Article Review

Assignment Description:

Article reviews are an opportunity for students to explore current research occuring in the field of biology.  Articles are chosen by the student and should directly relate to topics we have discussed in class.  Selected articles should be from the popular press (Discover, Sci. American, major newspapers) or from the primary literature (PLoS, Concordia Library – see below).  I will award extra credit on these assignments for those students who take on the challenge of reading, analyzing, interpreting, and writing about primary literature articles for the first 2 article reviews.  The third review must be on a primary literature article.  A more detailed description can be found below and there will be a rubric posted on Blackboard.  

Article Description:

You'll be finding a published scientific article of some kind and reviewing it.  Scientific articles come in two flavors: 1) popular press articles and 2) primary, peer-reviewed articles.  Popular press articles about science are watered down versions of the primary literature.  They are written for the non-scientist by somebody who knows enough science to understand the research, but knows enough about writing that they can explain that complex science to the layperson.  These sorts of articles can be found in a lot of different places - The New York Times (Science Section), the magazines Discover, Scientific American, Wired - to name a few.    

Primary literature articles are articles written by scientists that go through a rigorous peer-review process during which scientists that were not involved with the research read, edit, and either approve or reject the work.  The goal is that only sound science will be published.  The articles are often dense and complex, filled with all of the details coming directly from the lab in which the research was done.  They are a bit more challenging to read and digest.  They're found in scientific journals like Nature, Science, Cell, and The Journal of Cell Biology.  Most scientific journals are "closed" in that they require a subscription to access their articles.  However, the Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a relatively new series of journals that are all about "open" access to their journals.

Review - 4 Paragraphs:

Paragraph 1)  This is the summary of the article.  It will include who did the research and who funded the research.  It will also include what the main goal of the project was.  The bulk of the paragraph (and the review as a whole) will then be spent explaining the main conclusion(s) of the project.    

Paragraph 2)  The second paragraph will call on you to come up with a possible next step for the research team.  Think of how continued research in this area would help the field of biology or society as a whole.  

Paragraph 3)  This is about your reaction to the article.  Why did you pick the article?  What did you find interesting?  What surprised you?  

Paragraph 4)  You'll use this paragraph to explain how the article relates back to what we've talked about in BIO130.  Highlight connections between concepts we talked about in class and the article you chose.  Be as detailed as possible.

Bibliography

(does NOT need to be on a separate page - does not count toward length of review!)

Information from text, articles, web pages, etc. should be properly cited using the CSE Name-Year System as described in Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences by Victoria E. McMillan (see link below).  Information is paraphrased or summarized then cited correctly.  NO QUOTATION MARKS SHOULD BE IN YOUR REVIEW.  Put the article's words into your own words and then cite the article because it gave you the information.  Your grade on assignments will reflect you use of citations such that missing citations will negatively impact your grade.

http://library.austincc.edu/help/CSE/CSE-ny.php

             Remember that there are two parts to citation:

1. In-text citation at the end of the sentence you are citing,

2. A bibliography at the end (this need not be a separate sheet of paper).

Section I Potential Topics

Frozen in Time: Microbes Pulled from Frozen Lakes

(Arctic and Antarctic lakes that have been frozen over for centuries

Normal Flora and Microbiomes

Bacterial Infection and Antibiotics

Medical / Industrial Applications of Engineered Microbes

Bioremediation

Arsenic-utilizing Microbe

Article Review Rubric

	Points Earned Points Possible	Exceeds Expectations	Meets Expectations	Does not Meet Expectations
Who led the research/project?	1	NA	Present/ Accurate (1 pt)	Absent (0 pt)
Who funded the project?	1	NA	Present/ Accurate (1 pt)	Absent (0 pt)
What was the main goal? Why was it pursued?	4	Present, accurate, and explained thoroughly (4 pts)	Present, accurate, minimal explanation (3-1 pts)	Inaccurate or absent (1-0 pts)
What was the main finding/conclusion? (BULK OF REVIEW)	8	Present, accurate, explained in several sentences with sufficient detail (8 pts)	Present and accurate, insufficient detail (3-7 pts)	Inaccurate, incompletely explained, or absent (0-3 pts)
What is a follow up question or project that would benefit the field and/or society? Why?	4	Present, well thought out, well explained (4 pts)	Present, explained (3-1 pts)	Absent (1-0 pts)
What did you find most interesting about the article?	3	Present, pertinent, well explained (3 pts)	Present, but unrelated or incomplete (1-2 pts)	Absent (0 pts)
How does the article relate to what we’ve been talking about in BIO130?	4	Directly relates, well explained (4 pts)	Indirectly relates, explained (2-3 pts)	Not related to class, poorly explained (0-1 pts)
Grammar, spelling, coherence, organization	1 pt per mistake	Correct grammar, no spelling errors, proofread, organized, good flow and transitions (no points deducted)	NA	Poor grammar, incoherent sentences, spelling errors, disorganized, choppy (1 pt deducted per issue)
Total Score	25