition
Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry
Asian Journal Androl
Journal of Horticulture and Forestry
Journal of Trace and Microprobe Technique
Journal of Food Composition and Analyses
Journal of Environmental Quality
Journal of American Nutrition
Analytical Chemistry
Thailand Journal Medical Association
Online Journal of Royal Society
International Journal of Food Resources
Journal of Biotechnology
Indian Journal for Pharmaceutical Sciences
Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry
Journal of Nutrition
Taiwan Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Food Science
Journal of Agronomy

Conference Papers and Proceeding

Conference papers are reports of research that are read at a conference or
meeting. Proceedings are collections of conference papers that are published as a
single volume. Papers presented at conferences tend to be very current and deal
with a specific, narrow topic. They may or may not be published after the meeting.
Most disciplinary indexing tools index conference papers, as do the two
databases, paper first and proceedings first. Often only the abstract appears in
print. Papers that are bound and published as proceedings are more likely to be
indexed. Sometimes the full text can only be obtained from the author.

Dissertations and Theses

Theses are research papers required for some Master’s degrees and
dissertations are presentation of original research written by a candidate for a
doctoral degree. Both serve as a source of data that has original research written
by the candidate, and reviewed by a faculty committee. Doctoral dissertations
written in the US since 1861, as well as selected Master’s theses and British,
Canadian and European dissertations are indexed in ProQuest Dissertations and
Theses. Full text of these documents is sometimes available via interlibrary loan.
Most are available for purchase either in print or microfilm from University.
Microfilms, Inc. Recent initiatives at some universities are making it possible for
students to submit electronic theses and dissertations. Networked Digital Library
of These and Dissertations and OhoLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Center are some links where more information and to download the full text of
some very recent theses and dissertations can be obtained. A student can also
contact University librarian for assistance in obtaining dissertations and theses.

Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia often provides a good starting pint for research. They are
usually arranged alphabetically by topic, but some are arranged by a classified
system. Most encyclopedia articles also include a brief bibliography of sources for
additional reading. Always consult the index for access to different aspects of a
topic that may be treated in different articles.

Handbooks
Handbooks are single or multi – volume collections of data and descriptive
text that are designed to provide a quick reference source of useful data for experts
in a particular field. Information may be presented in charts, tables, graphs,
glossaries and detailed discussions. They may also include bibliography references
to the primary literature and detailed indexes.

Reviews of the literature

Reviews of the literature survey the important primary literature sources
and other works on a particular topic, usually over a given time span. They
provide the bibliographic information needed to find the original work, and
summarize the most important points about advances during that period. Reviews
are important for researchers because they save them at time, it would take to
search a large body of literature for the most significant items. They also provide
students with an excellent starting point for their research.
Reviews may appear in book form in such series as Annual Review of…,
Progress in… or Advances in… some journals are devoted entirely to reviews of
the literature, while others may include a review article in an issue along with
research articles.

Dictionaries
The primary purpose of science and technology dictionaries is to provide
definitions of scientific and technical terms. They may cover all fields of science
and technology, or they may be more narrowly focused.

Bibliographies
A bibliography is a collection of citations of information sources on a
particular topic. A bibliography may cover a broad subject area or focus on a very
narrow topic. It may be limited by date, language, country of publication, format
or other characteristics. Bibliographies are important because they save the
researcher time in locating at least some of the valuable resources needed for his
or her project.
Bibliographies appear at the ends of books, book chapters, journal articles,
or encyclopedia articles. Long bibliographies are often published as separate
books. The arrangement of a bibliography depends on its length and purpose. It
may be a simple lists arranged alphabetically by author, or it may be arranged by
subject headings and subheadings, data, format, or a combination of
characteristics. Access to bibliographies depends on the format in which they
appear. Bibliographies appearing in journal articles can be accessed using
periodical indexes. Those published as a book can be located using a library
catalog.

Indexes and Abstract

Indexes provide the most efficient means of subject or author access to science
information published in widely-dispersed primary literature. Relevant citations to
works on a subject include such information as the title and author of the article,
the title, volume, issue and publication date of the periodical, and the pages on
which the article appears. Abstracts are extensions of indexes which include a
summary, or abstract, of the article. Abstracts often provide enough information to
determine whether or not the entire article is needed.

Indexes and abstracts may be multidisciplinary in their coverage, provide

comprehensive coverage of a major discipline, or focus on a narrow sub-
discipline. Some indexes are intended for use by a lay audience, covering a very
limited number of popular periodicals. Other indexes and abstracts are intended
for professionals in a field of science and cover an extensive list of peer-reviewed
journals as well as review literature, conference proceedings, patents and other
primary sources.

The classified subject heading arrangement of abstracts tends to be more complex

than the simple alphabetical arrangement of indexes. Abstracts often provide
multiple access points, include biosystematics names, molecular formulas,
geographic locations, chemical names, and a variety of classification codes.
Searching the controlled vocabulary of some abstracting tools is facilitated by the
use of a thesaurus.

