Review Format
The paper assignment requires you to summarize a highly technical
research article for the public. Assume you are
writing
for the local newspaper. Your job is to summarize a recent article on
evolutionary biology, so you must understand the topic well enough to
make it intelligible to a non-scientific audience. This will require
some research by you. Once you are thoroughly familiar with the topic,
you must report on the newsworthy content of the article.You must make
it clear and informative, even entertaining if possible. Your editor
(me) will decide how well you accomplish this. He (me) has
also restricted you to
three pages (double-spaced, 12 pt font).
Writing the paper:
The review paper must be typed
(printed). Three pages maximum length, standard double spaced, 12 pt
font (more or less--see me if you are significantly over or under
this page limit). The first paragraph is most critical because it
informs the reader about the topic, any necessary background
information and the objective of the study. Since it is so important,
your first effort at a first paragraph will be submitted early and
peer-reviewed by your classmastes.
YOU ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO SEE THE EDITOR (ME) AT LEAST ONCE PRIOR TO
EACH DEADLINE (FIRST AND SECOND VERSIONS).
Your paper is written for a general audience, so you must boil down a
lengthy and
difficult
research paper (written for a professional audience) to its essential
content and significance (but this is
what
you're paid to do). This means you must
define
terms and set up the reader with necessary background material. All of
the writing must be your own. DO NOT quote sections of the paper or
cite
other sources.
As you orgainze your paper, include at least a paragraph (more if
necessary)
on each of the following topics (but do not include the
headings--remember, this is a newspaper article):
First pararaph:
- Discuss the basic evolutionary concept or research
question that
was addressed
by the study, and briefly discuss what was known about this concept or
question at the initiation of the study (before the research was done).
- Make sure you say what the authors were trying to accomplish.
Give a statement of their objectives (at or near the end of the first
paragraph).
- This section is critical to the review since most readers will
not be
knowledgable
enough to understand the reason why the study was done or the
significance
of the results that follow later.
Second paragraph:
- How was the research done (what methodology was
employed)?
- This section should not be too detailed since most readers will
not be
at all familiar with methods. However, it should be clear enough
what was done and what assumptions are being made by the
investigators.
Third (or more) paragraphs:
- Briefly indicate what was discovered in the study.
- This section should be short and basic. Do not
attempt
to
itemize
each result since most papers report many. Discuss the most
significant results and indicate
how
they address the questions posed in your introductory paragraph. Stick
to a single storyline and don't try to be comprehensive.
Final section and conclusion:
- How do the results of the research alter the field or change
the
concept
discussed?
- What is new about the results?
- What remains to be done on this topic?
Use standard poster board (any color); all posters must be the same
size (56 X 71 cm). No foam-backed mounting boards can be used. The
methods
you use to present your research topic on the poster will determine its
effectiveness and, ultimately, your grade. As a general rule, text and
graphics should cover no more that 3/4 of the surface (2/3 is better).
Place the text boxes near graphical information and link them together.
Use font sizes that are easily viewed from a distance. All of this
requires
careful editing of text and choice of graphics. Try various approaches
before mounting the items on the poster.
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Be sure to include a title, your name and the course number. Include
(in a small text box at the bottom) a list of citations used to obtain
the information presented (this is a requirement). Make sure your
citations
are properly
formatted. They should include author(s), date of publication,
title of article and place where it was published with information
necessary to retrieve it. The articles cited in your textbook are
formatted
in a typical way, and I provide here an example of a list of articles
with the proper
format.
Delavault, P. M., V.
Sakanyan, and P. Thalouarn. 1995.
Divergent evolution of two plastid genes, rbcL and atpB, in a non-photosynthetic
parasitic plant. Plant Molecular Biology 29: 1071-1079.
Lohan, A. J. and K. H.
Wolfe. 1998. A subset of
conserved tRNA genes in plastid DNA of nongreen plants. Genetics
150: 425-433.
Nei, M. and T.
Gojobori. 1986. Simple methods for
estimating the numbers of synonymous and nonsynonymous nucleotide
substitutions. Molecular Biology and Evolution 3: 418-426.
Randle, C. P. and A. Wolfe. 2005. The evolution and
expression of rbcL in
holoparasitic sister-genera Harveya
and Hyobanche
(Orobanchaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 92: 1575-1585.
Grading of the poster will be done by your
classmates. Your poster
grade will be worth 20% of the course grade (this includes the review,
which is graded by me). Remember that your audience is the class and
adjust
the presentation appropriately. All posters will be mounted in a public
location (in David King Hall) and will be left for a short period for
public
viewing (with your name attached), so do your best.
The following questions are offered as a
guide to producing your
poster.
They are also listed on the grading sheets students will use when they
grade your poster:
1. Is the poster topic interesting?
2. Is the presentation suitable for the class?
3. How well is text material used?
4. How well is graphical material used?
5. How well researched is the topic?