BIOLOGY 4405B Short scientific communication assignment
General Instructions
Overall weight to final mark in course (15%)
Objective: You are the newly hired science writer at the journal Science and you have been asked to write a two-page news article on a recent scientific paper. Your editor asks you to succinctly summarize the essence of the paper but more importantly to set the significance of the results and conclusions of the paper in their proper context by also referring to some other recent publications relevant to the main article you’re reporting on. She gives you some examples from earlier issues and you see that those articles all had some graphical elements like photos and keystone figures. The deadline for the fully formatted news article is March 26th by midnight. The article goes to press the following day, so you don’t want to be Iate with it.
Expectations:
• Select one article from the class reading list (or another recently published article, check with Dr. Sass); do not use the article that you chose for the group presentation
• Based on the critical reading and interpretation prepare a 2-page scientific news article that you might find in the (news’ section of Science or Nature (single-spaced, multi-column).
• Write the article for the non-specialist and use language and concepts that are easily understandable by anyone with basic scientific training.
• Use appropriate figures or tables to best convey the essence of the article.
• Make connections to some other research in the field as well.
• Submit news article by March 26th in a format ready for publication (pdf please).
• Please submit through OWL. Turnitin will be used to check for plagiarism.
• Please use as much creativity as you’d like to get your message across.
Grading rubric for Short scientific communication assignment (out of 10 points)
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Comments and Suggestions
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Organization & clarity (3 marks)
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Ideas are presented in logical order with effective transitions (segue ways) between major ideas; the writing is clear and concise (“it flows well’) and the reader gets a very clear sense of the ‘big picture’ as well as the major points argued. The article has a clear beginning, middle and end.
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Content (4 marks)
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The reader is educated about different aspects of the paper under review in a concise and engaging manner. The writer is very comfortable with the material, highlighting examples and drawing information from several unique resources including references from other scientific articles (or books) and perhaps also from governmental (non-governmental) reports.
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Presentation (3 marks)
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The report is professionally laid out with well-chosen figures and tables and shows some creativity by its author to convey key information in a short piece both textually and graphically. References are properly cited using endnotes and condensed reference list is provided. The paper is well edited with no grammar and spelling mistakes. The 2-page limit is adhered to.
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