BIO 490: Senior Seminar in Biological Sciences
Reading and Evaluating
Scientific Papers
The Parts of a Scientific
Paper
NOTES: These web sites list and describe
the parts of a scientific paper: title, abstract, introduction, materials
& methods, results, discussion, references.
Understanding the structure of a scientific paper, and the purpose
of each section is helpful both in writing papers, and in reading,
understanding, and evaluating papers.
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ScienceReport.html
Very nice summary & description of the parts of a scientific paper, and
what they should include. Could be modified to use as an evaluation tool.
In table format.
http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html
An excellent description of the structure of a scientific paper, with detailed
explanations of the content and purpose of each section. Highly recommended.
http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/ScientificPaper.htm
Another good, detailed discussion of scientific writing and the parts of a
scientific paper. Includes examples.
 Top of Page
Reading and Evaluating
a Scientific Paper
-
How to Read and Understand a Scientific Paper
http://bell.mma.edu/%7Ejbouch/ReadingPapers.html
Very nice, and concise, description of how to read, and understand, a scientific
paper.
http://www.biochem.arizona.edu/classes/bioc568/papers.htm
A detailed description of scientific writing, the structure of scientific
papers, and how to read, and evaluate, a scientific paper.
-
How Can you Tell if a Paper is Important?
There are at least two ways to think about this question.
First, is the macro-level: how important is this paper to the field that
is published in? That is, is it a landmark paper, does it represent a major
breakthrough in the field? The answer to this question often becomes apparent
over time, as a paper is recognized and referred to by others and its impact
becomes clear. Citation analysis (described in I-C)
can be helpful with this), but it is really a matter of consensus in the field.
How might you answer this first question? There are no hard and fast answers,
here are some hints:
- When reading many articles on a topic, you may repeatedly find certain
papers, authors, or discoveries mentioned (and cited in the bibliography).
- Is the paper published in a top-quality journal? Either a general science
journal like Science or Nature, or one of the top journals in the specific
subject area?
- How many times has the paper been cited by others in the field? (High
citation rates may not always indicate a good paper, the paper may be
cited as a bad example of something.) The Institute for Scientific Information
(ISI) looks at citation rates to identify "hot" papers--
see "High Impact Papers, 1981-1998, in 13 Broad Fields" (this
is a computer disk available at the Main Circulation Desk in D.H. Hill
Library, call number: Z699.5. S3 H55 2000).
ISI also publishes a newsletter called ScienceWatch to identify hot papers
and research and publishing trends. The full text of this newsletter,
1997-2001, is available online at http://www.sciencewatch.com
Second, is the micro-level: is this a "good" paper? Does it make
a contribution to the field? Is the research well-done and the paper well-written?
In general, peer-review of journal articles is designed to perform this sort
of evaluation for potential journal articles. In this class, you will also
be making a similar evaluation of already-published journal articles.
Read all the information, and links, in Section III of this guide, and
thoughtfully read and evaluate your selected paper to answer the second
question yourself.
Some Tips for Evaluating a Scientific Paper
To evaluate a paper, pull together all the elements in Part III:
-
Understand the structure of a scientific paper and the purpose of each
section; evaluate your paper for how well it fits accepted scientific
style and format.
-
Make sure you really understand the content of the specific paper that
you are evaluating; if necessary, do some background reading in the subject
area.
- Use criteria for good scientific writing, and checklists where available;
these checklists and criteria are mentioned in the web sites included on
this page.
- http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/dini/BIOL1403/Regular/checklist.htm
A fairly detailed checklist for writing a lab report/paper. This is
also very pertinent for evaluating a scientific paper.
- http://biology.luther.edu/paper.htm
Brief overview of the structure of a scientific paper, with a "paper
evaluation form."
- Consider additional evaluation tools, such as looking at citation indexes
(see section I-C).
Top of Page
Editing and Reviewing
a Scientific Paper
Reviewing and editing scientific manuscripts
are an essential part of the scientific research and writing process.
Each author should carefully edit their own manuscript before submitting
it for grading, review, or publication. Likewise, scientists are
called upon to edit and review the work of their colleagues.
Use the sites and suggestions below, and in the previous
section, for checklists and tips on editing and reviewing a scientific manuscript.
Overall Considerations
The Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) describes two levels
of concern when reviewing and editing papers:
-
Higher Order Concerns focus on the "big picture"--such as
the thesis or focus, audience and purpose, and organization and development.
- Lower Order Concerns include grammar, spelling, punctuation, and word
choice.
See the OWL Website for a checklist of Higher
Order and Lower Order concerns. This website has many other
links and handouts helpful for writing, editing, and proofreading documents.
The Albert Einstein Collect of Medicine provides two rules of editing,
and a detailed list of common grammatical, referencing, and stylistic mistakes.
- First Rule of Editing: DO NO HARM. Make necessary changes,
but always remember to keep the author's meaning in the sentence.
Improving clarity is good; but don't change content.
- Second Rule of Editing: LOOK IT UP. Use a style guide (some
are listed below) or other reference to double check rules about grammar,
style, punctuation, and spelling.
See the the complete guide to Editing
Basics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Two excellent and detailed guides to the whole process of editing
and peer review:
- Peer
Review Form, from Bates College. Takes a would-be editor/reviewer
through each section of a scientific paper, and identifies key issues
to evaluate the content and style of each section.
- A class on Communication in the Biological Sciences at the University
of Wisconsin, La Crosse has two excellent lists (and links
to other useful information about scientific writing, speaking, etc.):
- Reviewing
Manuscripts. What to do before you turn in a manuscript,
and how to apply the same principles to reviewing another person's
manuscipt.
- Dirty
Dozen and Then Some. Checklist or major writing errors
to avoid.
Top of Page
Librarian Contact Information
|
