RESEARCH PAPERS:

Scientific work is presented to other scientists in journals. Journals are periodicals that are usually limited only to articles that have survived peer review (other scientists concur that the work should be published). Scientific papers should be complete descriptions of a body of research.

Papers must be typed and include the sections outlined below.
    1. TITLE:

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      The title should be fewer than twelve words and should reflect the factual content of the paper. A good title is straight-forward and uses key words. For example, suppose you studied how feeding dietary supplements of vitamin D affected the appearance of the fur of three white rats. "Effects of Chemicals on Animals" would be a poor title for a research report dealing with this study. A good title for this paper would be: "The influence of vitamin D on fur appearance in rats."
       

    2. ABSTRACT:

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      A scientific abstract is a short (strictly limited to fewer than a set number of words, ask your instructor for your guidelines) summary of a research project. Abstracts are often used at scientific meetings and in journals to allow prospective readers or attendees to decide whether to read the whole paper or attend the presentation. Thus, the abstract is an important advertising tool for scientific work. The abstract must be simple and read easily to entice further interest. See instructions for creating an abstract on the abstract writing page.
       

    3. INTRODUCTION:

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      The introduction defines the subject of the report. It must outline the scientific purpose(s) or objective(s) of the research performed and give the reader sufficient background to understand the rest of the report. The introduction should include:

      1. The purpose(s) or objective(s) for the research performed.
      2. Background information on the biology of the study organism.
      3. A detailed statement of the justification for the research based on background knowledge.
      4. Where you make claims from the literature, you should cite your source (e.g. "Smith (2001) found that crabs are most abundant near the ocean."  or "Crabs are most abundant near the ocean (Smith, 2001)." ).

       
    4. MATERIALS AND METHODS:

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      This section should include a concise description of the materials, procedures, and equipment used in each data collection process or experiment. This is not typically written in the format of a laboratory handout. That is, there is a not a list of equipment and numbered instructions. There should be, rather, a description of how the work was conducted and the devices, organisms, and techniques employed. There should be enough detail so that someone else could repeat the work. Drawings of the apparatus may be included if necessary.
       

    5. RESULTS:

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      This section should contain a written summary of the results from the research WITHOUT discussing the implications. A summary of the data from the study or experiments should also be organized into tables, figures, and graphs. Typically, raw data should not be included in a paper. All figures, tables and graphs should have descriptive titles. Any symbols, abbreviations, or special methods used should be described in a legend. Remember that scientists use metric measurements.

      1. Tables
      2. Graphs
      3. Written summary statements describing all of the results.
      4. Interpretation of the data should not be included in this section.
      5. Written OBSERVATIONS - If you are collecting data that you can see (observing crabs), this is where you tell your reader what you saw in addition to what you measured.
      6. Labeled diagrams.

       
    6. DISCUSSION:

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      In the discussion section, the data collected are interpreted in relation to the hypotheses or purposes proposed in the introduction. This information must be integrated into the discussion, NOT simply listed as answers to questions.

      1. Explain the logic used to accept or reject the original hypothesis(es).
      2. How was the experimental variable manipulated? How did the student control for other variables in the experiment(s) conducted?
      3. Were there variables that were not controlled for that should have been? How might these other, uncontrolled variables influence the interpretation of the results?
      4. Suggest ways to improve this research.
      5. How do the results integrate with the background information?  Specifically, relate your data to the information that you found in a literature search (e.g. "Although Smith (2001) reports that crabs are most abundant near the ocean, our data suggest...").
      6. What future projects are suggested by your results?
      7. Further instructions may be suggested by professors.

       
    7. REFERENCES:
Check with your professor for the acceptable standard for literature citations.  Each journal has its own specific format for literature cited.  Typically, these are double-spaced, alphabetized, and each paragraph is in the "hanging" format.  One example follows:

Hazlett, B. A. 1996. Assessments during shell exchanges by the hermit crab Clibanarius
        vittatus: the complete negotiator.  Animal Behaviour 51:567-573.

See your professor to determine the appropriate format for your sub-discipline.