Indexes and abstracts are available in both print and electronic formats, although
electronic databases are more convenient and provide more flexibility in
searching. Links to all databases available at the college of Wooster libraries may
be founds at the Databases by title page. For descriptions of and access to science
databases, see selected databases for Research in Science.

Citation Indexes
Citation indexing is based upon the premise that there us usually a direct subject
relationship between previously published articles that are cited in a new article,
and the subject of the new article. A record in a citation index includes the
references cited in the bibliography of the article. These cited references are
searchable and provide access to newer articles that are related to the subject of the
original article.

Science citation index expanded, a multidisciplinary database covering the journal

literature of science, provides basic subject and author searching as well as cited
reference searching. In addition, some database vendors are now providing citation
linking to articles indexed in their databases.
Monograph/Treatises
A treatise is a complete authoritative summary covering an entire subject or field.
It contains detailed bibliography of primary sources from which the information
was gathered.

Textbooks
Textbooks are books specifically designed to treats a given subject
comprehensively and are used by students as a basis for study. On like
monographs which give us the status of a subject, books teach a subject.

Technical Reports
Technical reports are prepared to described the progress of research and
development projects. This research is usually conducted by government agencies
or supported by government grants or contracts. If the research continues over a
period of years, the reports may be published in a series. Technical reports may
appear in different reference formats, including proceedings, transactions, annual
reports, or bibliographies.

Patents
A parents is an agreement with a government that grants a person or organization
ownership of a design or process for a designated period of time within that
country. Most industrialized countries award patents, but they don’t recognize
patents from other countries. Patents usually include drawings and descriptive text.
Patents are indexed by disciplinary indexing services and by online databases
devoted entirely to parents. Patent documents are available for sale by the United
States Patent and Trademark Office, the European Patent and through document
delivery services. Full texts f U.S. and other patents can also be read online from
the Chemical Abstract Service through Scifinder Scholar ChemPort Interface.

Laboratory Notebooks
Laboratory notebooks are bound volumes in which scientists record the progress
of their research besides their obvious value as internal references for procedures
and results, they are important in obtaining patents because they can be used to
prove when and where events took place or discoveries were made. Laboratory
notebooks are owned by the organization for which a scientists work. Access is
limited to authorized individuals within the organization.

Personal Communication
Informal communication involves person-to-person interactions between
scientists, often between members of cohesive group of researchers sometimes
referred to as an “Invisible college”. This informal communication has the
advantages of timeliness, selectivity, completeness, and development of persona
report. Disadvantages include the possibility that researchers become too exclusive
and miss important advances made by others outside their network, or that young
researchers may have difficulty gaining access to the network.

Secondary literature Source

Secondary sources are compiled from the primary sources and are arranged
according to definite plan. They are often more widely available than primary
sources and in many times more self-sufficient. Secondary sources not only
integrate and improve access to the ever-increasing body of primary literature by
organizing, repackaging, compiling and editing primary sources, but also guide the
researcher to original work. Secondary literature sources include:

Indexes and abstracts Text books,

Encyclopedias Handbooks,
Reviews Dictionaries
Monographs/Treatises Atlase
Atlases
Atlases are collections of maps, charts, or plates illustrating a particular subject. In
addition to geographical atlases, which illustrate geographical information of the
earth and space, biomedical atlases consists of charts and plates that locate body
parts in three dimensions.

Biographical Sources
Biographical information appears in a number of different kinds of sources,
including books, periodicals, encyclopedias and newspapers. Single or multi-
volume collections of biographical information may provide very basic data
(name, date of both, address, employment, education) or may devote several pages
to an individual, providing an account of his or her career, education
accomplishments, and significance in their field.
Techniques for locating biographical information depend upon the format in which
such information is published. Consult periodical indexes, newspaper indexes, and
indexes specific to biographical sources. Also consult library catalogs,
encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries.

Thesauri
A thesauri is a list of controlled vocabulary terms that indicates the relationships of
terms to each other within a database. Most list broader, narrower, and related
terms. Definitions and scope notes may be included. Using a thesaurus assists a
searcher in selecting the most effective terms for retrieving the desired information
in a print or electronic index. Thesauri exist in both print and electronic formats.

