Posted: February 1st, 2023

BIOL 21 Environment, Ethics, and Human Health RESEARCH PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

BIOL 21
Environment, Ethics, and Human Health
RESEARCH PAPER INSTRUCTIONS
Compiled by Allison Harness with assistance from Dr. Goldman (SFSU), Biological Sciences Dept., Monash U, and Purdue OWL
DUE DATES:
February 16: Library Search & Plagiarism Tutorial and Quiz due on Canvas (25 points
credit/no credit)
February 16: Research topic proposal due on Canvas (25 points)
March 16: rough draft due to ETS Criterion (25 points; credit/no credit)
April 13: final draft due on Canvas (100 points)
NOTE: Canvas works well with ‘Word’ or PDF documents. If you are using ‘Pages’ or ‘Google doc’,
please convert to ‘Word’ or PDF before submitting or I will not be able to read your assignment and
you will receive a score of zero. When converting, watch for and fix formatting changes.
GENERAL:
Our goal in setting an essay as part of your assessment is for you to learn to obtain
information from the scientific literature, to synthesize information from diverse sources, to
use it to critically evaluate and discuss arguments or ideas, and then communicate these to the
reader.
This document gives guidelines and helpful hints for your research paper. Please be sure to ask
if you have any questions. Also, be sure to follow the grading rubric at the end of this
document to get the best score possible on your paper.
Most scientific communication is through published papers. Communication is the
cornerstone of any career, therefore, it is important that you learn to communicate effectively
by the written word. Developing an ability to communicate ideas on paper is a crucial part of
your education. As with all English writing, a scientific essay should be clear, concise, pertinent
and written with accuracy of facts.
Expectations of a scientific essay are very different from a standard English assignment.
Firstly, you are expected to make your own search of the literature, using primary literature
published in scientific journals. This is a time-consuming task and we urge you to start as soon
as possible after you have decided your topic and have completed the tutorial on techniques
for searching the library database for suitable journal articles.
NOTE: Here is a link to a video you might find useful that discusses a quick way to read a
scholarly journal article: Reading Scholarly Journal Articles
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEVftUdfKtQ)
WRITING PROMPT FOR YOUR RESEARCH PAPER:
Many issues affect the environment such as pollution, global warming, disease, and
resource availability. These issues are not isolated or stopped by some boundaries drawn on a
map and all can have a direct effect on human health. For this assignment, you will write your
paper based on topics that look at environmental issues and their impact on human health with
a global scope.
STRUCTURE:
The topic of your research paper should be of interest to you and of scientific relevance
to the course. You want to synthesize ideas that are in the literature, not “rehash” the
information. Your essay should be focused on a central point. Keep in mind that the more
focused your research topic or question is, the easier it will be to identify relevant information
to present in your paper.
YOUR ESSASY MUST BE:
• 5-7 typed, double-spaced pages (excluding cover page and references) on standardsized
paper (8.5”x11”) with 1” margins on all sides; be sure to number the pages.
o minimum 1500 words – maximum 2000 words.
o Under the minimum and over the maximum word count will result in point
deductions.
• Use a clear font that is highly readable; we recommend using 12 pt. Times New Roman
or Calibri font.
• Informational Sources:
o You must include a minimum of 5 primary sources published 2006 or later
(more recent).
o You may also use a combination of reputable web sites (e.g. .gov, .org), reviews,
and other sources, but must meet the minimum of 5 primary research source
requirement first.
▪ Points will be lost for using secondary and tertiary sources without first
meeting the minimum 5 primary source requirement.
o There is no min/max for books but there is a maximum of 3 reputable web site
sources (e.g. .gov, .org, etc.).
• Include a cover page that lists a unique and original title of your essay, your name and
class.
• Your writing should be in complete sentences, written clearly and concisely, and easily
understood.
• NO DIRECT QUOTES. Paraphrase all information and be sure to cite your sources.
• Do not use personal bias – do not include “I”, “Me”, or “My” statements.
• Homework help – Write in a scientific, professional tone. Do not use slang and do not use a
conversational or argumentative tone.
• Use research facts and data to support all of your main points. Do not include
information that can’t be supported by scientific facts/data.
• Standard grammar and spelling rules apply.
• Make sure that every paragraph has a clear topic sentence and that the paragraph
content supports the topic.
• No images (pictures, graphs, or tables).
• Use Help write my thesis – APA format for in-text citations and reference page only.
o Do not include a running header – this format is for citations and references
only
o Some examples are provided in Part B near the end of this document.
o You can also find instructions and examples at the Purdue University Online
Writing Lab (OWL): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Your ideas will have little impact, no matter how good the research, if they are not
