Biol 5304 Paper Guidelines

BIOL 5304

Fall 2009

Guidelines for Paper and Presentation:

Description of the Paper:

The paper will be a summary of one of the research articles listed here. That will be your primary reference. In addition, at least two other references should be consulted. In general, consult as many other references as will be necessary for you to understand the primary article. Your paper should include an introduction that explains the background of the research project. This section, about 25-35% of the total, should try to provide information to a reader, which we will assume will be any member of this class. It should also attempt to capture the interest of the reader. (For example: What are the general features of this transposon? Why is it of interest? Human health, laboratory tool, unique example of something?) Next is the major section (50-60%) in which the findings of the research project are described. It is important to describe some of the experiments. How was the information obtained? What kind of experimental evidence is there to support the conclusions. Finally, a short summary, possibly with prospects for future studies should conclude the paper. The length of the paper is 1000-1200 words.

References:

You will need a minimum of 2 references in addition to your selected article. At least one should be a review article. These can be found in collections such as the Annual Review of Genetics, or in many research journals, sometimes called mini-reviews of 2-4 pages. Relevant review articles are often referenced at the beginning of research articles. In addition, PubMed also lists related articles and reviews on its pages (see below). The references should be cited withinin your paper, and you should follow a standard style, similar to what you will find in the articles themselves. For example, a numbered list of the references cited will appear at the end of the article. In general it is not necessary to reference your selected paper more than once.

Searching for References:

In life sciences PubMed is the best database because it is free, and its coverage is extensive. It can be found here.

If you click on the "Limits" you can restrict your search to "Authors", "Title", "Reviews", or to a time period. "Help" is in the Blue panel at the left.

You will be able to see Abstracts of the articles through PubMed. That is usually enough to tell you if the article is likely to be helpful.

Access to Full-text articles is more complex. Some articles are linked through PubMed.

To see the article below, click on the journal logo at the far right: Cell Press

Some articles are free to everyone, while others require a subscription. If SMU has a subscription, then you will get access automatically from a computer on campus. If not, you might be requested to pay a fee.

Before paying the on-line charges, there are two things to check:

(1) Go to the Online Resources page of the SMU library here.

Type in the first word or two of the journal name on the right, and you can then see if it is available on-line. If you are off-campus, you will need to type in your library number before getting to the journal. This is explained. For printing, generally chose the PDF format. Sometimes an HTML format is available. This is useful for getting images to put into your presentation or paper.

(2) Visit the library yourself. It might be on the shelf. Ask a reference librarian, or try searching PONI yourself. Inter-library loan is useful if you have a week to wait for it.

(3) Another method, is to email the corresponding author and request a pdf file of the paper. Write that you are a student and are interested in the article. Give the complete information, since many scientists publish frequently. This often works, and can be quick.

In-class Presentation:

The time should be about 10-12 minutes. Email me a powerpoint file for presentation in advance. You may provide a one-page handout to your classmates. A sign-up sheet will be circulated in class for the dates (schedule).

Deadlines for the paper: (in class)

Friday, October 30. Last date to select a paper from the list. topics

Friday, November 20. One page outline of your paper must be submitted. Review article must be identified.

Thursday, December 10. Paper is due at 2:00 PM.

If you miss any of the deadlines, or if you change your topic after November 20 you will be penalized.

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Last updated Tuesday, August 25, 2009

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