Tertiary Literature Sources

As a result of the rapid production of the primary literature and the quantity and
diversity of secondary publications, a secondary indexing is required to facilitate
access to primary and secondary sources. The tertiary sources that provide this
indexing include:
Guides to the literature and
Library catalogs and Company’s catalogs
Guides to the Literature
Guides to the literature described the types of sources, in all formats, available for
one or more disciplines, and list outstanding examples of each type. Some guides
cover all aspects of sciences and technology, while others focus on a specific
discipline. See the Umaru Musa Yaradua Guide to User
Searching on Computer Interfaces
(a) Specific Searching:- " " is used by many interfaces to search for a phrase –
Google does this.
(b) Truncation :- This expands a search term to include all forms of a root
word, e.g., patent* retrieves patent, patents, patentable, patented etc. Most
online catalogs and databases allow some kind of truncation, that is,
replacing part of a word with a symbol to search for multiple words with
the same root. For example, organo? might search for organochlorine,
organohalogen, organometallic etc. Some systems allow you to truncate
single characters, some allow you to truncate internally, e.g. wom!n. There
is little consistency as to which characters are used for truncation: * # ? ! $
are all used in various systems for various types of truncation. Usually there
is a “Help” button where the rules are explained.
(c) Boolean searching :- Generally speaking, most systems use the operators
of Boolean algebra: Example
(1) OR, meaning either "term A" or "term B";
(2) AND meaning both "term A" and "term B" must be present;
(3) NOT meaning "term A" is present, but records with "term B" are excluded.
However, not all systems are identical. Be aware of the usage on the system
in question.
(4) WITHIN Find words within a specified radius, e.g., carbon within 3 fiber
retrieves
(5) “x” records that contain carbon and fiber in any order and within a three
word radius of one other. Any number may be used to determine the
proximity radius.
(6) BEFORE Finds Words in a relative order e.g., social before security, Note
adjacency is not implied.
(7) AFTER Finds words that contain words in the relative order specified with
the after expression. e.g., scope after science. Note: adjacency is not
implied.
(8) ( ) Group words or phrases when combining Boolean phrases and to show
the order in which relationships should be considered: e.g. ‘(mouse or
mice) and (gene or pseudogene)
(9) Proximity :- If you enter multiple terms in a search window, some systems
treat them as separate terms, some search them as phrases. Some allow you
to specify the relationship of terms with proximity operators. Example:
"term A" NEAR5 "term B" meaning that in a record the two terms have to
be within five words of each other. Lastly, NEAR Find words within 10
words of each other, e.g., (women near violence) retrieves records that
contain women and violence in any order and within a 10 word ‘radius of
one other. Note: near is the same as within 10.
(d) Stopwords :- Usually words that are very common and lack subject
meaning are not indexed, such as "a", "an", "the", prepositions, etc. In
 library catalogs, sometimes "a" "an" or "the" at the beginning of titles are
omitted.
(e) Multi-character wildcard for finding alternative spellings: Use to
indicate an unlimited number of characters within a word, e.g., behave*r
retrieves behaviour or behavior.
(f) Single–character wildcard for find alternative spellings: The ? represents
a single character: two?? Represented two characters: three ??? represent
three characters, and so on. Use within or at the end of a word e.g., wom?n
finds woman as well as women and carbon fib?? Finds carbon fiber or
carbon fibre.
Search and Select
❖ Always remember that no single search will find every possible reference on a topic
(if the topic is at all complex) and that searches will rarely give a set of results
without any irrelevant answers.
❖ There are alwaystrade-offs between getting ALL relevant answers and getting
ONLY relevant answers.
❖ Ultimately, you will have to evaluate the answers you find, both to weed out the
irrelevant from the relevant, and to decide if you have answered your original
question adequately. You may find that your original question wasn't exactly what
you needed and need to revise it.
Un-satisfied Ansewrs
Actually you must encounter you're search result Not Satisfied...
❖ Assuming that you found at least some useful sources, now examine them for new
"clues" to deepen your search. Each source you found will yield more potential
starting points for your search. This is referred to as the Iterative Approach to
literature searching.
Arrangement of Materials
❖ Basically,after searching material must be arranged in an orderly manner. Example,
The Mount Allison Library follows the Library of Congress classification
system.
✓ The first group of letters signifies the broad subject area.
✓ The first group of numbers signifies the more specific subject area.
✓ The subsequent letters and numbers identify the individual book, and are
usually based on the author's name and/or book's title.
❖ "Traditional" subject areas are well grouped:
✓ QD = chemistry
✓ QD 241-449 = organic chemistry
✓ QD 380-388 = organic polymer chemistry
✓ QD 410-413 = organometallic chemistry
✓ QD 415-449 = biological chemistry
✓ QC 450-499 = spectral analysis
✓ QP 501-801 = biochemistry
✓ RS = pharmacy
✓ TP = chemical technology
Information retrieval
Information retrieval (IR) is the science of searching for documents, for
information within documents, and for metadata (which can loosely be defined as
data about data. Metadata is traditionally found in the card catalogues of libraries
and is today commonly used to describe three aspects of digital documents and
data: 1) definition, 2) structure and 3) administration) about documents, as well as
that of searching relational databases (A relational database matches data by
using common characteristics found within the data set). The resulting groups of
data are organized and are much easier for many people to understand) and the
World Wide Web. There is overlap in the usage of the terms data retrieval,
document retrieval, information retrieval, and text retrieval, but each also has its
own body of literature, theory, praxis, and technologies. IR is interdisciplinary,
based on computer science, mathematics, library science, information science,
information architecture, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and statistics.
Automated information retrieval systems are used to reduce what has been called
"information overload". Many universities and public libraries use IR systems to
provide access to books, journals and other documents. Web search engines are the
most visible IR applications.
Cited reference Linking
Cited references index each item from the bibliographies of research publications.
Citation databases make it possible to search these references. Users can follow a
particular cited reference or cited author forward in time to find other articles that
have also cited that author or work.

