Biology Review Paper
Essay title: Biology Review Paper
Definition of a review paper
A review is a comprehensive synthesis of results from a wide and complex set of studies
A synthesis of findings rather than ideas.
Goal of a review paper is to help readers make sense of all available information
Direct quotations rarely found in reviews. Do Not Use!
Research reviews focus on primary sources
Original scientific experimentation reported in scientific journals
The quality of the review depends largely on the comprehensiveness of the literature search
Use of secondary sources–textbooks or review journals (Science, Scientific American, Discover)
Overview of material–easier to understand.
Use references for networking, authors
Get keywords
Help devise outline
Formatting the Paper
General Information
15-20 pages of text (not including figures and tables)
Typed, double-spaced
12 point serif type fonts (Times, Times New Roman, Palatino)
Margins 1.5″ left, 1″ top, 1″ right, 1″ bottom
Indent eah new paragraph 0.25″
Must be in a bound folder with a transparent cover
Title Page
Center title about 1/3 down the page in18-point font. Capitalize the first letter of each word except for articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, for) and prepositions (in, on, to)
The Adaptations for Thermoregulation in Winter Moths
Center your name 10 lines under the title in 12-point font
Center the date of submission date a double space below your name in 12-point font
Center the following phrase a triple space below the date: “a paper submitted to the faculty of the Department of Biology, Presbyterian College, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Senior Seminar, Biology 401”
Pagination
Number the pages consecutively, beginning with the title page, which does not have a page number but is still counted as the first page
Use only arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.)
Put the page numbers in the upper right hand corner
Headings
Use sparingly
Make them informative and concise
Center headings.
Triple space before the heading and double space after the heading
Use 12-point font, but bold
Using Numbers in Paper
Spell out numbers less than 10
Do not begin a sentence with a numeral, even if it larger than 10
Always use numerals when reporting quantitative data with a unit: 15 km, 8 g, 5 mL (check McMillan pp. 155-157 for proper abbreviations)
Tables and Figures
Must be incorporate/insert tables and figures in the text following the first text citation.
Cite according to number: “—-as shown in Figure 3.” “—-the relationships of the species (Table 2).”
Each table and figure should be self-explanatory.
Left justify all titles and legends (single-spaced).
Put a period after the number of the figure or table in the title. Figure 1. Survivorship of Xanthium strumarium seed over a period of 100 days.
Tables and figures should be cited according to number, “as shown in Figure 3,” or “the relationships of the species (Table 2).”
Make sure to reference figures in title, if taken from a source.
Triple space before