Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences

by McMillan, Victoria E.

• ISBN13: 9780312440831
• ISBN10: 0312440839
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Spiral Bound
• Copyright: 2006-03-17
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

Written by a professional biologist who is also an experienced writing teacher, this comprehensive guide for students writing in biology, zoology, and botany provides detailed instruction on researching, drafting, revising, and documenting papers, reviews, and other forms of writing.

Author Biography

VICTORIA E. MCMILLAN (Ph.D., Syracuse University) teaches in the interdisciplinary writing department, the biology department, and the women's studies program at Colgate University. A behavioral ecologist who has published a number of scholarly and popular articles on animal behavior, McMillan is currently focusing her research activities on reproductive strategies in insects, dragonflies in particular.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
About the Author	p. viii
Introduction: How and Why Biologists Write: An Introduction to Biological Literature	p. 1
Locating and Using Biological Literature	p. 5
Sear Ching the Liter Ature	p. 5
Sample Database Search	p. 11
Using the Inter Net	p. 20
Reading Scientific Papers	p. 27
Taking Notes	p. 29
Handling Data and Using Statistics	p. 33
Getting Started	p. 33
Recording and Organizing Your Findings	p. 36
Using Statistics to Analyze Your Data	p. 39
Using Tables and Figures	p. 45
Tables	p. 46
Figures	p. 53
Checklist for Tables and Figures	p. 66
Writing Lab Reports and Research Papers	p. 68
Title	p. 69
Abstract	p. 72
Introduction	p. 76
Materials and Methods	p. 78
Results	p. 83
Discussion	p. 89
Acknowledgments	p. 94
Literature Cited	p. 94
Checklist for Lab Reports and Research Papers	p. 94
Sample Laboratory Report	p. 96
Sample Student Research Paper	p. 102
Writing a Review Paper	p. 114
Choosing a Topic	p. 115
Deciding on a Title	p. 116
Working with the Literature	p. 116
Presenting your Material	p. 117
Checklist for Review Papers	p. 128
Sample Review Paper	p. 129
Documenting the Paper	p. 137
Citing Sources in the Text	p. 137
CSE Style	p. 138
APA Style	p. 145
Preparing the Literature Cited Section	p. 152
CSE Style	p. 153
APA Style	p. 160
Drafting and Revising	p. 167
The First Draft	p. 167
Practical Suggestions for Revising	p. 170
Checking Content and Structure	p. 175
Improving Paragraphs	p. 176
Writing Clear, Accurate Sentences	p. 178
Avoiding Wordiness	p. 187
Verb Tense	p. 191
Punctuation	p. 192
Preparing the Final Draft	p. 196
Mechanics and Technicalities	p. 196
Manuscript Format	p. 201
Writing an Acknowledgments Section	p. 204
Proofreading	p. 205
Using Writing to Prepare for Examinations	p. 206
Getting the Most out of Textbooks	p. 206
Taking Good Lecture Notes	p. 207
Preparing for Laboratory Exams	p. 208
Studying for Short-Answer Questions	p. 210
Answering Essay Questions	p. 212
Other Forms of Biological Writing	p. 215
Oral Presentations	p. 215
Sample Powerpoint Presentation	p. 219
Poster Presentations	p. 226
Sample Poster Presentation	p. 231
Research Proposals	p. 234
Sample Research Proposal	p. 236
Letters of Application	p. 243
Sample Cover Letter	p. 245
Resumes	p. 246
Sample Resume	p. 249
Sample Curriculumvitae	p. 250
Additional Readings	p. 253
Literature Cited	p. 256
Index	p. 257
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