Cited references may be useful for a number of reasons:

❖ Locating current research based on earlier research, patents, report. etc.
❖ Finding how many times and where a publication is being cited
❖ Identifying who is referencing a particular paper
❖ Exploring how a particular research topic is being used to support other
research
❖ Analyzing the impact of a publication on other research in the field
❖ Tracking the history of a research idea
❖ Tracking the research of colleagues or keeping track of your own
research.

Scientific Report Writing

Writing is the dispassionate recording of knowledge in a manner that
presents the data in an honest, plausible and straightforward way (Lindsay, 1989).
Good writing is characterized by thoughtfulness, correctness, appropriateness
and readability. It should be organized and objective with proper presentation of
hypotheses, experimentation, discussion and conclusion; facts and ideas should be
diplomatic in approach with the right tone. Finally, it should be simple and easy to
read with smooth transition between sentences and paragraphs (Barde et al.,
2009).
In addition to the preliminary contents, often project, thesis and dissertation
consist of four (4) to five (5) chapters namely introduction and literature
review, Experimental and Data Analysis, Results and Discussion and
Conclusion and Recommendations. Some faculties require that Introduction and
Literature Review form two separate chapters. Nevertheless, the expected content
of each of these chapters are discussed below.
The preliminary pages include the Title page, Approval page, Abstract,
The Table of Content, Acknowledgement, List of Tables, List of Figures, and
Abbreviations in an order and format that more or less depend on the department.
On the other hand, abstract, about 200 words, should give a summary of the
research. It should contain statement of the problem, overall experimental
procedure, the main results and general conclusion each in about one or two
sentences. “Note that the number of words for abstract is strictly depends on
institution and department”

Introduction and Literature Review

This chapter is meant to describe the research problem and its context in a
logical manner. The introduction section is meant for presentation of the problem,
sub-problems and the relevant hypotheses. The scope, delimitation, relevance and
the objectives of the research should also be clearly spelt out here in a logical
order (Lindsay, 1989).
The literature review section, on the other hand, is intended for description
of context of the problem and sub-problems. The state of knowledge in the area
should be clearly highlighted. This is particularly important in Ph.D. thesis where
the basic requirement is that original contribution must be made to knowledge.
The section should also cover the literature that presents the hypotheses as
reasonable scientific proposals. In addition to this, some supervisors require the
student to demonstrate that he/she has read the research area widely (Smith, 1984).
Writing the chapter may sometimes be hectic due to the amount of literature that
may be amassed. Thus the following guideline may help.
1. Assemble the material that will lead to development of the hypotheses to
be tested
2. Where there is overlap, integrate into one section.
3. Introduction new material to unite gabs between sections.
In general, literature used in this chapter should be purposeful; either to
develop argument for hypothesis, for use in experimental section or to unify the
argument. It is important to note that the literature should be discussed rather than
reproduced and all ideas, quotations etc. should be properly referenced to avoid
plagiarism.
Experimental and Data Analysis
This chapter should contain three basic informations: sample and sample
collection; experimental procedures; and data analysis procedure. Source of
samples and sampling strategies should be fully described and assessed with
respect to factors that may influence the sampling error. Method of sample storage
and duration of storage and sample treatment should also be examined.
Experimental procedures and analytical schemes should be plainly described with
reference to apposite sources. Modifications, adaptations, and/or problems of the
techniques applied, and their influence on the data should be assessed and
clarified. Moreover, the reproducibility, accuracy, and precision of the analytical
data should also be bluntly explained. Type and model of instrument(s) used
should also be given in addition to details of operating conditions if these
influence the data thus acquired. Routine laboratory wares, unless used for
quantitative measurements, need not to be specified. Chemicals used and their
specifications (assay and manufacturer) may be tabulated or preferably the
specifications may be quoted in brackets the first time the chemical is mentioned
in the text. Validation of methods used in the experiments should also be described
here. In general, use of figure to summarize experimental procedure is highly
recommended.
The Data analysis section, on the other hand, should contained all steps
carried out during computational analysis especially formulas used in reagent
preparation and those also for result computation. Remember this is only
applicable to the department chemistry Umaru Musa Yaradua University, Katsina
Nigeria.
Furthermore, statistical tools employed in data analysis should also be described
with particular emphasis on why the tool was used. Note that a software package
(e.g. SPSS, MINITAB, STATISTICA etc) contains many statistical tools and thus
the ones used and why they were chosen should be elaborated.
Results and Discussion
The results section is meant for presentation and description but not
interpretations of results. Overall and specific observations should be highlighted.
Trends and correlation between parameters should be pointed out and elucidated.
The text should only emphasize or clarify points of interest or potential ambiguity.
Furthermore, the observed results should be accounted for and compared with
previous results. Optimal use of figures and summary table(s) should be done;
trends and correlations should be presented statistically. In simple terms, the
presentation of results should prepare the way for smooth discussion (Lindsay,
1989). It should however be noted that raw data, often primary data, should be
presented under results unless directly used in the discussion. Such data should
rather be placed in the appendixes.
The discussion section is for interpretation of the results. The discussion
should be systematic and guide by the sated hypothesis and objectives. It is where
the researcher gives meaning to the results and particularly answers the question
why? Comparisons with other studies are made to establish the significance and
implication of the results and to justify one’s conclusions. Discussion usually
consists of arguments – justification of ones ideas in interpretation of results.
According to Linday (1989) each argument should be like a paragraph; with topic
sentence, logical development of argument using facts from your results and
concluding massage. Fallacies of logic should, however, be avoided while
developing the arguments. Limitations of the arguments should be clearly
clarified.
Conclusion and Recommendation
 This is where the researcher should indicate the implications of his/her
findings with respect to the main problem and sub-problems and the stated
hypotheses. The conclusion should be entirely supported by the fact previously
presented. The recommendation section, on the other hand, is where he/she
should prompt further research. “Make recommendations for further study,
perhaps in those areas related to the problem which, during the research, the
researcher recognized as worthy of further investigation” (Leedy, 2004).
Furthermore, the limitation/weakness of the approach used may be identified, and
suggestions made on how the study might best be followed up.