communicated well. Remember that scientific terminology very often has precise meaning. Be
certain you choose your words correctly and wisely. (The dictionary and thesaurus will be your
best friends)
NOTE: You will be penalized for departing from the length, format, and referencing style
requested (see grading rubric at the end of these instructions). Note that the penalties
assessed for inappropriate topic, length, format, grammar, referencing, etc., are substantial
and there is no reason for anyone to lose any of those points.
LATE PAPERS: papers received on Canvas up to three days after the due date will be penalized
10 points per day. Papers received more than 3 days after the due date will not be accepted
and will receive a zero for the grade. The weekend counts as one day.
ORGANIZATION:
An essay should introduce the topic, discuss it, and lead to a conclusion. Your paper will
be a review of scientific literature. Scientific essays may conveniently be divided into four parts
to aid the logical communication of facts and ideas. These four parts may be separated as
follows: (Note: do not list the headings in your essay)
1. Introduction
An introduction is used to define the scope of the essay and to give background
information necessary for the discussion of the topic. It should be brief (no more than about
one-tenth of the essay length). It should include the following.
(A) Background: – A brief overview of relevant introductory information to a topic which
serves to place that topic in context for the reader. Depending on the topic, it may also
be necessary to define important technical terms, or special uses of words.
(B) Thesis statement: – A statement of your interpretation of the topic (that explains
how you intend to cover it).
2. Body
This should be the bulk of your paper. In this section, the logical development of the
subject matter must be made apparent to the reader. It should include a description of
research studies undertaken on your topic, including what question the researchers were
asking, what was done, and what the researchers discovered. We do not want long descriptions
of a topic, but your analysis of the topic. This means that we expect you to read widely about
the topic, and to select the best references.
Be sure to include in-text citations to give credit for any facts or ideas that are not your
own (unless of course they are commonly used and accepted). Make sure you understand the
tutorial on plagiarism. If you knowingly OR unknowingly plagiarize, you will receive a score of
zero for the assignment and be reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs for violating the
University Academic Integrity Policy.
3. Conclusion
The conclusion should:
(1) Integrate the major points presented in the body of the essay.
(2) Provide a summary.
It may also suggest additional questions or research areas that might provide the
answers to unsolved problems. The conclusion is usually around one-tenth of the essay’s
length.
4. References
For the purpose of this assignment, we will use the standard Help write my thesis – APA format. The following
examples in Part B should guide you through most referencing situations.
PART B:
How to use in-text citations: (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/)
In other disciplines, foot-notes are often used. However, this is less common in biology
and should be avoided in work submitted in this course.
A one author paper should be cited in the text as (last name, date)
A two author paper as (last name & last name, date)
A paper with three or more authors should be cited as (first author last name et al.,
date).
If the information comes from more than one paper each citation is divided with a
semicolon. If possible, cite an electronic document the same as any other document by using
the author-date style.
Here are some examples of how references can be cited in the text of your essay:
Furthermore, the easiest way to justify land ownership is by converting the forest to
agriculture uses, mainly pasture that is less costly than by establishing cash crops (Hecht, 1993;
Margulis, 2004). Thus, extensive cattle ranching is the most common livestock production
system under cheaply available land and scarcity of capital and labor (Kaimowitz, 1995). In this
context, the government has not been able to enforce environmental law that mandates that
80% of each property be set aside as legal forest reserves (Alencar et al., 2004; Mueller &
Alston, 2007).
Note that the citations are in the sentence. They are not after the sentence, that is, not
after the period. If similar information comes from multiple papers, they should all be cited in
chronological order. If multiple papers are cited from the same year put them in alphabetical
order.
How to write your reference list:
Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information
necessary for a reader to locate any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you
cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list
must be cited in your text.
Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label
this page “References” centered at the top of the page (DO NOT bold, underline, or use
quotation marks for the title). All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of your essay.
For proper formatting, see “Basic Rules” for Help write my thesis – APA style on the Purdue OWL website.
Below are examples of formatting a reference list. These examples do not cover all types of
