E2020 Soft-skills II - Information Literacy

Faculty of Science
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 1 credit(s) (plus extra credits for completion). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Peter Šebej, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jakub Urík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Peter Šebej, Ph.D.
RECETOX – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: Mgr. Peter Šebej, Ph.D.
Supplier department: RECETOX – Faculty of Science
Timetable of Seminar Groups
E2020/01: Mon 16. 2. to Fri 22. 5. Mon 10:00–10:50 D29/347-RCX2, P. Šebej, J. Urík
E2020/02: Mon 16. 2. to Fri 22. 5. Mon 11:00–11:50 D29/347-RCX2, P. Šebej, J. Urík
E2020/03: Mon 16. 2. to Fri 22. 5. Thu 9:00–9:50 D29/347-RCX2, P. Šebej, J. Urík
Prerequisites
High school level of general knowledge.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Abstract
The aim of this course is to introduce and discuss of the information sources; to learn to survive in the information jungle of modern society. Introduce and discuss relevant topics, e.g., citation tools, peer-review process, legacy, predatory and other journals; general overview of work with literature.
Learning outcomes
Upon course completion students will be able to:
- work with scientific and professional literature;
- search for the relevant information;
- work with scientific databases;
- create own reference databases and use them.
Key topics
  • 1. Introdution. Sources of chemical, biologických, biochemical, biological and other environmentally relevant informations. Primary, secondary and terciary literature. Document types. General strategy of recherche.
  • 2. Products of the ISI. Current Contents, Scientific Citation Index. Scientometry, IF, h. Citation analysis. Introducion to Web of Science. Scopus.
  • 3.-4. Chemical databases. Chemical Abstracts. Structure of abstract, CA indices. How to search in CA, SciFinder. PubMed, MedLine. Reaxys. Chemical compounds properties databases.
  • Online access to primary sources. Electronic journals, Science direct. Patent literature, US and european patent databases. Other information databases: US EPA, AOP wiki.
  • 5. Scientific paper, structure and types. How to "read" papers.
  • 6. AI in scientific texts.
  • 7. Citation tools: legacy vs. free; EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley. How to acquire documents from libraries. Library databases, KUK, Aleph, database of libraries.
  • 8. Cite-while-write, how to use reference database(s) during writing.
  • 9. Publishing houses – legacy and predator. Access types: paid vs. open access. Levels/types of open access. Peer-review: process, importantce, reliability.
  • 10.-11. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of open access: peer-review and its simulation, over-priced publication fees, SciHub, bookfi. Publication etics.
  • 12. Workshop on assessment of potential plagiarisms in figures and pictures.
  • 13. Elected activity: Discussion on topics relevant to this course and beyond.
  • 14. Final assessment.
Study resources and literature
    recommended literature
  • KRČÁL, Martin. Citační průvodce : norma ČSN ISO 690: 2022 : nová verze z roku 2022. Vydání: 2. upravené dle n. Brno: Citace.com, 2024, 200 stran. ISBN 9788088230021. info
  • International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences. Edited by Neil J. Smelser - Paul B. Baltes. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2001, xii, 898 s. ISBN 0-08-043076-7. info
    not specified
  • GASTEL, Barbara and Robert A. DAY. How to write and publish a scientific paper. Eighth edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017, xvii, 326. ISBN 9781316640432. info
  • https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.7070.2
  • Leydesdorff, L. and Milojevic, S., "Scientometrics" arXiv:1208.4566 (2013),
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
lectures, computer class, class discussion
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
Credit is given for upon fullfilling all three following criteria:
1) attending all of the classes with an option to excuse two hours
2) independent preparation of a short review on assigned topic and finding bibliografic data relevant to assigned paper and author
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2027.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/spring2026/E2020