Biology paper

Cara Snellen Fall 2017

Guidelines for Written Reports

Papers written for this course are to be submitted in Turabian format, not MLA. Turabian is the standard format for dissertations and theses in the CSU system. Font

• 12 point, Times New Roman • Bold is only accepted in appropriate parts of the bibliography. • Italics should only occur in scientific names, foreign language use, when listing a title of

book or journal, and in appropriate parts of the bibliography. Page format

• 1” margins top, bottom, left, and right (you have to modify this from the default) • Single-spaced name and date only, right justified on the first 2 lines of page 1.

− “Bio 110”, your student I.D., “assignment,” and the like should not appear at the top of the page.

Title • Centered, in regular 12 point font, with proper title capitalization • No more than 1 blank line above or below • Do NOT make a separate cover page! Paragraphs

• Double-spaced (you will need to modify this from default) • First line should be 5-space (one “tab”) indented • Left justified only (as opposed to left and right) • No extra lines between paragraphs (be sure to use the MS Word option of “no spacing”) • Your first paragraph should start ~2” from the top of the page. • Single space following end of sentence punctuation (e.g., period).

Text

• Black ink only • No contractions or slang

− Example: “Can’t” cannot be used, and “ain’t” ain’t no good neither. • No spelling errors • Numbers less than 10 are always written out. All numerals should be written out when starting a

sentence. − Example: All eight students had perfect attendance. − Example: Ten students scored fewer than 55 points on the last exam.

• No quotes or “lifted” sentences. “The words you use should be your own” - Morrisey − Do not quote or use sentences that were written by someone else and simple “lifted” and

placed into your own document. − Finding a copied sentence will result in an immediate zero on the assignment. − Any quoted material was not written by you, and will, therefore, be ignored and not

considered part of your paper. I see quotes in your paper as empty space.

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• “Ping” free (see next page for details) • When listing a fractional number, use a zero in the ones place

− Example: The probability of getting an “A” is in this class 0.19.

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The “Ping” List The grading of written assignments is a great investment of personal time. I actually read the papers and mark them as if they were papers written by professionals. I do this because I feel that your ability to effectively communicate is important. I am not the last person that will judge you based on what you’ve written, and if I can better equip you for the next person, then you and I will have accomplished something. After all, you’re in school to learn, right? When the grammar is good, and the paper is well-written, I can grade more assignments in a given amount of time. To that end, I expect that all written assignments will be most nearly devoid of grammatical errors (i.e., nearly perfect). To further emphasize the importance of writing well, I impose this ping list. These are point deductions that will be taken for grammatical errors found in assignments that have been turned in. Maximum deductions for a single paper will equal half of the credit of the assignment. For example, if the assignment is worth 20 points, I will deduct a maximum of 10 points due to “pings.” Yes, I’m pushing you towards perfection.

Infraction Indicator Point Value fragmented sentence (missing a noun or verb) “Frag” is written -2

comma splice (putting two independent, unrelated sentences together)

“CS” is written -1

subject/verb disagreement (verb is not conjugated properly)

“SV” is written -1

spelling error SP or error is circled -1 font error “font” is written -1 improper word use the word is circled -1

punctuation error punctuation mark is circled -1 or more, if excessive

required materials not included material is indicated with question marks -3 to -10 bibliographical format error error is circled -1 spacing error double-headed arrow in the space -1 slang word is circled -1 numbers formatted incorrectly “#” is written -1 use of quotes “ ” is written -1 General paper formatting (e.g., margins, font size, double- spacing, etc.)

“[specific infraction]” is written -1 per infraction

I can’t figure out what you are trying to say

Area is bracketed and “unclear” is written (this deduction may be listed separately on the rubric)

-1

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