Harvard or APA Style (American Psychological Association)

In this style references, in the text are indicated by placing the author’s
surname and the data of publication at the appropriate points. Basically a complete
citation should typically include the author, year, title, publisher and other
information that help readers locate the original source (Muhammad et al.,
2004).
Quick Tips on APA Style
Certain features distinguish APA from other citation styles.
❖ Only the first word of a title or subtitle, and proper nouns, are capitalized in
book, magazine, journal, and article titles.
❖ In the list of References, all author names are written in last-first order, e.g.,
Barde, M.I.
❖ If there is more than one author, names are separated by commas; precedes
the final name, e.g. Barde, M.I., Roe, J., and Roe, R.
❖ First and middle names of authors are represented by initials only, indicated
in this guide as “F. M.” for First Middle.
❖ The year of publication is always included, in both the list of references and
in-text citations.
❖ Citations of online sources include the date on which the source was
retrieved from the Web. If possible the time it was retrieved too.
❖ If referring to a particular section of a work, page numbers for that section
are included in the list of References, but not in the in-text citation. With
the exception of journal articles and printable documents, electronic sources
do not usually display page numbers; if page numbers cannot be found;
there is no need to include them.
Various situations encountered are given below (The Harvard Style, 2005).
1. If the author’s name occurs naturally in the sentence, the year is given in
bracket e.g.
In recent study Ahmad (2003) discovered that…
2. If the name however does not occur naturally in the sentences, both the
name and the date should be quoted in brackets separated by a
common e.g.
A recent study (Ahmad, 2003) shows that…
3. If there are two authors, the surnames of both should be given e.g.
Umar and Hassan (2001) have shown that…
4. If there are more than two authors, cite the surname of the first author
and use et al., to represent and the others’. Example
Sada et al., (2006) found that…
All the names should however be given in the reference list.
5. When an author has published more than one cited document in same
year, distinguish them by adding lower case alphabets (a,b,c…) after
the year.
Dankama (2024a) concluded that…
6. When citing more than one reference at a point in the text, arrange them
in chronological order etc.
Toxic effect of the plant has been established (Wakil, 2003;
Hakilu, 2005).
 7. If the item has no author, it should be cited by Title and date e.g.
One should be consistent in referencing (The Harvard Style,
2005)
8. If referencing one author in the work of a different author the in-text
citation must contain both the primary and secondary references. For
example:
MacKenzie (1972 cited in Smith, 1984:27) outlined…
The reference list should contain only the details of the source consulted by you
(in this case, Smith, 1984).
In listing the cited references information necessary for one to locate the cited
material should be given. The format in which the information should be given
varies depending on the type of the material as shown below for the commonly
cited sources (Information Literacy Group, 2005; Yellowlees, 2006).

1. Book
Surname, initial(s). (year): Title. City of Publication: Publisher. Page number
of your quotation.

In text: (Surname., year)

Example:
Barde, M., Yusuf, H. and Danmusa, A. (2004): chemistry at a glance. Ikeja
lagos: Longman Nigeria. pp 231-334
.
In text: (Barde et al., 2004)

2. Chapter in an edited book.

Surname, initial(s), (year) chapter title. In: Initial(s) Surname of editor(s), (eds).
Title of book. City of publication: Publisher. Page number of your
quotation.

