– Scientific Writing: Questions
Worksheet 1 – Instructions
This worksheet is designed to help you practice finding, reading, and paraphrasing peer-reviewed scientific articles. Refer to your TA’s in-class lecture and the required reading (Turbek et al., 2016) for guidance. Remember that your TA’s office hours are also a valuable resource!
You must cite peer-reviewed scientific articles (primary and secondary literature). For this assignment, you are NOT permitted to cite books. While you may use Internet search engines (Google Scholar, Web of Science) to download research articles, you may NOT cite websites.
How to Format Your Citations
Once you have explained an idea, you should finish your sentence with an in-text citation. Example: Seagrasses have been found growing at depths up to 90 meters (Duarte 1990).
If you are citing more than one reference for an idea, then include all references in chronological order in the same in-text citation but separate them with a comma.
Example: Electric communication has evolved multiple times in teleost fish species (Alves-Gomez 2001; Maynard-Smith and Harper 2003, Bernal et al. 2007).
When creating your “Literature Cited” list (i.e., “Bibliography), always list the articles in alphabetic order. Use a hanging indent (i.e., all lines after the first line should be indented.)
ARTICLE WITH ONE AUTHOR
In-Text: (Last name Year)
Example: My sentence explaining this study’s major conclusion (Alves-Gomes 2001).
Literature Cited:
Last name, Initials. Year. Title. Journal name Volume number: Start page-Last page.
Example:
Alves-Gomes, J.A. 2001. The evolution of electroreception and bioelectrogenesis in teleost fish: a phylogenetic perspective. Journal of Fish Biology 58:1489-1511.
ARTICLE WITH TWO OR MORE AUTHORS
In-text 2 authors: (Author 1 last name 1 & author 2 last name, year)
Example: My sentence explaining this study (Rypel & Layman 2008).
In-text 3 authors: (Author 1 last name et al., year)
Example: My sentence explaining this study (Archer et al., 2012).
Literature Cited: Author 1 last name, Author 1 initials, author 2 initials author 2 last name, …, final author initials final author last name. Year. Title. Journal name Volume: start page-last page.
Example - two authors:
Rypel, A.L. and C.A. Layman. 2008. Degree of aquatic ecosystem fragmentation predicts population characteristics of gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) in Caribbean tidal creeks. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 65:335-339.
Example - three or more authors:
Archer, S.K., S.A. Heppell, B.X. Semmens, C.V. Pattengill-Semmens, P.G. Bush, C.M. McCoy, and B.C. Johnson. 2012. Patterns of color phase indicate spawn timing at a Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) spawning aggregation. Current Zoology 58:70-80.
Worksheet 1 – Scientific Writing: Questions (100 points)
Reminder: In all cases, we require that your work be typed. Follow the correct formatting for all worksheets (12 pt font, double-spaced, do not include original questions). All outline assignments should be in bullet point format and matched to the question number. Incorrect formatting will result in a 5% penalty on this assignment.
Answer/address all of the following questions.
· You are creating an outline of your “Introduction” for your scientific paper. You are expected to paraphrase the literature that you read IN YOUR OWN WORDS , so… no quotations – try paraphrasing it!
· Include in-text citations after your bullet points.
· Finally, part of your grade for each question is based on how well you answered the question (e.g., 3 bullet points with vague information is not considered a good answer) and creativity.
· Plagiarism is unacceptable and will result in an automatic 0 on this assignment.
For each question, the required citations are the minimum and you can use more citations than listed (e.g., if the question is asking for 2 citations, you can cite more than 2 citations). HOWEVER, each question should have unique citations to meet the minimum reference requirement (i.e., find a new citation for Q#2 compared to Q#1); your "Literature Cited" section would thus have at least 9 unique references . However, you can still cite the same article multiple times across questions (e.g., after citing 2 unique articles for Q#3, you could also cite an article from Q#1 in the paragraph to strengthen your answer/content and thus have 3 citations total for Q#3). Peer-reviewed references can be from any year.
Over the next few weeks, your will be investigating this research question: Does habitat restoration affect the population stability of Fender’s blue butterflies?
1. With a minimum of 2 bullet points, explain what habitat fragmentation is, why it occurs, and its importance in terms of animal and/or plant populations. Cite at least ONE peer-reviewed scientific article (primary or secondary). Include in-text citations and add the full reference to the “Literature Cited” in Q#7. (12 pts)
2. With a minimum of 2 bullet points, explaining what habitat restoration is and why it is important to animal and/or plant populations. Cite at least ONE peer-reviewed scientific article (primary or secondary). Include in-text citations and add the full reference to the “Literature Cited” in Q#7. (12 pts)
3. With a minimum of 4 bullet points, describe what is already known about how habitat fragmentation affects animal and/or plant populations. Cite at least TWO different examples from TWO peer-reviewed PRIMARY scientific articles. Include in-text citations and add the full references to the “Literature Cited” in Q#7. (20 pts)
4. With a minimum of 4 bullet points, describe what is already known about how habitat restoration affects animal and/or plant populations. Cite at least TWO different examples from TWO peer-reviewed PRIMARY scientific articles. Include in-text citations and add the full references to the “Literature Cited” in Q#7. (20 pts)
5. Using a minimum of 5 bullet points, explain our current knowledge about how habitat fragmentation and/or restoration affects the endangered Fender’s Blue Butterfly (Icaricia icarioides fenderi). Cite at least THREE peer-reviewed scientific articles, of which AT LEAST ONE MUST BE A PRIMARY SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE. Include in-text citations and add the full references to the “Literature Cited” in Q#7. (20 pts)
6. Based on the research question, write an ecological hypothesis. (3 pts)
7. Write out your “Literature Cited” section here. Follow the formatting guidelines from the instructions section of this worksheet. (9 pts)
8. Your TA will use this space to assign you a grade and provide feedback on grammar and spelling. (4 pts)
· 0 pts: Frequent grammar/spelling errors. Writing style is rough and hard-to-read.
· 2 pts: Occasional grammar/spelling errors. Generally readable with some rough spots.
· 4 pts: Very few grammar/spelling errors. The writing style is mature and readable.