Tag Archives: citation management

Scientific Writing Resources

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As generative AI tools have become increasingly available to academic researchers, so too have the reports of GPT-fabricated scientific papers creeping into the public scholarly record, for example, this 2024 report from the Harvard Kennedy School:

GPT-fabricated scientific papers on Google Scholar: Key features, spread, and implications for preempting evidence manipulation | HKS Misinformation Review

Developing strong scientific writing skills has always been an important component of graduate training in the basic sciences, however, not all scientific authors have the same degree of exposure to writing classes and authorship opportunities. As the burden of recognizing fake papers is falling more and more on the readers of scientific works, there couldn’t be a better way to protect yourself against fraudulent articles than by becoming an expert at scientific writing yourself.

Here’s some resources to explore if you wish to develop your scientific writing skills:

1) E-books from the MSK Library’s collection and full-text book chapters available online

2)     Duke Graduate School Scientific Writing Resource
https://sites.duke.edu/scientificwriting/
“The Scientific Writing Resource is online course material that teaches how to write effectively. The material is not about correctness (grammar, punctuation, etc.), but about communicating what you intend to the reader. It can be used either in a science class or by individuals. It is intended for science students at the graduate level.”

“This guide to scientific writing was originally created in 2010-2011 by Nathan Sheffield for the Duke University Graduate School and funded by a Duke University Graduate School Teaching mini-grant. This current site is maintained by the Duke Graduate School. If you have questions about this site, please contact gradschool@duke.edu.”

The MSK Library also provides access to writing support tools, including:

1)     Citation Management tools – https://libguides.mskcc.org/citationmanagement  

Find out about a variety of citation management software tools that can save you time when you are formatting your manuscript’s references and bibliography.


2)     Trinka AI – https://libguides.mskcc.org/trinka

“Trinka is an AI-powered writing assistant designed for academic and technical writing. Trinka corrects advanced grammar errors and contextual spelling mistakes by providing writing suggestions in real-time. It helps academicians write in a formal, concise, and engaging manner. In addition to correcting grammatical errors, Trinka allows you to paraphrase the text and improve consistency, enabling you to enhance the quality of your writing based on your requirements.”

3)     iThenticate – https://libguides.mskcc.org/ithenticate

“iThenticate is a tool for researchers and writers to check their original works for potential plagiarism. This resource will check against 93% of Top Cited Journal content and 70+ billion current and archived web pages.” 

Questions? Ask Us at the MSK Library!

Disability Pride Month: Library Edition

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This month we celebrate Disability Pride Month, marking the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) being signed into law by President George HW Bush on July 26, 1990.

Nearly 1 in 4 Americans live with some type of disability, and despite nearly 40 years since the ADA’s passage, many Americans with disabilities still live with significant barriers to living their lives to their fullest. Barriers can be physical, such lack of ramps, elevators, and ADA-compliant spaces. But they can also be less visible, including design and function of technology.

Accessible Library Resources

As library resources shifted to a predominantly digital format, the importance of these resources providing accessible and inclusive information for users of all abilities has become even more vital.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1978 defines and protects the same individuals as the ADA, but covers a different scope. In 1998, it was amended to include Section 508, which focused on the accessibility of electronic and information technology products and services that federal agencies buy, create and use.

Section 508 mandates that individuals with disabilities have access to information and services that is comparable to the access and use available to non-disabled individuals. It also provides guidelines to follow to ensure electronic resources are accessible, including making websites and apps accessible to assistive technologies (screen readers, alternative mouse and keyboard devices like motion trackers, magnification software, etc).

The Library Accessibility Alliance (LAA) is an organization made up of multiple library consortia across the country that advocates for improving library e-resource accessibility and shifting library culture to one that promotes justice and inclusion for people with disabilities. The group provides independent accessibility evaluations of library resources, training and toolkits for libraries and librarians, as well as specific licensing language for libraries to use or adapt to address concerns with electronic resources vendors.