In text: (Surname, year)

Example:
Osagie, A.U. (1998): Antinutritional factors. In: A.U. Osagie and O.U. Eka,
(eds). Nutritisonal Quality of Plant Foods. Published by Post
Harvest Research Unit: University of Benin, Nigeria. Pp 221–224.

In text: (Osagie, 1998)

3. Project, Dissertation and Thesis
Surname, initial(s). (year) Title. Type of qualification, academic institution.
Page number of your quotation.

In text: (Surname, year)

Example:
Umar, K. J. ( 2005): Proximate analysis of seeds and pulp of African locust bean.
M.Sc, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto unpublished. Pp 98-
99.

In text: (Umar, 2005)

4. Website with author
Surname, initial(s) (year) Title [online]. [Accessed Date]. Available from World
Wide Web <url of site>

In text: (Surname, year)

Example:
Morrison, B (2009): Advanced organic chemistry [online]. [Retrieved 2009 Dec.
 23, 4:00pm]. Available from
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_carbohydrate >

In text: (Morrison, 2008)

5. Website with no author

Title of Website (year as appearing on site) [online]. [Accessed Date]. Available
from World Wide Web: <url of site>

In text: (Title of Website, year)

Example:
Almond, I. (2008): [online]. [Retrieved 2008 Oct. 10, 6:23pm]. Available from:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_almond >

In text: (Almond, 2008)

6. Conference paper
Surname, Initial(s) (year) Title of Paper. In: Editor(s) of conference
proceedings if known. Title of conference, date of conference, location of
conference. Place of publication: publisher. Page number(s).

In text: (Surname, year)

Example:
Ossi, C.D. and Ndukwe, C.M. (2008): The nutritional evaluation of cola lepidota
and cola pachycarpa (Monkey cola). In: S.H.O Egboh, Proceedings of the
st
31 annual international conference (Deltachem 2008) of the Chemical
Society of Nigeria for Strategic Repositioning of Chemistry for National
Development held at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun-Warri,
nd th
Delta state, Nigeria, 22 – 26 Sept., 2008. pp 484-485.

In text: (Ossi and Ndukwe, 2008)

7. Journal article
Surname, initial(s) (year): Title of Article. Journal Title. Volume (issue
number), page number of your quotation.

In text: (Surname, year)

Example:
Wang, H.F., Ko, I.P., Chyau, C.C., Mau, L.J., and Kao, M.D. (2003): Composition
and antioxidative activity of essential oils from T. catappa L. leaves.
Taiwan Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Food Science. 38, 27-35.

In text: (Wang et al., 2003)

8. Electronic Journal Article
Surname, initial(s) (year) Title of Article. Journal Title [online]. Volume
[Accessed Date), page number of your quotation. Available from World
Wide Wbe: <url of site>

In text: (Surname, year)

Example:
Untwal, L.S., Kondawar, M.S. (2006): Use of Terminalia catappa fruit extract as
an indicator in acid-base titrations. Indian Journal for Pharmaceutical
Sciences[online] . 68 (3) [Retrieved 2008 Oct. 11, 3:00pm], 399-401.
Available from: < http://www.ijpsonline.com/text.asp?2006/68/26662>
 In text: (Untwal and Kondawar, 2006)
9. Online image
Author (Year) Title of image [online image]. [Accessed Date]. Available from
World Wide Web: <url of site>.

In text: (Surname, year)

Example:
Almond, I. (2008): [online image]. [Retrieved 2008 Oct. 10, 6:23pm].
Available from: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_almond >

In text: (Almond, 2008)

10. Patent
Name of originator (year). Title of Patent Document. Patent code. Patent number

In text: (Surname, year)

11. CD-ROM
Title (year). [CD-ROM]. City of publication. Publisher
In text: (Surname, year)
Example:
Almond. (2009). Microsoft Encarta Premium 2009 [DVD] or [CD-ROM] .
Redmond, WA: Microsoft Co-operation.

In text: (“Almond,” 2006).

12. Magazine Article
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Magazine
title, volume, page number of your quotation.

In text: (Author, year published).

Example:
Ahmad, T. M. and Uba, A. (1990, April 2). Soviet Union war of nerves.Time, 1-4

In text: (Ahmad and Uba, 1990)

13. Newspaper Article

Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title.
Newspaper Title, pp. page number of your quotation.

In text: (Author, year published).

Example:
Bagudo, B. B. (2005, December 31). The steep costs of driving drunk. Des
Moines Register, p. A12-A13.

In text: (Bagudo, 2005).

13. Newspaper Article, No Author

Article title. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Newspaper title, pp.
page number of your quotation.
 In text: (“Article Title {can be shortened},” year published).
Example:

Gas prices: Pollution rules may be eased. (2006, April 26). The Seattle Times, pp.2

In text: (“Gas Prices,” 2006).

