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Article Summary
The purpose of this assignment is to assist the student in
becoming familiar with original literature pertaining to the
general field of Biology. You should select an article of scientific
value, rather than a chatty feature, news note, or anonymous
article. The article should be at least three pages
in length so that you have sufficient material to summarize.
You may select an article from any area that interests you. (genetics,
immunology, parasitology, animal behavior, etc.) The article
must be from acceptable journals such as: Scientific
American; Bioscience; Science; New Scientist; Discover; Natural
History; American Scientist; Nature, and many other journals.
The article has to deal with some aspect of Biology and not some
other science. Check with me before abstracting an article
from a journal not listed above to see if it is acceptable.
Popular magazines such as National Geographic, Sports Afield,
In Style, Reader's Digest and the like may not be used. The
article should be published after 1998.
Format: Use the format of the included summary on fish as a general
model. The article summary should be ONE FULL PAGE
in length and neatly typed IN NO LARGER THAN A 12
POINT FONT SIZE. Give a correct bibliographic entry ON THE
BACK of the page. (See example). For the body of the summary,
condense the important information to 1 full page being sure
to write the concepts of the article in YOUR OWN WORDS...
DO NOT COPY PASSAGES. Have a margin no more than 0.75 in
all around your article summary.
Evaluation : 25 points possible.
Breakdown of points to be earned:
3 ... general format -Be sure the title and bibliography are on the back as well as your name and lab time.
Length= full page no more than 1 1/2 spaces each line with no less than 1" from the top and bottom.
Width = No less than 0.75 " on the left and right margins.
(-3 if this section is not followed fairly closely)
4 ... general neatness,typing... deduct 4 points if handwritten
10 ... language usage:
spelling, coherent sentences, own words
8 ... objective analysis(2) ,content(2), understanding of material, and significance of article to course(4).
Summaries are viewed as a learning tool for the student, in that the student gains experience, knowledge, and the ability to evaluate scientific literature.
Please be aware that the instructor will retain the article summaries, so a carbon copy should be prepared if you wish a copy for your own file. In addition one must provide a copy of the summarized article before your article summary can be evaluated. In some instances, especially appropriate summaries may be reproduced so that all students may use them for supplementary reading material.