G203:  Introduction to Scientific Papers                         Name__________________________________________

Due April 12 or 13th

http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html

The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to scientific papers and give perspective as to how they are different from other types of writing.  Use the link on the class web page and read through the information provided.  All scientific papers (regardless of teh discipline) are set up basically the same way. One difference between geologic papers and others is that often times geologic papers will have a conclusions section.  This section is an overall general summary of what the paper was about 

Once you get to the web page, read "Why a Scientific Format" section and also "Sections of the Paper".  Click on each link for the different sections and read about each one.  Then answer the questions below.   Use your own words to answer the following questions…DO NOT cut and paste or copy the text in any way from the web page!!

1)  What are the 6 major parts of a scientific paper shown?

2)   How is scientific writing different than prose writing?

3)  What is the purpose of the abstract?

4)  What is the purpose of the introduction?

5)  What is the purpose of the methods section?

6)  What is the purpose of the discussion section?

7)  Since this article is a general overview of scientific papers and doesn’t have a section on conclusions as a geologic paper would, what might you hypothesis the purpose of a conclusions section to be?

8)  What is the purpose of the Literature cited?

Now…look at the attached scientific paper and answer the following questions.  You don’t have to read the paper clear through but you may want to scan it over.

9)  Read the abstract for this paper and in your own words (and just a few sentences) explain what this paper is about.

10)  Skim over the introduction and explain what the introduction is used for in this paper.

 11)  What two traditional scientific paper sections does this author combine together and why do you think he does so?

12)  Read the conclusions section of this paper and in your own words, summarize what this paper was trying to say.

13)  In general, when a scientist reads a scientific paper, they will often read over 3 of the six sections described in question one to understand the basic information contained in the paper.  Which three sections do you think would be most useful for this level of comprehension and why do you think scientists bother to write the rest of the paper if it is often not read?