Citing Stuff- um...I need help

[MoJingly]

So, I'm writing my first manuscript! Yay! But citing things is making my head spin. I'm working on the intro now...

A few questions (if any of you can help!)

1. At what point do I stop citing articles that say nearly the same thing? "The tomatoes grow at a rate of 3mm/month in Iceland." I've read, let's say, 50 papers that say that. Can I just cite a few? How do I choose which ones? (I'm not talking a well-known fact that wouldn't need to be cited like, "Beethoven was deaf."

2. Can you cite a review article that already cites those other 50? I've seen some papers specify, "for a review, see Smith et al." Do I have to do that or can I just cite Smith as a regular citation without mentioning it's a review?

I can't get a clear picture of this by looking through already published papers.

Thanks for your help!!

Here is a ninja smiley to show my appreciation. --->

[Dal PhDer]

Hmm...when I cite a specific fact, I tend to go to the original source and cite that. I am not sure if that's helpful...as for review articles, I cite those, but in a way that says, "In a recent review on the topic of xxxxxxx, So & So found..." ..I tend to use review articles as a bibliography that points me to the major papers in that area. When I cite or reference the review article, it's normally to stress the point that there may be limited work in the area, or overall a pile of literature has found _____ .

My default is to always go to the original source...

I hope I was helpful!! Sorry!

PS: Wahoo!! Congrats on the manuscript!!!!!!

Edited June 15, 2012 by Dal PhDer

[MoJingly]

Thanks, that is helpful! I wish there were little gnomes in the walls of our labs that we could just recruit to write the intros for us.

[TheFez]

1. One time

2. The way you quoted it, i.e. "for a review, see Smith et al." is a very popular and helpful way. Readers will want to know that Smith is a review...

[robot_hamster]

If it is just a fact, then only put the first who said it. If you are writing about other studies concluding something, then list more than one as examples.