Short Guide to Writing about Biology, A

Description
Providing the reader with the tools need ed to be successful writers in college and their profession, A Short Guide to Writing about Biology emphasizes writing as a way of examining, evaluating, and sharing ideas. The text teaches how to read critically, study, evaluate and report data, and how to communicate information clearly and logically. Also given detailed advice on locating useful sources, interpreting the results of statistical tests, maintaining effective laboratory and field notebooks, writing effective research proposals and poster presentations, writing effective applications, and communicating information to both professional and general audiences.

Contents

Preface.

I. GENERAL ADVICE ABOUT WRITING AND READING BIOLOGY.

1. Introduction and General Rules.

What Do Biologists Write About, and Why?

The Keys to Success.

On Using Computers in Writing.

On Using Computers for Data Storage, Analysis, and Presentation.

Summary.

2. Locating Useful Sources.

Using Indexes

Prowling the Internet

Closing Thoughts.

Summary.

3. General Advice on Reading and Note-Taking.

Why Read and What to Read

Effective Reading.

Reading Data: Plumbing the Depths of Figures and Tables.

Reading Text: Summarize As You Go.

Plagiarism and Note-Taking.

Summary

4. Reading and Writing about Statistical Analysis.

Statistical Essentials.

Summary:  Using Statistics.

Reading About Statistics.

Writing About Statistics.

5. Citing Sources and Listing References.

Citing Sources.

Summary of Citation Format Rules.

Preparing the Literature Cited Section.

Sample Literature Cited Section.

6. Revising.

Preparing the Draft for Surgery.

Plotting Idea Maps.

Revising for Content.

Revising for Clarity.

Revising for Completeness.

Revising for Conciseness.

Revising for Flow.

Revising for Teleology and Anthropomorphism.

Revising for Spelling Errors.

Revising for Grammar and Proper Word Usage.

Becoming a Good Reviewer

Receiving Criticism

Checklist.

II. GUIDELINES FOR SPECIFIC CRITIQUES.

7. Writing Summaries and Critiques.

Writing the First Draft.

Writing the Summary.

Sample Student Summary.

Writing the Critique.

Concluding Thoughts.

8. Writing Essays and Term Papers.

Why Bother?

Getting Started.

Researching Your Topic

Developing a Thesis Statement.

Writing the Paper.

Citing Sources.

Creating a Title.

Revising.

Checklist

9. Writing Laboratory and Other Research Reports.

Why Are You Doing This?

The Purpose of Laboratory and Field Notebooks.

Components of the Research Report.

Where to Start.

When to Start

Writing the Materials and Methods Section.

Writing the Results Section.

Citing Sources.

Writing the Discussion Section.

Writing the Introduction Section.

Deciding on a Title.

Writing an Abstract.

Preparing an Acknowledgements Section.

Preparing the Literature Cited Section.

Preparing A Paper for Formal Publication.

Checklist for the Final Draft

10. Writing Research Proposals.

What Are Reviewers Looking For?

Researching Your Topic.

What Makes a Good Research Question?

Writing the Proposal.

Tightening the Logic.

The Life of a Real Research Proposal

Checklist

11. Answering Essay Questions.

Basic Principles.

12  Presenting Research Findings as Talks and Posters

Oral Presentation

Talking about published research papers

Writing the talk

Giving the talk

Dos and Don’ts for oral presentations

Talking about original research

Talking about proposed research

The listener’s responsibility

Preparing effective visuals

Using Powerpoint

Common Powerpoint errors

Checklist for being judged

Poster Presentations

Layout of the poster

Making the poster

Checklist for making posters

13. Writing Letters of Application.

Before You Start.

Preparing the Résumé.

Preparing the Cover Letter.

Recruiting Effective Letters of Recommendation.

Appendix A. The Disassembled Paragraph Reconstituted (from Chapter 5).

Appendix B. Revised Sample Sentences.

Appendix C. The Revised Sample Sentences in Final Form.

Appendix D. Commonly Used Abbreviations.

Appendix E. Suggested References for Further Reading.

Appendix F. Sample Form for Peer Review.

Appendix G. Some Useful Websites.

Index.

Features

• Provides extensive guidance for all aspects of writing for biologists at all stages of training, including research reports, essay exams, term papers, research proposals, summaries, critiques, poster presentations, oral presentations, and letters of application for jobs and graduate programs.
• Explains how biologists work, how they design studies, and how they think about the data they collect.
• Provides detailed advice on working with data, presenting data, and interpreting the results of statistical analyses.
• Offers detailed advice about locating useful sources of information, both in print and on the Web, and about avoiding plagiarism.
• Includes extensive pedagogy in each chapter--helpful hints and end of chapter checklists and summaries, which can easily be used by students to facilitate peer review and by instructors to generate grading rubrics.
• Guides students through the important process of creating effective oral presentations and poster presentations.
• Includes numerous “Technology Tips,” helping students to take better advantage of the computer technology available to them for writing, revising, graphing, calculating, and giving effective talks.