This guide is designed for students enrolled in BIOL 4409: Biology of Disease Vectors. It includes research tips, videos and other helpful information to help you get started on your literature review/research assignments.
On the left-hand side of this guide, you will see tabs for each workshop given by Dr. Wise.
This guide will help you learn to:
Goals of this assignment:
General Specifications of the research paper (100 points)
The use of at least 6 peer-reviewed original research papers. Some articles are not considered original research but are still reported in peer-reviewed journals. These include: opinion letters, literature reviews (similar to what you will write, but on a grander scale). *You may use these for background information, you are encouraged to do so if you find some (they’re great for giving you direction/background), but they will not count towards the 6 original research papers.
Follow the “Guidelines” for the Term Paper in next tab to help you in guiding your format of the paper so that your paper becomes an organized synthesis of research, capable of being understood by your reader.
Keep in mind the goals of this assignment while organizing.
USE THE RUBRIC! – See where Dr. Wise is assigning points – if you do not do what is on the rubric Dr. Wise cannot give you points.
Make sure you understand what plagiarism is. In scientific writing, we DO NOT USE QUOTES…there is never anything that needs to be said “in quotes” – you must reword everything into your own words. If you are stating a fact from a paper or a statement from a paper you need to cite from where you got that information, but the wording should be yours.
1” margins all around.
12-point font
In one of these three font styles: Calibri, Cambria, or Times New Roman
Double-spaced
Articles
Reviews are to be organized in the following format and sequence, beginning with the Title, numbered consecutively.
Title- Page 1: The title of the article should be in all caps at the top of the page – not centered – double spaced. The author’s name should appear under the title. The manuscript title and authors‘ names should be in bold type, and the same font size (preferably 12 pts) as the text.
Titles should be short and descriptive. Avoid “empty words“ such as “preliminary studies on . . .” and “biology or ecology of . . .” In the title only, numbers less than 11 are spelled out.
Introduction: The introduction should be un-headed. The introduction should start on the page after the title with no heading. An introduction should establish the context of the paper by stating the general field of interest, presenting findings of others that will be challenged or developed, and specifying the specific question or hypothesis to be addressed. Accounts of previous work should be limited to the minimum information necessary to give an appropriate perspective.
Keep in mind: “What does my reader need to know in order to understand my thesis statement and what background information do they need in order to understand the literature I’m reviewing”
Do not use extra spacing between paragraphs in the Introduction, or throughout the text.
Journal Article Reviews: This section should give sufficient information to permit the reader to understand the main purpose, findings, methods, and conclusions of each of the journal articles being reviewed. Do not forget to make sure that each journal article being reviewed is LOGICALLY linked to the next and vice versa.
The primary heading for this section (“Journal Article Reviews”) should be typed in all bold capital letters, starting at the left-hand margin of the page.
Discussion: An interpretation and explanation of the relationship of the results you presented from your literature reviewed to existing knowledge should appear in the discussion section. Emphasis should be placed on the important new findings, and new hypotheses that you come up with should be identified clearly. Conclusions must be supported by fact or data from the journal articles.
The primary heading for this section (“Discussion”) should be typed in all bold capital letters, starting at the left-hand margin of the page.
Literature cited: Citations are arranged alphabetically by the first author’s last name. All references cited in the text must appear in the literature-cited section, and all items in this section must be cited in the text.
Allen (1989) ex: Allen (1989) stated that mosquitoes choose oviposition sites based on larval population size.
(Allen, 1989) ex: Mosquitoes choose oviposition sites based on larval population size (Allen, 1989).
Two authors: (Allen and Smith, 1989)
More than two authors: (Allen et al., 1989)
More than one source for specific piece of information:
(Jones, 1987; Allen, 1989)—chronological
(Jones, 1987; Allen, 1989; Smith, 1989)—chronological and alphabetical within year
(Jones, 1987, 1988a, 1988b, 1989)
Multiple authors with the same year of publication should be (Smith, Jones et al., 1988; Smith, Walker, and Jones, 1988), not (Smith et al., 1988a, 1988b).
Can use the “HARVARD” format from Google Scholar. – but make sure to indent the second line.
Journal article, 1 author:
Nollen, P. M. 1990. Chemosensitivity of Philophthalmus megalurus (Trematoda) miracidia. Journal of Parasitology 76: 439–440.
Journal article, 2 authors:
Edwards, D. D., and A. O. Bush. 1989. Helminth communities in avocets: Importance of the compound community. Journal of Parasitology 75: 225–238.
Journal article, more than 2 authors:
STILL LIST ALL AUTHORS.