A Short Guide to Writing about Biology

by Pechenik, Jan A.

• ISBN13: 9780205075072
• ISBN10: 020507507X
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-03
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This best-selling writing guide by a prominent biologist teaches students to think as biologists and to express ideas clearly and concisely through their writing. Providing students with the tools they'll need to be successful writers in college and their profession, A Short Guide to Writing about Biologyemphasizes writing as a means to examine, evaluate, share, and refine ideas. The text teaches students how to read critically, study, evaluate and report data, and how to communicate information clearly and logically. Students are 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.

Author Biography

 Jan A. Pechenik is Professor of Biology at Tufts University, where he has been teaching and doing research since 1978. He obtained his B.A. in Zoology from Duke University and his Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. To date he has published more than a hundred papers on the development and metamorphosis of marine invertebrate animals, including snails, blue mussels, crabs, barnacles, polychaetes, bryozoans, and parasitic flatworms. Professor Pechenik has also published a successful textbook on invertebrate biology, currently in its 3rd edition, and chairs the Division of Invertebrate Zoology within the Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology (formerly the American Society of Zoologists). Committed to teaching as well as research, his highly praised book on this subject, AS hort Guide to Writing About Biology, will publish in its eighth edition in January 2012.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
General Aduice about Writing and Reading Biology	p. 1
Introduction and General Rules	p. 1
What Lies Ahead?	p. 1
What Do Biologists Write About, and Why?	p. 2
The Keys to Success	p. 4
Avoiding Plagiarism	p. 13
On Using Computers in Writing	p. 15
On Using Computers for Data Storage, Analysis, and Presentation	p. 18
Summary	p. 19
Using Shortcuts and Autocorrect	p. 16
Locating Useful Sources	p. 21
What Lies Ahead?	p. 21
Easy Ways to Access the Primary Literature	p. 22
Using indexes	p. 23
Using Science Citation index	p. 24
Using Current Contents Connect	p. 25
Using Medline and Other Databases	p. 25
Prowling the Internet	p. 26
Conducting Web Searches: Developing Productive Search Strategies	p. 28
Final Thoughts about Efficient Searching: Technology IsnÆt Everything	p. 32
Closing Thoughts	p. 33
Summary	p. 33
Using Search Engines Effectively	p. 30
General Advice on Reading and Note Taking	p. 34
What Lies Ahead?	p. 34
Why Read and What to Read	p. 34
Effective Reading	p. 35
Reading Data: Plumbing the Depths of Figures and Tables	p. 37
Reading Text: Summarize as You Go	p. 42
Take Notes in Your Own Words	p. 43
Final Thoughts on Note Taking: Document Your Sources	p. 47
Summary	p. 48
Reading and Writing About Statistical Analyses	p. 49
What Lies Ahead?	p. 49
Statistical Essentials	p. 49
Summary: Using Statistics to Test Hypotheses	p. 61
Moving Beyond p-Values	p. 61
Reading about Statistics	p. 64
Writing about Statistics	p. 64
Summary	p. 68
Citing Sources and Listing References	p. 69
What Lies Ahead?	p. 69
Citing Sources	p. 69
Summary of Citation Format Rules	p. 73
Preparing the Literature Cited Section	p. 74
A Sample Literature Cited Section	p. 78
Bibliographic Management Software	p. 77
Producing Hanging Indents	p. 77
Revising	p. 80
What Lies Ahead?	p. 80
Preparing the Draft for Surgery: Plotting Idea Maps	p. 82
Revising for Content	p. 85
Revising for Clarity	p. 89
Revising for Completeness	p. 94
Revising for Conciseness	p. 96
Revising for Flow	p. 102
Revising for Teleology and Anthropomorphism	p. 106
Revising for Spelling Errors	p. 106
Revising for Grammar and Proper Word Usage	p. 108
Becoming a Good Reviewer	p. 114
Checklist	p. 121
Tracking Changes Made To Documents	p. 119
Guidelines for Specific Tasks	p. 123
Prelude: Why Are You Writing Papers and Proposals and Giving Talks?	p. 123
Writing Summaries, Critiques, Essays, and Review Papers	p. 125
What Lies Ahead?	p. 125
Writing Summaries and Critiques	p. 125
Sample Student Summary	p. 128
Writing Essays and Review Papers	p. 132
Checklist for Essays and Review Papers	p. 141
Answering Essay Questions	p. 142
Basic Principles	p. 142
Applying the Principles	p. 146
Summary	p. 148
Writing Laboratory and Other Research Reports	p. 149
What Lies Ahead?	p. 149
Why Are You Doing This?	p. 150
The Purpose of Laboratory and Field Notebooks	p. 150
Components of the Research Report	p. 155
Where to Start	p. 157
When to Start	p. 158
Writing the Materials and Methods Section	p. 158
Writing the Results Section	p. 164
Citing Sources	p. 195
What to Do Next?	p. 195
Writing the Discussion Section	p. 196
Writing the Introduction Section	p. 203
Talking about Your Study Organism or Field Site	p. 209
Deciding on a Title	p. 209
Writing an Abstract	p. 211
Preparing an Acknowledgments Section	p. 212
Preparing the Literature Cited Section	p. 212
Preparing a Paper for Formal Publication	p. 212
A Note about Co-Authorship	p. 214
Checklist for the Final Draft	p. 214
Using Computer Spreadsheets for Data Collection	p. 194
Graphing with Excel	p. 217
Writing Research Proposals	p. 221
What Lies Ahead?	p. 221
What Are Reviewers Looking For?	p. 222
Researching Your Topic	p. 223
What Makes a Good Research Question?	p. 224
Writing the Proposal	p. 225
Tightening the Logic	p. 230
The Life of a Real Research Proposal	p. 230
Checklist	p. 231
Presenting Research Findings: Preparing Talks and Poster Presentations	p. 232
Oral Presentations	p. 232
Checklist for Being Judged	p. 242
Poster Presentations	p. 242
Checklist for Making Posters	p. 248
Writing Letters of Application	p. 249
Before You Start	p. 249
Preparing the CV	p. 250
Preparing the Cover Letter	p. 253
Recruiting Effective Letters of Recommendation	p. 263
Revised Sample Sentences	p. 264
Commonly Used Abbreviations	p. 268
Recommended Resources	p. 269
Index	p. 272
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