Abstract
5% |
- Summary of the entire article
giving the main features and results of the study
- Usually only one paragraph
- Usually no literature citations
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Introduction
Write in the past tense
20% |
- Cited literature provides
background information on the topic and explains
why the research is important and/or interesting.
- Background information should be
combined with a persuasive line of reasoning
(i.e., logic) to develop the hypothesis.
- The hypothesis (or goals or
predictions) of the study MUST be explicitly
stated.
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Methods
and Materials
Write in the past tense
20% |
- Experimental design MUST be
appropriate for testing the hypothesis
- Adequate sample size (based on
review of literature)
- Description of species (only
pertinent details need to be included)
- Concise description of techniques
(published techniques can be cited without being
described in detail).
- Diagrams of study area or
experimental design can be helpful (but are not
necessary).
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Results
Write in the past tense
20% |
- The Results section includes 1) a
compilation of the data (in tables and figures),
2) the outcome of statistical procedures, and 3)
a prose summary in which the most important
findings are highlighted.
- Data should be clearly presented
(in tables, figures, and prose) so that
interesting/important patterns are obvious.
- No interpretation or conclusions
in the results.
- Figures and tables should be cited
in the prose summary like this (Fig. 1,) or like
this (Table 1, Fig. 1). Figures and tables should
be numbered in the order in which they are cited
(i.e., the first figure to be discussed is Fig.
1).
- Figure legends and table captions
MUST be present. They should be descriptive but
as short as possible. Figure legends are placed
below the figures. Table captions are placed
above the tables.
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Discussion
Write in present tense
20% |
- Evaluate the results in terms of
the original hypothesis.
- The results should be compared
with previous work on the topic (citing pertinent
literature).
- If the results are unexpected or
contradictory to previous work (citing pertinent
literature), possible explanations should be
proposed.
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Presentation
10% |
- Ideas should be grouped into
paragraphs that are introduced by topic
sentences.
- In the Introduction and
Discussion, there must be a clear flow of ideas
from paragraph to paragraph.
- BE CONCISE! Redundancy and the
inclusion of extraneous material detract from the
quality and readability of the paper. GET and
KEEP to the point!
- Word choice and punctuation should
be correct and appropriate. Sentence structure is
expected to be grammatically correct. Sentences
should vary in length and construction.
- Do not start sentences with
"I believe" or "I think."
Obviously if you’ve written it, you thought
it.
- NO results in Discussion, NO
methods in Results, NO methods in Introduction.
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Literature Cited
5% |
- In the body of the paper,
literature can be cited in two ways, either as a
parenthetical statement (see Ex. 1) or as part of
the sentence (see Ex. 2).
- Ex. 1: Significant differences in
allele frequencies among populations were not
correlated with soil moisture gradients (Gehring
and Linhart, 1992).
- Ex. 2: Gehring and Linhart (1992)
found significant differences in allele and
genotype frequencies among populations, but those
differences were not correlated with soil
moisture gradients.
- In citations in the body of the
paper, you may use "et al." for papers
with more than two authors (Doe et al.,
1999).
- All published work cited in the
paper must be listed in Literature Cited.
- In the Literature Cited section,
alphabetize references according to the last name
of the first author, then the last name of the
2nd author, etc., then by year. ALL authors must
be included in the reference (i.e., don’t
use et al. in the Literature Cited
section).
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