references. Please visit the OWL Purdue site for additional information.
Article from a Database (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/07/)
When referencing a print article obtained from an online database (such as a database in the
library), provide appropriate print citation information (formatted just like a “normal” print citation
would be for that type of work). By providing this information, you allow people to retrieve the print
version if they do not have access to the database from which you retrieved the article. You can also
include the item number or accession number or database URL at the end, but the Help write my thesis – APA manual says
that this is not required.
One author: cited in text as (author last name, date)
Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles. Journal of
Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896.
Two authors: cited in text as (author last name & author last name, date)
Stover, L.E., & Partridge, A.D. (1973) Tertiary and Late Cretaceous spores and pollen
from the Gippsland Basin, south-eastern Australia. Proceedings Royal Society
Victoria, 85, 237-286.
Many authors: cited in text as (first author last name et al., date).
Please note here that although the abbreviation et al. is used for three or more authors
in the citation, the names of all the authors of a publication must appear in the
reference list e.g. the reference below would be cited in your essay as (Coding et al.,
1987) but written in your reference list in the following format:
Coding, J.R., Catt, K.T., Brown, J.M., Kaltenback, C.C., Cumming, I.A., & Mole, B.J. (1987)
Radioimmunoassay for ovine luteinizing hormone. Secretion of luteinizing
hormone during estrus and following estrogen administration in the sheep.
Endocrinology, 85, 133-142.
Article From an Online Periodical with DOI Assigned
Because online materials can potentially change URLs, Help write my thesis – APA recommends providing a Digital
Object Identifier (DOI), when it is available, as opposed to the URL. DOIs are an attempt to provide
stable, long-lasting links for online articles. They are unique to their documents and consist of a long
alphanumeric code. Many-but not all-publishers will provide an article’s DOI on the first page of the
document.
Brownlie, D. (2007) Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography.
European Journal of Marketing, 41, 1245-1283.
doi:10.1108/03090560710821161
OTHER TIPS
• Pick a topic that truly interests you. You will spend a lot of time reading and writing
about this subject, and it shouldn’t be a painful experience.
• Do not say “prove” or “disprove” regarding your hypothesis. Say “reject” or “fail to
reject”/”support.” (Because that’s how science works!)
• Writing style: Use active voice. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence. Eliminate
nonsense phrases. Ex. “It is the purpose of this experiment to…” can be shortened to
“This study shows…” (among other things). Eliminate statements such as “it is clear
that.” Be direct and to the point.
• In general, avoid abbreviations. For example, use laboratory, not lab, and mathematics,
not math.
• The first time you use an acronym, write out what it stands for and put the acronym in
parentheses, for example: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). After that you can
use the acronym.
• World Wide Web: Citing information from the World Wide Web in your paper is NOT
appropriate in almost all instances. If you feel you can justify use of the WWW, please
come see me and we will discuss it individually.
• Electronic Indexes: Google Scholar, Web of Science, BIOSIS (and Biological Abstracts),
and Geobase are the most useful indexes for searching the ecological literature.
• VERY IMPORTANT: Evidence of plagiarism or academic dishonesty will result in a
failing grade and a letter to this effect in your student file. It’s not worth it! I will check
your sources. I have had problems with this in the past and will not tolerate it.
Plagiarism is deliberately handing in another person’s work as your own. It may be the
work of a classmate, work that you previously submitted to a class, a scientist whose
work you read while researching a topic, or something you pulled off the internet.
Paraphrasing consists of expressing what an author is saying in your own words. In this
case you should include reference to the author you paraphrase to indicate that the
ideas are someone else’s and not yours. If you are not clear about the differences
between scholarly citation, collaboration and paraphrasing, please see me or consult
the resources available at http://library.sjsu.edu/start-your-research/i-need-helpavoiding-plagiarism.
RESEARCH PAPER GRADING RUBRIC
How we use this rubric: For Excellent, Above Average, Average and Below Average quality: if you fully
meet ALL of the criteria in a cell you get the points for that cell, otherwise you will get points for the cell
below. Graders have the ability to grade points up or down.
Format &
Grammar
Content & Organization Comprehension
An excellent
“A” paper
has…
0-1 grammatical
mistakes.
0-1 spelling errors.
Demonstrates control
of language, including
appropriate word
choice and sentence
variety.
1500-2000 words.
27-30 POINTS
Title page with original, well thought out
title.
Paper is well thought out with an
introduction and conclusion.
Body of essay is well and logically
organized and written; each paragraph is a
complete paragraph, i.e., a minimal of 3
sentences; ideas are connected with clear
transitions.
Facts presented are relevant to the essay.

