writing a Report
Instructions for Citizen Science Project Report - NTSC 1110, Fall 2017
The Paper Due Last day of Class: Section 51 - 30 Nov ; Sections 04, 05 - 1 Dec
You are to write a paper describing your knowledge and participation in your approved Citizen Science project. You were to keep a record of your participation, along with some form of proof that you are an active participant. It was also recommended that you keep a file of your participation, feedback you may receive, or screen-shots of what you send in. This is where you will make use of that record.
First line: Name, Date, Section Next Line: Title of your report
Single spaced, 1/2 to 3/4 inch margins, size 11 Times New Roman or similar font; pages number bottom center.
Headings are to be in Bold. Staple all pages together in the upper left corner.
Scientific papers have six sections, (1) abstract, (2) introduction, (3) methods and materials, (4) results, (5) conclusion/discussion, and (6) list of references. All references should be cited in the text of the paper using the author’s last name and publication year (Example: Harvey, 2015).
Abstract: A one paragraph summary of your entire Citizen Science Project. Consider one or two sentences explaining EACH SECTION of the report.
Introduction: Introduce the Citizen Project including what is being studied, information about the hosting organization, and background information about the project. Much of this material should be available on the web site you used to sign up for your project and to enter your data. The source for the Introduction should be cited, even if it is a web site.
Methods and Materials: Summarize the methods you used to collect data for the Citizen Project. Do not cut and paste from a web site or instruction guide for your project. Describe what you did in your own words. This should include a description of the procedures you followed and any material or equipment that was used. You should identify the variables for which you helped collect data as part of your project.
Results: Present the results that you submitted to the organization sponsoring your Citizen Science Project. Some, if not all of the results should be represented in the form of numerical data. Use tables and/or graphs to share the data and be sure they are appropriately labeled and/or explained. Pictures or screen shots may be appropriate for the results section for some Citizen Science projects.
Conclusion: Discuss your results, particularly as they relate to the larger Citizen Science project in which you participated. This is the place to state problems and sources of error in your participation and data collection. Further study on your topic or questions that have become apparent to you should be stated in the conclusion.
List of References: Any sources that you used to do your Citizen Science Project or learn more about the topic should be included in the list of references. The references should correlate with citations in the text of your report that were used with the author/date parenthetical format.
The citation in the reference list for this journal article would look like this:
Bond, Michael. 2014. The Secret of Success. New Scientist 2959: 30-34.
Book or chapter references include the publisher and city. Here is an example:
Gould, Stephen J. 1989 Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. New York: W. W. Norton.
Internet Citations should include the complete web address (URL) so anyone could look up the page. The author’s name, date created, title of page, title of the complete web site and date it was accessed. It would look like this in your list of references:
Lintott, Chris. 2015, The Story So Far. Galaxy Zoo and Zooinverse Project. Available: http://www.galaxyzoo.org/?_ga=1.69396176.1905450533.1447649399#/ story [2015, November 15].
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