Length: 1 page maximum
Points: 10 each
Purpose: Many types of writing in the sciences involve using a scientific tone and writing in a clear, concise manner. Whether distilling a journal article into an abstract, reviewing results in a discussion section, or reviewing literature for a report or introduction, proper summarizing is an essential skill for Fisheries Biologists. Strong summarizing requires you to critically evaluate information presented, designate essential messages, and communicate your assessment in your own words. Ultimately, summarizing will be required in your future career and this is your opportunity to perfect the skill.
Approach: Every week an article from the primary literature will be assigned to be read for comprehension. Every Friday, you will submit a written summary of that article.
Requirements: Each submission will properly summarize the following:
1. The primary points of the article
2. The scientific strengths of the article
3. The scientific weaknesses of the article
4. An assessment of writing quality in the article
Keys to a strong summary:
1) View this as an opportunity to develop, improve or practice your scientific voice. Use only your own words, be concise and professional, properly cite, and avoid the first person.
2) Use your own words to summarize the article. Do not paraphrase. See the Avoiding Plagiarism Guide.
3) Develop and maintain a professional scientific tone, free from colloquiums.
4) Communicate only the main message, results or findings. Aim to do this in 2 -3 well-structured sentences or less. Do not restate the authors’ points.
5) It is not important to restate the facts or details from the article in a summary. If the summary is well written, I will be able to tell that the article was read without providing those details as evidence or support.
6) Use context to communicate strengths and weaknesses. Go beyond stating the strengths and weaknesses bluntly using statements like “One weakness is…”.
7) Provide both strengths and weaknesses. Even if you enjoyed an article, you shouldstill identify weaknesses. Conversely, you cannot leave out the section on strengths if you dislike the article or disagree with the main points of a paper.
8) Don’t forget to assess the writing quality. Include explanations and supporting justifications for the writing assessment. For example, don’t state, “The article was well written.” Instead support this idea by explaining: “The arguments presented were convincing and succinct to keep the readers attention.” Make sure that these are not too general. Again, this should only take a few sentences
9) Always include properly cited references.
Expectations and grading: You are expected to follow the General Writing Instructions for this formal writing assignment.
General Writing Instructions
Format for Writing Assignments:
Unless directed otherwise, all formal writing assignments should be submitted using these guidelines:
● Standard 12 point, times new roman or similar font
● Double-spaced body with 1-inch margins
● Name, the date, the title, other heading information and citations should be single-spaced
● Proper citation of references if needed. I prefer CSE
● (Links to an external site.)
● as this is a science course, however, I generally will accept other major styles so long as you are consistent throughout a document.
● Files should be titled with your last name, first initial and an assignment title.
For example: ArbuckleS_Summary1
● Files should be uploaded through Canvas as .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, or .pdf
General Writing Expectations:
As an upper division course, proper English grammar, punctuation, syntax, usage and other basics are expected as a minimum. If work is submitted without proofreading or otherwise demonstrates issues with these types of errors, they may be returned without grading. If you require assistance with these issues, please see the WIC Information and Resources page in the Writing Help Module for links to numerous resources.