14. Online Encyclopedia Article

Author, F. M. (Year published). Article title. Title of Reference Work.

Retrieved Month day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from URL

In text: (Author, year published).

Example:
Tsafe, A. I. (2006). Water pollution. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia
2006. Retrieved April 19, 2006, from
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572857/Water_Pollution.html

In text: (Tsafe, 2006).

16. Online Encyclopedia Article, No Author

Article title. (Year published). Title of reference work. Retrieved Month

day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from URL

In text: (“Article Title,” year published).

Example:
Common cold. (2006). Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006.
Retrieved November 10, 2006, from
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578766/Common_Cold.html

In text: (“Common Cold,” 2006).

17. Article in DVD or CD ROM Encyclopedia

Author, F. M. (Year published). Article title. Title of reference work [DVD {or
CD-ROM}]. City {include state, province, or country if city is not well
known}: Publisher.

In text: (Author, year published).

Example:
Bayawa, A. M. (2006). Water pollution. Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD].
Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.

In text: (Bayawa, 2006).

18. Article in DVD or CD-ROM Encyclopedia, No Author

Article title. (Year published). Title of reference work [DVD {or

CD- ROM}]. City {include state, province, or country if city is not
well known}: Publisher.

In text: (“Article Title,” year published).

Example:
Common cold. (2006). Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA:
Microsoft Corporation.

In text: (“Common Cold,” 2006).

19. Online Magazine Article
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Magazine title,
volume. Retrieved Month day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from
URL

In text: (Author, year published).

Example:
Zaki, U. F. (2006, February 20). Where the waters are rising. Time, 165. Retrieved
April 25, 2006, from
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601050425,00.html

In text: (Zaki, 2005).

20. Online Newspaper Article
Author, F. M. (Year, Month Day {publication date}). Article title. Newspaper
title. Retrieved Month day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from URL
In text: (Author, year published).

Example:

Sokoto, A. M. (2005, April 19). Hollywood welcomes new crop of moguls. The
New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2007, from
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70F16FC345A0C7A8DD
DAD0 894DD404482

In text: (Sokoto, 2005).

21. Online Government Document, No Author

Government Agency. (Year published). Title of publication. City {include state,
province, or country if city is not well known}: Publisher {if
available}. Retrieved Month day, year {date retrieved from Web}, from
URL
In text: (Government Agency, year published).
Example:
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement. (2004).
Innovations in Education: Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification.
Washington, D.C.: Education Publications Center. Retrieved April 20,
2006,from
http://www.ed.gov/admins/tchrqual/recruit/altroutes/report.html
In text: (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement,
2004).
Note: Insert period (.) after letter (in upper case) of initial and in addition comma
(,) and then one character space should separate letter of initial and next surname.
Furthermore, surnames and initials of all authors should be given. Where two or
more references by same author(s) are used they should be listed in chronological
order. The references should be listed alphabetically; articles “A” and “The” at the
beginning of a title should be ignored through out.

Vancouver (Numeric) style

In this style numbers in brackets (e.g. [1]) or as superscript are serially used
at the point of citation. Subsequent citation of a particular document is assigned
same number as the first. If specific part of a document is cited (e.g. quotation)
page number may be given after the citation number. For example
In recent study Hassan [1] discovered that………
Or
1
In recent study Hassan discovered that…………
The reference list should contain the numbers arranged serially as they
occurred in the text but without repetition. The details of each reference are given
against the appropriate number and abbreviations are allowed while writing
journal title. Thus each citation should contain the following information as the
case may be.
(a) Serial number
(b) Author’s or editor’s surname
(c) Author’s or editor’s initials
(d) Title
(e) Journal title
(f) Place of publication
(g) Publisher
(h) Year
(i) Volume and (issue number)
(j) Page(s) number
Examples:
nd
1) Danmusa, A. and Bagudo, U. Polymers in Biological System, 2
Ed. Sokoto, University Press. 2004. pp 111 – 115.
2) Zuru, A.A. Kinetics of Palladium Catalysis in
Hydrodesulphurization of Crude Oil. Energy and fuels,
2005, 31(2), 231 – 245.
3) Gwaram, N.S. and Sani, S. Medicinal value of Azadiracta Indica
seeds. African Journal of Biotechnology, 2005. 10 (1),31-41

