Instructions for writing your research paper (report):

APA Format

Your reports will allow you the opportunity to explore a topic of your choice within the field of Biology, in further detail.Reports must be 12” font (Times New Roman or Calibri only), with 1” margins on all sides.Reports should be about 4 pages, double-spaced, in length (not including references, which will be included in a separate page at the end).

All facts and ideas that are not directly your own must be cited once in the text itself (see below), and again in the references page (see below).Acceptable reference sources include: PubMed.gov (cite specific articles), university or college websites, institution websites (such as NIH), and textbooks.You may NOT use more than 2 websites as references, and need a minimum of 5 total references. Plagiarism is a serious offense, and will result in a “0” for the assignment.When in doubt, cite it out…

Your reports should include the following sections, clearly labeled and distinct from the other sections:

5 pages, double-spaced:

I) Intro (why this topic is worth researching – but avoid 1st person language.)

II) Background of the topic (main features, historical context, etc…)

III) Current state of the field (what is known, what is unknown/yet to be discovered about it)

IV) Conclusions and discussion (summarize and put what you learned into context/big picture)

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1 page:

V) References

References should be cited in BOTH of the following ways:

1) In the body of the document:

Alcoholic liver disease is the 12th most deadly disease in America (Walden, 2008).

2) In the references page:

Walden, E.R., Johnson, F.G., Robinson, T.N. Alcoholic Liver Disease: Causes and Mechanisms., Journal of Biological Awesomeness., 40: 224 – 230, 2008