FORMAT FOR A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PAPER Scientific research articles provide a method for scientists to communicate with other

scientists about their research. A standard format is used for these articles, in which the author presents the research in an orderly, logical manner. This doesn't necessarily reflect the order in which you did or thought about the work. We are using APA formatting. This format is: TITLE Make your title specific enough to describe the contents of the paper, but not so technical that only specialists will understand. The title should be appropriate for the intended audience. 2. The title usually describes the subject matter of the article: The Duck Billed Platypus 3. Sometimes a title that summarizes the results is more effective: The Duck Billed Platypus is a Monotreme Mammal 1. AUTHORS The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally listed as the first author of a research paper. ABSTRACT An abstract, or summary, is published together with a research article, giving the reader a preview of what's to come. They allow other scientists to quickly scan the scientific literature, and decide which articles they want to read in depth. Your abstract should be one paragraph, of 100-250 words, which summarizes the purpose, methods, results and conclusions of the paper. Don't use abbreviations or citations in the abstract, it should be only your ideas and statements. Even though it is first, write your abstract LAST. INTRODUCTION What question did you ask to guide your research? Why is it interesting to you? What do you hope to learn researching this? The introduction summarizes the topic so that the reader will understand why you were interested in the question you asked. Your introduction should be 1 paragraph. LITERATURE REVIEW An overview of the subject, issue or theory being discussed. Is there any vocabulary we should know or concepts that we can define in order to understand this paper? What is the purpose of the literature review? This should be about 1 paragraph. A review of each article or paper you found. Each article review should be at least 2 paragraphs. For each separate article you need to include: Information about the Author: What are the author's credentials? Are the author's arguments supported by evidence? Summary of the Article: What information is presented? List or summarize any important facts and ideas from their article. Remember to cite their work (in text) if you use or repeat their words or ideas. Objectivity: Is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudiced? Did they consider all of the information and do they present it logically and intelligently? How did they find this information Persuasiveness: Is the author convincing? Should we believe them, why or why not? Value: Does the work contribute any significant ideas about the subject? Explanation of how each work is similar to or different from the other articles in your review. Do all of the articles say the same thing or do they each present different information? Which articles are the best and make the biggest contribution to our understanding of the topic? This should be at least 1-2 paragraphs.

1.

1. 2. 3.

1. 2.

1. 2.

3.

PICTURES AND IMAGES 1. Any pictures or images you include should have a description of what the picture shows and where you got the image from. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 1. Highlight the most significant ideas from your research, but don't just repeat what you've written. How do these results relate to the original question? What further research could be done on this subject? Why is this information interesting or important? 2. End with a one-sentence summary of your conclusion, emphasizing why it is relevant. This should be 1 paragraph total. REFERENCES (LITERATURE CITED) 1. In the text, cite ideas by including the author and the year the paper was published: Scarlet (1990) thought that the gene was present only in yeast, but it has since been identified in the platypus (Indigo and Mauve, 1994) and wombat (Kendall, 1995). 2. In the References section list citations in alphabetical order. Authors Last Name, First Initial. Year. Title of article. Journal or Magazine Issue, pages. (Or web address) Kendall, M. 2010. Science is Great: A Teachers Story. Science Teacher Magazine 105, 25-30. Wikipedia, 2012. Duckbilled Platypus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus