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Instructions for Library Research Report

Subject:
Choose your own subject, but check with the instructor before you begin to write your paper.

Format:
The paper will consist of a title page, an abstract (summary) of less than 400 words on a separate page, the report, and a literature cited section.  Your name and date should be on the title page.

The paper is to be neatly typed (double-spaced). The report should be carefully researched and concisely written, and consist of 6 - 10 pages. Typographical, grammatical, or spelling erros will result in rejection of the report, so proof-read it carefully before submission.  Good examples for the required style of presentation can be seen in articles from American Scientist or Scientific American, both of which are magazines that publish scientific library review papers.

Citations:
Citations (references) must be used in the body of your report.  The report must contain at least 10 different references, including at least 5 references from research papers published in scientific journals (3 of which must be less than 4 years old). There are two acceptable forms which you may use in making citations in the body of the report, as shown in the following examples...

1. Johnson (1993), Jones and Smith (1994), and Rice et al. (1998) all showed that walleyes occur in Lake Pollock.

2.  Walleyes occur in Lake Pollock (Johnson 1993; Jones and Smith 1994; Rice et al. 1998).

Articles in American Scientist provide good examples of citations in the body of a report.

Literature Cited Section:
All references cited in your report must also be included in alphabetical order in the literature cited section at the end of the report.  These references must be presented in the standard biological style.  See the References Cited (Appendix R-1) in the back of your text-book for examples of this style.