Journal Club
Objectives & Rules
Welcome to Journal Club, 2009, which aims to provide an informal forum to discuss scientific papers each week. It will be held on Wednesdays between 1.00 and 2:00pm in Semester 1 and Fridays in Semester 2, in the Old Prac Room.
Key Objectives:
- To provide students with an opportunity to critically read literature outside their key area of study:
- In science, it is important to develop an appreciation of the types of questions asked over a range of disciplines, the experimental tools used to address these questions, and the limitations of these tools. Such an appreciation fosters an interdisciplinary outlook on the scientific process, and is essential when interacting with scientists of different backgrounds either at conferences or in postdoctoral postings.
- To provide students with an opportunity to orally present scientific papers to their peers:
- Oral communication of ideas is an essential aspect of the scientific process, whether it be through personal interactions or at conference presentations.
- To provide students with an opportunity to critically discuss scientific papers:
- Scientific isolation can breed certain problems. As Samuel Johnson wrote, "Even the acquisition of knowledge is often much facilitated by the advantages of society: he that never compares his notion with those of others readily acquiesces in his first thoughts, and very seldom discovers the objections which may be raised against his opinions: he, therefore, often thinks himself in possession of truth, when he is only fondling an error long since exploded. He that has neither companions nor rivals in his studies, will always applaud his own progress, and think highly of his performances, because he knows not that others have equalled or excelled him." Journal Club provides "the advantages of society" with fellow postgraduate students and academic staff, allowing students to gain from the experience of others.
Johnson goes on to write about the particular dangers of isolation for students: "And I am afraid it may be added, that the student who withdraws himself from the world, will soon feel that ardour extinguished which praise and emulation had enkindled, and take the advantage of secrecy to sleep, rather than to labour."
To encourage critical discussion amongst the students, two academic staff members will be rostered to moderate each session, and so will help lead the student discussion and try to ensure that all students have an opportunity to comment on the paper and ask questions. Academic staff that are not rostered for a particular week are welcome to attend if the paper being presented is of interest to them.
Journal Club Rules
The following RULES apply to Journal Club:
- Papers should be selected in consultation with the two moderators rostered to attend the session, to ensure Objective 1 is met. Papers may be recent publications, or may be important historical papers that demonstrate a key finding or technique in vision science. As people have many other weekly commitments and so have limited time to read each Journal Club paper, presenters should avoid selecting papers of excessive length.
- Papers should be given to me - in electronic form, if possible - for distribution no later that one week prior to presentation.
- PowerPoint slides and overhead projection sheets are NOT to be used (see Objective 2). This is designed to help minimise the time required for the presenting student to prepare for Journal Club, and to encourage genuine discussion (Objective 3) of the paper rather than the recitation of a pre-prepared talk. Note that all in attendence will be expected to have a copy of the paper, and that the Old Prac Room contains a white board that may be used freely.
- Presenters should expect that all in attendance have thoroughly read the papers, and so should tailor their presentations accordingly. It is difficult to critically discuss a paper you have not completely read.
If you are unable to attend Journal Club a particular week, please e-mail your apologies to the scheduled presenter and both moderators. This will ensure that absentees are known in advance and that no time is lost waiting for them to arrive. Please note that all post-graduate students are required to attend, and so that experiments and clinical sessions must not be rostered to clash with Journal Club.
If you have any queries or suggestions, let me know!
2009 Schedule
Acrobat pdf versions of papers, along with the current Journal Club roster, can be accessed via the Learning Management System (LMS; see http://www.lms.unimelb.edu.au/) under the subject code 655-701; "Journal Club" is the second menu item on the left hand side. If you find that you cannot access this resource, please contact Pianca Lun (plun@ unimelb.edu.au).
Dr Andrew Anderson
Journal Club Co-ordinator
Phone: 9349-7403
E-mail: aaj@ unimelb.edu.au