Research Materials 1 example essay topic

858 words
BIOL 1120, GENERAL BIOLOGY II, SPRING 2005 INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING RESEARCH PAPER COMMENT: This exercise is intended to introduce students of General Biology to the art of literature survey and scientific writing. The paper will be evaluated on the bases of substance, adherence to instructions and style as indicated in the syllabus. GENERAL LAYOUT: The title 1. Must be chosen carefully from topics to be covered in the course and must answer well defined question (s).

For example, why is PHOTOSYNTHESIS such an important process in the ecosystem? A possible title that could answer this question would be "Energy Conversion in the Ecosystem" and this could be a title. 2. Should be accompanied by a one half-page description of the scope and substance. Five points will be earned when this is done correctly the first time. 3.

Must not deal directly with the symptoms and cures of human diseases. 4. Must be associated with current research findings 5. Must be submitted for approval prior to development (Lecture Professor will announce the due date). The paper 1. Should be a review, 6 pages long (i.e. including LITERATURE CITED).

A title page and a table of contents must be included. These are not part of the 6 pages. 2. MUST BE TYPED, double spaced with 12 points font size and 1 inch margins and must not be "right justified" 3. Scientific names of microorganisms, plants and animals must be italicized and written in accordance with the binomial system of nomenclature 4. Should be broken up into the sub-sections INTRODUCTION, THE BODY OF THE PAPER (which should have an appropriate sub-title for each important subject matter), CONCLUSION and LITERATURE CITED.

Please do not write THE BODY OF THE PAPER in your paper. 5. Page numbers (pagination) must be inserted. 6. A maximum of 95% will be earned for this exercise. Lecture Professor will announce the due date.

The research materials 1. Should not be older than 6 years (i.e. 1999 till 2004 inclusive). 2. Should be preferably PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES. All utilized articles must be paraphrased (i.e. explained in your own words) to avoid plagiarism. 3.

Should never be adopted internet articles meant for general public information since these are not peer-reviewed and cannot be authenticated. 4. Should de-emphasize the use of textbooks. If ever textbooks are consulted, no more than one should be cited. Dictionaries are not scientific research materials and are not acceptable. 5.

Should never include press reports (Newspaper and magazine). 6. At least six materials must be consulted. Citations 1.

Must be placed in the body of the paper to indicate the source of an idea, information or quoted material. Such placements should include the last name of the author (s) and the year of publication in parentheses and separated by a comma. The following examples describe all possibilities; (a) (Inglewood, 2004) for a reference material with a single author (b) (Inglewood and Slater, 2004) for a reference material with two authors. (c) (Inglewood et al., 2004) for a reference material with more than two authors. 2.

All references in the LITERATURE CITED section must be cited in the body of the paper. 3. Failure to properly cite a consulted material is considered PLAGIARISM. The LITERATURE CITED section 1. Should be placed at the end of the body of the paper and should be an alphabetical list of all materials consulted. 2.

The following examples illustrate the format for listing journal articles, authentic internet materials, books and titles from a book. You must take note of the format and placement of the last name (s) of authors, their initials, year of publication of article, the title, etc. Journal article Carlson, S.A., F.S. Fran a and G.W. Ronald. 2001. Antibiotic Resistance in Salmonella enteric a Sero va Typhimurium Exposed to Micro cin-Producing Escherichia coli. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 67 (8), 3763-3766 Internet material No more than two citations will be accepted.

In any case, the web page must be clearly and correctly cited for easy access. Every scientifically acceptable internet article must have an author that must be listed as shown below: Author and year of publication (e.g. Doe, J. 2004), The Title (e.g. Photosynthesis). Web page (e.g. web photosynthesis / html), date accessed (e.g. November 7, 2004). Book Author (s) last name, initials. Year. Title.

Publisher. City and Country where published. Total number of pages in the book. Article from a book with numerous contributors Author (s) last name, initials. Year.

Title of article. In: Ed (s). Editor (s) of Book. Title of Book.

Pages covered by article. Tip CONSULT A RECENT ISSUE OF ANY BIOLOGICAL REVIEW JOURNAL SUCH AS BRAIN RESEARCH REVIEWS WHICH IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON-LINE BEFORE YOU START.