Evaluation
Consideration of which results are worth following-up on is always a relative question driven by the needs of the project and the use to which they will be put. For this assignment you are given considerations within the lab itself, for example, "Be realistic. The final procedure needs to be run in one afternoon by undergraduates using common chemicals". Well, there you go - the overarching limitations.
Considerations should also include:
- ease of procedure
- good yield
- low E-factor or high atom economy
- low cost materials
You also have a time constraint for collection of the literature you will need. So an additional practical factor is:
- estimated time for Interlibrary Loan (so you should check how many and which libraries have what you are ordering).
But what do you actually do?
READ THE ABSTRACTS !!!!!!
If the full-text of the article is available,
Skim the article for the methods section and Figures!
Sometimes the abstract (or footnote, or parenthetical reference, or ...) will simply point you toward a different source for the basics.
FOLLOW THE CiTATION TRAILS!!!!!!!
If your source implies that they are simply building upon an initial work, and you want the initial work - then go FIND it!