36-40 POINTS
Uses 5 primary peerreviewed
journal
articles.
Accurately presents
and integrates current
research findings/data.
All 5 studies are
discussed within the
text.
All literature is
correctly cited within
the text and in the
Reference page.
27-30 POINTS
An above
average “B”
paper has…
2-3 grammatical
mistakes.
2-3 spelling errors.
Demonstrates control
of language, including
appropriate word
choice and sentence
variety.
At least 1500 words.
24-26 POINTS
Title page with decent title.
Introduction or conclusion moderately
developed.
Body of paper is fairly logically organized
and written; each paragraph is a complete
paragraph, i.e., a minimal of 3 sentences;
ideas are connected with some transitions.
Facts presented are relevant to the essay

32-35 POINTS
Uses 4 primary peerreviewed
journal
articles.
Accurately presents
current research
findings/data and
attempts to integrate
results from research.
All literature is
correctly cited within
the text and the
Reference page.
24-26 POINTS
An average
paper “C”
has…
4-5 grammatical
mistakes.
4-5 spelling errors.
Demonstrates minimal
control of language;
little sentence variety.
750-1500 words.
21-23 POINTS
Title page with decent title.
Introduction or conclusion weakly
developed.
Body of paper is moderately organized and
written; most paragraphs are complete
paragraphs, i.e., more than 3 sentences;
ideas are connected with some transitions.
Most facts presented are relevant to the
essay.

28-31 POINTS
Uses 3 primary peerreviewed
journal
articles.
Provides moderately
strong, convincing
support or evidence
from research but
does not integrate
results from research.
Uses direct quotes.
Literature is not
correctly cited within
the text and/or the
Reference page.
21-23 POINTS
A below
average “D”
paper has…
6-7 grammatical
mistakes.
6-7 spelling errors.
Has poor control of
language, including
appropriate word
choice and poor
sentence structure.
Includes “I”, “Me”, or
“My” statements
and/or uses slang.
Less than 750 words.
18-20 POINTS
No title page.
Introduction or conclusion not present.
Body of paper is poorly organized and
written; paragraphs are incomplete
paragraph, i.e., less than 3 sentences; ideas
are somewhat connected with some
transitions.
Facts presented are somewhat irrelevant to
the essay.
24-27 POINTS
Uses only 1-2 primary
peer-reviewed journal
articles.
Provides moderate
support or evidence
from research.
Uses direct quotes.
No comparison made
between
developed/developing
nations.
Literature is not
correctly cited within
the text or the
Reference page.
18-20 POINTS
An
unacceptable
“F” paper
has…
8+ grammatical
mistakes and spelling
errors.
Has no control of
language, including
appropriate word
choice and poor
sentence structure and
variety.
Includes “I”, “Me”, or
“My” statements
and/or uses slang.
Less than 750 words.
0-17 POINTS
No title page.
Introduction and conclusion not present.
Body of paper is unorganized and poorly
written; paragraphs are incomplete
paragraph, i.e., less than 3 sentences; ideas
are not connected with transitions.
Facts presented are irrelevant to the essay.
0-23 POINTS
Only uses personal
opinion/non-scholarly
sources, and/or web
pages.
Uses direct quotes.
No comparison made
between
developed/developing
nations.
Literature is not
correctly cited within
the text or the
Reference page.

0-17 POINTS

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