It’s likely that you are not familiar with the term scientific review article, let alone having read one recently. But scientific review articles are incredibly valuable for those who are interested in the topic the review article is discussing. Scientists frequently publish the results of their research. Biologists, scientists also publish the results of their research. The volume of material can be overwhelming. For example, let’s say you wanted to learn everything you could about deer fences. Go to Google Scholar and type in deer fences. I just did and came up with over 56,000 hits. Who has time to read all that? Even if you did, should you spend that much time?
Enter the scientific review article. The scientific review article is essentially the Cliff Notes of scientific research. The researchers perform a wide literature review (meaning they look up all the articles they can on a given subject) and then summarize the findings of that research. Voila, hundreds of pages of technical, sometimes hard to access material, is distilled into a readable and apprehensible form. The article cover page at the right is a scientific review article on deer fences written by some of the leading researchers on deer management in the United States.
Why should you care as a wildlife control operator or a pest control operator that performs wildlife control? You should care because the only way you are going to outpace the competition is if you know something they do not know. The only way you are going to learn something is to discover it yourself, or to learn it from someone else, say a research biologist. I have used deer fences as an example, but there are review documents on all sorts of subjects including animal life history and control methods. These review articles are chock full with great information that is ready to use. Check them out.
Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to wildlifecontrolconsultant@gmail.com. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
