General Biology
Term Report
The purpose of the term paper is to allow you to learn as much as you can about an appropriate topic that interests you. This is also to encourage the ability to research a topic and think critically about it. Information for your paper will be obtained from hardcopy (library) sources and from the internet. This handout should give you enough information to write a professional-quality paper. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!
Basic Requirements
The text of your paper will be 5-10 pages long (written text), double- spaced with a 10-12 size font that is easy to read (This is a Times New Roman, size 12 – Please don’t use hard to read fonts!!)
A quality paper earning maximum points must have the following characteristics:
1. Your paper will have a title page with your name, the title of the paper, the semester and year, and the class title or number (e.g. General Biology or Biol-107). Failure to provide a title page will cost 10% of the total points.
2. The paper will have one inch margins (more or less) all the way around, and the pages will be numbered from the first text page.
3. You will use a minimum of three scientific sources. One must be from an internet site and one must come from a hard copy source (read online is ok). All three sources must be reputable and scientific. (National Geographic is good – National Enquirer isn’t!). Failure to use appropriate sources will cost 10% of the total points. 4. You will have in-text citations (APA style) of all resources used for your paper, and the paper will be written in your own words (see paragraph on plagiarism). Use this handout for APA style citing and referencing.
5. All cited material will be listed in the reference section using APA style as per my handout.
6. You will staple a rough draft to the back of your term paper. The rough draft must show signs of editing. The rough draft may be hand-written or typed but must be hand corrected.
7. No folders will be used – just a staple. Large papers may need a couple of staples and a large clip.
8. A quality paper will be professional in nature and scientifically objective. If you are critically analyzing a controversial biological topic, all personal opinions must be reserved for the very end of the paper.
Topics
General Biology (Biol-107): Any biological phenomenon, any disease (human or otherwise), any organism (or group of organisms), or other area of biology is appropriate. You may write a biography of a biologist (famous or otherwise), or critically analyze a controversial topic in biology (be objective!).
Paul Sykes, Ph.D.
2
Marine Biology (Biol-115): Any biological phenomenon occurring in the ocean, any
oceanographic phenomenon affecting marine organisms, any marine organism (or group
of marine organisms), or other area of marine biology is appropriate. You may write a
biography of a marine biologist (famous or otherwise), or critically analyze a
controversial topic in marine biology (be objective!).
In-Text Citations and References
Even though you will write this paper in your own words, you must give credit to
the author(s) from whom you obtained the information. The following examples
demonstrate the APA style for in-text citations. Note that the author’s last name and year
are given.
Journals
Examples:
One author in-text citation
Cannon (1928) described the water currents produced by copepods…….
or
The first investigation of copepod feeding currents revealed a circular pattern (Cannon
1928).
One author reference
Cannon, H. G.1928. On the feeding mechanism of the copepods
Calanus finmarchicus and Diaptomus gracilis. J. Exp. Biol. 6:131-144.
Note: 6:131-144 means volume 6, pages 131-144.
Two author in-text citation
… Donaghay and Small (1979) showed that copepods…..
or
Copepods avoid eating polystyrene beads even if they are bigger than the diatoms
in a diatom/bead mixture (Donaghay and Small 1979).
Two author reference
Donaghay, P. L. and L. F. Small. 1979. Food selection capabilities of
the estuarine copepod, Acartia clausi. Mar. Biol. 52:137-146.
Citation for three or more authors
Huntley et al. (1986) found that …
or
Calanus pacificus and Paracalanus parvus females feed poorly on certain dinoflagellates
(Huntley et al. 1986).
Note: et al. means “and others.”
Paul Sykes, Ph.D.
3
Reference for three or more authors
Huntley, M., P. Sykes, S. Rohan, and V. Marin. 1986. Chemically-mediated rejection of
rejection of dinoflagellate prey by the copepods Calanus pacificus and
Paracalanus parvus: Mechanism, occurrence, and significance. Mar. Ecol. Prog.
Ser. 28:105-120
Books
Note: Citations for books are the same as citations for journals.
Regular Book References
Marshall, S. M. and A. P. Orr. 1955. The biology of a marine copepod. Oliver and
Boyd. Edinburgh. 192 pp.