LAA hosts a searchable database of independent evaluations of over 100 electronic resources.

ADA Compliance Tools

Vendors are recommended to provide documentation that shows how their hardware or software is accessible.

An Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) is a document that explains how information and communication technology (ICT) products such as software, hardware, electronic content, and support documentation meet (conform to) the Revised 508 Standards for IT accessibility. Use the ACR to make specific statements in simple recommended language to demonstrate how the features and functional characteristics of your product meet the Section 508 standards.

There are multiple products and tools available to help create ACRs, including the VPAT.

Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT™)

Vendors that offer software, hardware or electronic content can voluntarily provide a VPAT™ that discloses how they support accessibility guidelines. The VPAT™ outlines the Revised Section 508 Standards for accessibility, and allows vendors to indicate their conformance with each standard. 

However, even if a vendor provides a VPAT™, it doesn’t guarantee that the vendor’s resource is actually Section 508 or ADA compliant.

W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

WCAG are guidelines and criteria produced by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) to ensure that websites and electronic content are accessible to all. They provide quantitative means of evaluating websites for accessibility, and should be used by both developers and content creators.

There are currently two standards in use today: WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1 which added additional criteria to address accessibility for mobile devices, people with low vision, and people with cognitive disabilities. 

Popular Biomedical Resources: ADA Compliance

If you are interested in learning more about different resources and their ADA compliance status, see the lists below which feature some of the MSK Library’s most popular resources.

Literature Databases

Citation Management tools

Clinical Databases

More on Avoiding Plagiarism

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As plagiarism continues to be on peoples’ minds, it is probably a good time to take a moment to review the module on ethical writing provided on the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Research Integrity (ORI).

As per the ORI website – https://ori.hhs.gov/avoiding-plagiarism-self-plagiarism-and-other-questionable-writing-practices-guide-ethical-writing:

“Avoiding Plagiarism, Self-plagiarism, and Other Questionable Writing Practices: A Guide to Ethical Writing

The purpose of this module is to help students, as well as professionals, identify and prevent questionable practices and to develop an awareness of ethical writing. This guide was written by Miguel Roig, PhD, from St. Johns University with funding from ORI.

This module was originally created in 2003 and revised in 2006 and 2015.”

In addition to the HTML version, there is also a downloadable 71-page PDF version, as well as an abridged HTML version entitled 28 Guidelines at a Glance on Avoiding Plagiarism.

Questions related to citing references that often are asked of librarians are nicely addressed in these four items in particular that have been highlighted below:

From https://ori.hhs.gov/28-guidelines-glance-avoiding-plagiarism:

“Guideline 15: Authors are strongly urged to double-check their citations. Specifically, authors should always ensure that each reference notation appearing in the body of the manuscript corresponds to the correct citation listed in the reference section and vice versa and that each source listed in the reference section has been cited at some point in the manuscript. In addition, authors should also ensure that all elements of a citation (e.g., spelling of authors’ names, volume number of journal, pagination) are derived directly from the original paper, rather than from a citation that appears on a secondary source. Finally, when appropriate, authors should ensure that credit is given to those authors who first reported the phenomenon being studied.

Guideline 16: The references used in a paper should only be those that are directly related to its contents. The intentional inclusion of references of questionable relevance for purposes such as manipulating a journal’s or a paper’s impact factor or a paper’s chances of acceptance, is an unacceptable practice.

Guideline 17: Always cite the actual work that is consulted. When the published paper cannot be obtained, cite the specific version of the material being used whether it is conference presentation, abstract, or an unpublished manuscript. Ensure that the cited work has not been subsequently corrected or retracted.

Guideline 18: Generally, when describing others’ work, do not cite an original paper if you are only relying on a secondary summary of that paper. Doing so is a deceptive practice, reflects poor scholarly standards, and can lead to a flawed description of the work described.”

Questions? Ask Us at the MSK Library.