Time Management
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made
of”. - Benjamin Franklin (cited in Muhammad et al., 2004).
A research scientist, probably more than any one else, needs to manage
his/her time properly for there is always so much to do in so little time. Time
management is particularly very important for graduate student who has to finish
his/her research project within specific time. However, research is only an aspect
of ones life and thus proper time management in research necessitates time
management in more or less the whole of ones activities. Effective use of time
requires a plan and ways to organize and execute the plan be developed.
Planning involves outlining ones goals and classifying them into: lifetime,
intermediate and short-time goals and are achievable in the next few years and
short-term goals in the next 12 months. The latter should help in achieving the
former and the former should help in achieving the lifetime goals. All of them
should however be clear, measurable and realistic (Muhammad et al., 2004).
The plan may be executed through rigorously implementation To Do List (TDL)
which should be developed in line of achieving the intermediate and short-term
goals. The items on the TDL are may be grouped into priority A,B and C based on
the following characteristics (Muhammad et al., 2004).
Priority A
1. Critical, May be unpleasant to do, Goal related, Must be done today.
Priority B
1. Important
2. Goal related
3. Must be done soon, but not today.
Priority C
1. Can wait
2. May or may not be goal related
3. No significant time pressure
4. Usually easy, quick and pleasant
Priority “A” items can be executed with help of Daily To Do List (DTDL)
prepared at the end of each previous day. The items on DTDL are listed in priority
order and extra effort should be made to accomplish everything on the list.
Holdovers from the previous day should be placed under follow-up for possible
execution (Muhammad et al., 2004).
Thus the researcher, having broken down the research into sub-problems
with each to be handle with an experiment, may further break an experiment into
stages each is allocated a time frame for completion. Various activities of the
experiment may then be included in the DTDL that should be implemented
strictly. Full consideration should however be taken of the circumstance under
which the work will be done otherwise too much reviewing of the plan will be
disappointing and would make it loose its purpose. In general, however, executing
the items in the DTDL requires that one be organized.
Organization is an aspect of time management that involves careful
allocation of time and place for actions and things for effective used of time. In
other words, you should not only know what you are going to do, when you are
going to do it and how you are going to do it but also you should do it at the right
time and place. The researcher should:
❖ Learn about all the basic things he/she may need during the research;
these could range from proper grasp of the subject matter to rules of
purchasing, how to order supplies and the kind of help available for
scholarly and research one.
❖ Know his/her “active” periods and allocate the mentally-demanding
tasks accordingly. Time for routine task or leisure should be used
effectively for example by simultaneously thinking of previous
experiment or next one.
❖ Organize his/her workplace; materials and apparatus should be
properly located for convenient access when required.
❖ Clean all wares used after the days work.
When one is fairly organized, execution of plan becomes easy. Effective
execution of tasks however requires identification of time wasters and minimizing
their influence. MacKenzie (1972 cited in Muhammad et al., 2004) outlined some
of the most important time wasters to include:
1. Telephone interruption
2. Ineffective use of telephone
3. Visitors dropping without notice
4. Crisis situation
5. Lack of deadlines
6. Not sticking to high priority work
7. Indecision and procrastination
8. Over-involvement with detail and routine
9. Attempting too much
10. Underestimating the time to perform task
11. Poor communication
12. Inability to say “no”
 13. Boredom, fatigue and ill health
For one to meet up his/her outlined schedules, he/she needs to develop the
habit of dealing with these situations otherwise precious hours would be wasted on
unnecessary things.

Ethics Research
Honesty in research and research reporting is the guardian of scientific
knowledge. Scientists should be truthful and understand that they have social and
scientific responsibility of intellectual honesty in what they do and report as their
findings. Researchers, like any other human being are surrounded by natural
temptations to make results and accomplishments appear better that they really are
(Smith, 1984). If you yield to these temptations you will inevitably become
dishonest; the worse thing that can happen to a seeker of knowledge. Dishonesty
by researchers has different forms such as (Smith, 1984);
• Predicting outcomes of experiments
• Describing experiments in a form or with precautions that have not
actually been followed.
• Plagiarism and deception in preparation and publication of work
• Duplicative publication
• Submission of papers to more than one journal and premature
submission of abstracts for presentation.
Dishonesty retards the progress of scientific knowledge and should
therefore be avoided at all cost. The researcher should understand that
(Muhammad et al., 2004):
• It is morally wrong to be dishonest
• Cheating is foolishness as there is always high chance that it could
be detected
• He/she would be alienated from scientific community when found
One should develop the habit of proper preparation and preservation of
research notes. Permission should be sought to use copyrighted or printed
materials and used literature works should be properly referenced.
Conclusion
Research is a vital tool of human development and civilization. It is a
systematic way of discovering new knowledge and therefore overcoming
ignorance. It involves intelligent and logical design and skilful execution of the
plan to obtain data that is treated and logically interpreted to establish truth-value
of a hypothesis and hence new knowledge. New knowledge discovered through
research lives for eternity only if honesty recorded and preserved for the security
and application of others. Scientific report-writing should be based on the
recommended format. It should show thoughtfulness, good syntax, good grammar,
and good argument.

Key words
Hypothesis:- This can be explain as a preliminary assumption or tentative
explanation that accounts for a set of facts, taken to be true for the purpose of
investigation and testing; a theory.
In-text citations: - Simply means references that appear within the body of a paper.
Note :- “Remember this article is meant for chemistry and its related discipline as
explain above but still its subject to review and amendment”
HAPPY READING!

11
2010
2013
M .I. Barde