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“The purpose of this assignment is to get you reading primary scientific papers about a subject in cell, molecular biology or microbiology (topic must be approved by me). A primary journal article means that this was the first place where this study was published; these articles will contain data figures, materials and methods, and will be published in journals like Journal of Bacteriology, Journal of Virology, Molecular Microbiology, Journal of the American Medical Association, Science, Nature, Lancet, etc. Secondary articles are published in journals like Discover, RN, Current Trends in Microbiology, etc. These journals contain review articles. Review articles can also be published in major journals such as those listed above (JAMA, Lancet, J. Bacteriol, etc). You must look for the materials and methods section; if it is present, then this will be a primary source. You may use some of these secondary sources, but you must have at least three primary articles (where data is shown for the first time) and three secondary sources.
· You should search Medline, Web of Science or other databases for journal articles using several keywords about your topic. Then scan through the abstracts to see if the study covers information that is pertinent to your topic. You must obtain the entire paper as your source, and you might have to use interlibrary loan to get papers you’re interested in. The point of the exercise is to make you read the articles not just the abstracts.
· You should think of this exercise as writing a review paper on whatever your topic happens to be and your audience members are your fellow classmates. Start with an outline of the points you want to make. You should have an introduction. Then the body of your paper will contain paragraphs summarizing the relevant points that each study made. Then have a summary paragraph. Place the references on a separate sheet of paper from the body. An example of a citation format is shown below.
· Be sure to properly cite the sources of the information you summarize. Also, be very careful to avoid using sentences or parts of sentences word for word from papers. This is plagiarism. If you cannot easily reword technical jargon, you may sparingly use quotation marks, but this should be kept to a minimum. Changing a word here or there in a sentence is not sufficient to avoid plagiarism.
· Don’t be afraid to ask questions while working on your project. Do not wait until the night before it is due.
Assignment: Write a 8-10 page (double-spaced, typed, one-inch margins) research paper on your chosen topic. You must have a minimum of 8 pages of prose, not including references. Each research paper must cite a minimum of six references. Three of these must be papers from the primary scientific literature (i.e. not review articles but where data are published for the first time). Three secondary sources (review articles, books are also required). Websites can be used and cited, but they are not considered part of the 6 references.”
Citations: You may either choose to use a numbered system (1) or the author/date method (Schluchter and Bryant, 1992). Two examples of how references should be cited at the end of your paper are shown below. The titles should be included for each citation. You should pick a citation style that includes the title and use it for all of the references you list in your bibliography. You should also list any website you used in the preparation of this paper, but these are not considered part of your 6 required references (3 primary, 3 secondary).
Schluchter, WM, and Bryant DA (1992) Molecular characterization of ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase in cyanobacteria. Cloning and sequence of the petH gene of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 and studies on the gene product. Biochemistry 31: 3092-3102.
Kruip J, Bald D, Hankamer B, Nield J, Boonstra AF, Barber J, Boekema EJ, and Rogner M (1995) Localization of subunits in PS I, PS II and in a PS II/Light-harvesting-supercomplex. In: Mathis P (ed). Photosynthesis: from Light to B
