A Short Guide to Writing About Biology

by Pechenik, Jan A.

ISBN13:

9780673525031

ISBN10:

0673525031

Format:

Paperback

Pub. Date:

12/1/1996

Publisher(s):

Prentice Hall

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Summary

Provides students with the tools needed to be successful writers in college and their profession, while emphasizing writing as a way of examining, evaluating, and sharing ideas. Students are taught how to read critically, study, evaluate and report data, and how to communicate information clearly and logically. Teaches students to think as biologists and to express ideas clearly and concisely through their writing. Courses preparing students for a profession in the field of biology.

Preface

Introduction and General Rules

(18)

What Do Biologists Write About, and Why?

(3)

The Keys to Success

(11)

On Using Computers in Writing

(2)

On Using Computers for Data Storage, Analysis, and Presentation

(1)

Summary

(2)

General Advice on Reading and Note-Taking

(33)

Effective Reading

(2)

Reading Data

(5)

Reading Text

(2)

Plagiarism and Note-Taking

(8)

Locating Useful Sources

(1)

Using Science Citation Index

(1)

Using Zoological Record

(4)

Using Biological Abstracts

(3)

Searching Computer Databases

(4)

Prowling the Internet

(1)

Using Current Contents

(1)

Closing Thoughts

(1)

Summary

(1)

Writing Laboratory Reports

(89)

Why Are You Doing This?

(1)

Organizing a Laboratory or Field Notebook

(5)

Components of The Laboratory Report

(2)

Where To Start

(1)

Writing The Materials and Methods Section

(1)

Determining the Correct Level of Detail

(4)

A Model Materials and Methods Section

(1)

Writing The Results Section

(1)

Summarizing Data Using Tables and Graphs

(2)

Constructing a Summary Table

(1)

To Graph or Not to Graph

(7)

Preparing Graphs

(2)

Connecting The Dots

(5)

Bar Graphs and Histograms

(2)

Preparing Tables

(2)

Self-Sufficient Graphs and Tables

(1)

Verbalizing Results

(4)

Writing About Numbers

(2)

Writing about Negative Results

(1)

In Anticipation

(2)

Citing Sources

(3)

Writing The Discussion Section

(1)

Expectations

(1)

Explaining Unexpected Results

100

(2)

Analysis of Specific Examples

102

(1)

Example 1

102

(1)

Student Presentation

102

(1)

Analysis

103

(1)

Example 2

104

(1)

Example 3

105

(1)

Student Presentation

105

(1)

Analysis

106

(1)

Example 4

106

(1)

Student Presentation

107

(1)

Analysis

108

(1)

Writing The Introduction Section

108

(1)

Stating the Question

109

(1)

An Aside: Studies Versus Experiments

110

(1)

Providing the Background

111

(5)

Deciding On a Title

116

(2)

Writing An Abstract

118

(1)

Preparing An Acknowledgments Section

119

(1)

Preparing The Literature Cited Section

120

(1)

Listing the References

120

(2)

Listing Journal References

122

(1)

Listing Items From The World Wide Web

122

(1)

Listing Book References

122

(1)

Listing an Article from a Book

122

(1)

Listing a Laboratory Manual or Handout

122

(2)

A Brief Discourse on Statistical Analysis

124

(1)

What You Need to Know about Tomatoes, Coins, and Random Events

124

(3)

Establishing a Null Hypothesis

127

(1)

Conducting the Analysis and Interpreting the Results

128

(5)

Summary

133

(1)

Incorporating Statistics into Your Laboratory Report

134

(1)

Example 1

134

(1)

Example 2

135

(1)

Preparing Papers For Formal Publication

136

(2)

Checklist For The Final Draft Of Your Laboratory Report

138

(3)

Writing Summaries and Critiques

141

(11)

Writing the First Draft

142

(1)

Writing the Summary

143

(1)

Sample Student Summary

144

(2)

Analysis of Student Summary

146

(1)

The Critique

147

(3)

Analysis of Student Critique

150

(1)

Concluding Thoughts

151

(1)

Writing Essays and Term Papers

152

(12)

Why Bother?

153

(1)

Getting Started

154

(1)

Researching your Topic

155

(1)

Writing the Paper

155

(5)

Example 1

160

(1)

Example 2

160

(1)

Citing Sources

161

(2)

Creating a Title

163

(1)

Revising

163

(1)

Writing Research Proposals

164

(10)

Researching your Topic

165

(2)

Writing the Proposal

167

(1)

Introduction

167

(2)

Background

169

(1)

Example 1

169

(2)

Example 2

171

(1)

Proposed Research

172

(1)

Citing References and Preparing the Literature Cited Section

173

(1)

The Life of a Real Research Proposal

173

(1)

Writing for a General Audience: Science Journalism

174

(9)

Science Journalism Based on Published Research

174

(5)

Journalism Based on an Interview

179

(4)

Preparing Oral Presentations

183

(12)

Talking About Published Research Papers

184

(1)

Preparing the Talk

184

(3)

Giving the Talk

187

(2)

Talking about Original Research

189

(1)

Talking about Proposed Research

190

(1)

The Listener's Responsibility

190

(1)

Preparing Effective Slides and Overheads

191

(4)

Writing Letters of Application

195

(14)

Before you Start

196

(1)

Preparing the Resume

196

(3)

Preparing the Cover Letter

199

(8)

Recruiting Effective Letters of Recommendation

207

(2)

Revising

209

(42)

Revising for Content

210

(3)

Revising for Clarity

213

(4)

The Dangers of ``It''

217

(3)

Revising for Completeness

220

(1)

Original Version

221

(1)

Revision 1

222

(1)

Revision 2

222

(1)

Revising For Conciseness

222

(2)

First Commandment: Eliminate Unnecessary Prepositions

224

(1)

Second Commandment: Avoid Weak Verbs

225

(1)

Third Commandment: Do Not Overuse the Passive Voice

226

(2)

Fourth Commandment: Make the Organism the Agent of the Action

228

(1)

Revising for Flow

229

(4)

Revising for Teleology And Anthropomorphism

233

(1)

Revising for Spelling Errors

234

(1)

Revising for Grammar and Proper word Usage

235

(6)

Becoming a Good Editor

241

(1)

Giving Criticism

242

(3)

Receiving Criticism

245

(1)

Fine-Tuning

245

(1)

Example

246

(1)

Sentences in Need of Revision

246

(5)

Answering Essay Questions

251

(7)

Writing a Poster Presentation

258

(9)

Layout of The Poster

261

(2)

Making The Poster

263

(4)

Appendix A Means, Variances, Standard Deviations, Standard Errors, and 95% Confidence Intervals

267

(3)

Appendix B Commonly Used Abbreviations

270

(2)

Appendix C Suggested References for Further Reading

272

(2)

Appendix D Revised Sample Sentences

274

(2)

Appendix E The Revised Sample Sentences in Final Form

276

(2)

Appendix F Some Computer Software for the Biological Sciences

278

(3)

Index

281

A Short Guide to Writing About Biology

9780673525031

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Summary

Table of Contents