Article in a book
Ives, J. D. 1985. The relationship between Gonyaulax tamerensis cell toxin levels and
copepod ingestion rates. In[D. M. Anderson, A. W. White and D. Baden eds.]
Toxic Dinoflagellates Elsevier. New York. pp. 413-418.
Personal Communications
Citation
Patients using the drug were 85% likely to experience a marked reduction in psychotic
episodes (Nguyen 2002 pers. com.).
Reference
Nguyen, T. 2002. Interview with the head of Psychology and Psychiatry. Kaiser
Permanente, Riverside.
Internet
Reference
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2005. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic
publication.
www.fishbase.org, version (05/2005).
Note: In the example above, you could cite Fish Base the same way you would cite a
book or journal (Froese and Pauly 2005).
If you do not have an author, use Anonymous as the author name. If no year is given,
use the present year. If you have more than one Anonymous reference with the same
year, please use the following pattern: Anonymonus1, 2016; Anonymous2 2016;
Anonymous3 2016; and so on. Use the URL that will direct me to the page from which
you retrieved the information.
Paul Sykes, Ph.D.
4
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of materials written by others as your own material. This is
essentially intellectual theft, is a serious academic offense, and will be dealt with harshly.
Buying or downloading a paper that isn’t yours and putting your name on it is the
most serious form of plagiarism. Doing this will result in a zero on the paper, and the
infraction will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs. Directly copying someone
else’s work without quotation, modifying someone else’s work slightly (cut and paste
assembly of your paper) without quotation is also seriously wrong. Flagrant cutting and
pasting without quotation will also result in a zero on the paper and a report sent to the
Dean of Academic Affairs. Minor cutting and pasting (more than once, but less than
page) will result in a 20% reduction in the paper grade.
Other forms of plagiarism include forgetting to use quotations (even if properly
cited and referenced). Very rare mistakes (if I get the sense that you are just being a little
sloppy) will result in points being taken off for grammar (see evaluation).
Hint: The best way to avoid accidental plagiarism is to isolate yourself from your
work as you do your research. Take a large pad of paper (I like sketch pads) and take
notes from your sources. Write down the complete bibliographic reference for each
source on a separate page, and then copy information without copying sentence structure.
Now write your paper using your notepad as your source. In this way you cannot copy
the sentence structure of your sources.
Evaluation
Your term paper is worth either 200 or 300 points (depending on the class). You
must turn in a hard copy and an edited rough draft on time to me in class. I will use
the following evaluation rubric to grade your papers:
Title – 10% penalty if the paper does not have a Title Page
Rough – 10% penalty if the rough draft is turned in late within one
week. 50% penalty if the rough draft is turned in after one
week
Length 10% – 5 full pages=full credit; 4 full pages=1/2 credit; 3 full pages 0
credit; < 3 full pages = 50% off the paper.
Bibliography 10% – Proper format; number and types of references;
Citations 20% – Proper format; citations where needed; Agreement with
references
Grammar 20% – Sentence structure; spelling; no cut and paste (quoted or
unquoted); basic grammar;
Content 40% – Do you know what you’re talking about; currency;
completeness?
Paul Sykes, Ph.D.
5
Please follow instructions because:
1. A paper less than 3 complete text pages (12 font size) will lose 50%.
2. Late papers will receive a 10% reduction per day. Electronic submissions of
complete papers to my email will stop the clock if the paper is turned in at the
next class day. Papers turned in after one week will lose 50%
3. Papers without a Rough Draft will receive 50% of total value. Rough Drafts
with no obvious evidence of editing will receive a 10% reduction from the
gross total score. Rough Drafts that are essentially copies of the final will be
considered the same as no rough draft at all.
4. Papers without a Reference section with receive 50% of total value.
Note: Short papers, and papers without rough drafts or references, may be
repaired within one week after the deadline with a 10% reduction in score. No
repairs accepted after one week.
Words to the wise: I know the above instructions sound daunting, but most students
find the term paper to be a fun exploration. Please begin your work ASAP so you can
earn the maximum number of points. This is an excellent way to earn a large number of
points and you will notice that most of the points are just for following instructions!
Please do not hesitate to ask for help if you are having problems. Also know that we
have a writing center on campus where you may receive help.
