BI 123 Research Paper Guidelines:

The purpose of the paper is to provide some background information on a subject, to summarize the findings of at least two recent research papers (primary sources)

on this topic, and to discuss the significance of the results. The paper(s) summarized must be primary sources, meaning that they must represent an original scientific study found in scholarly articles.

Scientists use the scientific method to advance scientific knowledge. A primary research article presents the results from this scientific process. It will include previous knowledge

(observations) and the hypothesis of the scientists. In the methods, they describe their experiments and the techniques they used to test this hypothesis. In the results and discussion, they present and analyze their data. Primary research articles can be challenging to read for scientists at any level. You will find parts of the article to be challenging. It may require you to look up terms that are unfamiliar. Don’t get frustrated.

Secondary sources (review of research papers) should be used, and cited, but they do not count as the primary research articles.

A secondary source is an article or paper that summarizes many primary research papers. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, and discussions about primary research papers. They give the reference for the primary papers so readers can go to the journal and read the primary paper.

Textbooks (tertiary sources) may be used for the introduction section ONLY and they must not be older than 2009. A written research paper must be submitted in the classic style of a scientific journal review article.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Paper requirements: The paper must be: typed, single-spaced, 10.5-11 point font, 1 inch margins all around, maximum of 6 pages in length, minimum of 4 pages (excluding the title page, tables, figures, and the literature cited section), and should include the following sections:

• Title page with author’s name, course plus section, semester and year.
• Abstract in its final form, about 15 sentences long.
• Introduction about 2 pages long.

• Main body of the paper including discussion (subheadings within this section are a must).
• Conclusions
• References/work cited (minimum FIVE references):
? At least two primary articles

Title Page: This page does not count as a page of text and must have all of the information indicated above (includes title with author’s name, course plus section, semester and year .)

Abstract: Your abstract summarizes the purpose, methods, results and conclusions of the paper. It should be possible to determine the major points of a paper by reading the abstract. This section should be 100-150 words long. Don’t use abbreviations or citations in the abstract. It should be able to stand alone without any footnotes.

Introduction: Try to give some background information concerning the topic of the paper to prepare the reader for the subject. It should be around 600 words.

Main body: Following the introduction, you should have other sections and sub-sections as needed to illustrate, discuss, and/or emphasize the main areas. The main topics will include recent research work done on the topic of choice and discussion of results. Begin each paragraph with an opening sentence that tells the reader what question is being tested in the experiments described in that paragraph. This section must be at least 1500 words long and not more than and not more than 3000 words.

Use the following questions to help guide your paper and understanding of your primary articles.

State the following points:
1. What specific things did the authors know about the topic before performing their study? Why was this study performed? What knowledge already exists about this subject?
2. What was the objective or main purpose for completing this research study? What was the hypothesis?

3. In reading the experimental protocol:
a. What did they do?
b. Did they have a control (positive or negative)?
c. What did the results show?

d. How did they present the data? (data tables, graphs, statistical analysis)

Graphics and Tables: Use graphics and tables to enhance the information in the papereither explaining a complicated or important concept or presenting some of the original data from a paper. The figures, tables and/or photos should be included as appendices following the last page of the text. You may draw your own figures or cartoons to explain aspects of your paper or you may photocopy figures or cartoons from published sources.

If you use published figures, tables or cartoons, provide a complete literature citation and give appropriate credit to the original author.

4. In reading the discussion
a. What were the main conclusions from this research study?
b. Were there any unanswered questions?
c. Were there suggestions for future research on the topic?

Conclusion: This is where you wrap-up your article by summarizing the main points and interpreting the significance of your articles.

The conclusion is a good place to set your results in a bigger picture, which might help the reader understand the significance of your articles in the paper. The conclusion should also indicate clearly how the results provide an answer to the question(s) initially posed in the introduction. Make sure the audience gets a take home message. Present your own thoughts and the conclusions you have drawn from the topic. Do start with my conclusion or I concluded. The conclusion should be between 200-300 words.

References: This section lists all articles or books cited in your paper.

DOCUMENTATION GUIDELINES FOR CITING SOURCES

Use in-text citation properly (CSE style). You need to cite quotations, paraphrases, facts, and ideas.

In the references/work cited section of your biology research paper, you must list all the information sources in the required CSE documentation style.

It is important to fully understand this style and to apply it consistently. The CSE documentation style provides three different citation systems: the citation-sequence system, citation-name system and the name-year system. These systems differ in their presentation of in-text citations and in the way works cited are listed. You are free to choose either system for your research paper. However, I highly recommend using the citation-sequence system.

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