Summary and Critical Analysis of a Scientific Article

Term 1 Final Assignment: Summary and Critical Analysis of A Scientific Article

The assignment requires you to read, and critique a primary research article on a topic in biology.

Due dates: Monday October 20th at 9:35AM

Length: 600-700 words (not including references); use your word processor to count words and include word count at the top of your paper)

Source: The article is available for review on the class website.

Assignment: Write an essay in your own words (do not copy sentences out of the paper) that summarizes and critiques the article you have read. Be sure to begin by briefly summarizing the article. Next, analyze those aspects of the article that were clear or confusing to you. Conclude by speculating about broader implications and future directions of the research described in the article. A suggested plan for your essay is shown below:

First 1-2 paragraphs: Summarize the objectives, methods, results, and conclusions as the authors have presented them. This section should reflect your understanding of the research presented in the article.

Next paragraph—the strengths of the article. Identify and characterize the useful features of the article. That is, what aspects of the article seemed particularly strong? Did you find a certain section of the article (for example, introduction, methods) to be particularly helpful?

Next paragraph—the weaknesses of the article. Identify and characterize the confusing aspects of the article. That is, did you find any weaknesses in the study? Was any particular section confusing to you? Why?

Last paragraph: Conclude your essay. Speculate about the broader implication of this research (for example, the results might represent breakthroughs, or the results could have far-reaching implications) and try to identify the future directions of this research (go ahead and be creative).

Plagiarism: Do not copy any portion of a paper into your essays. Plagiarism interferes with the main purpose of having you prepare these paper, which is to get you to synthesize what you have read and then explain it and analyze it IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

References: The first time you refer to your research article, be sure to parenthetically reference it using the author’s/authors’ name(s) and publication date, as shown below:

A study found that doing things rather than memorizing trivia helps educate students (Smith and Jones, 2002).

At the end of your paper, provide a complete citation of both the article that you are summarizing. Give authors, year, article title, journal name, journal volume, and page numbers, and list the articles in alphabetical order by author’s last name. An example is shown below:

Rosin-Bouffay, C., Jang, W., Caprette, D.R., and Gomer, R.H. (2000) A precise group size in Dictyostelium is generated by a cell-counting factor modulating cell-cell adhesion. Molecular Cell 6, 953-959.

Format:

Late paper policy: The assignment is due on Monday October 20th at 9:35AM. NO late work will be accepted for this assignment.

Grading criteria: Papers will be graded out of a total of 100 points. Attached is the scoring rubric for this assignment.

Writing Assignment Grading Sheet

Student Name______

Completed Assignment:

Purpose and aims of article _____/20

Discusses how results lead to conclusions _____/16

Analyzes those aspects of the article that _____/16 are clear or confusing

Organization and Style _____/12

Broader implications and future directions _____/16

Format Requirements _____/12

Citations: Correct within body of paper 2 pts possible _____/4

Correct form in Works Cited 2 pts possible _____/4

TOTAL SCORE _____/100

Comments: