BIO325 Dr Hengartner
Microbiology Term Paper Guidelines (15 pts total)
TERM PAPER FORMAT & SUBMISSION (1.5 pt)
1) Microsoft Word digital document
2) Typed, single- or double-spaced, with a classical font no smaller than 11 points (Arial,
Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.).
3) One inch margins on top and bottom, no less than one inch margins on each side
(default on Microsoft Word).
4) Cover page with your name, the name of the class (BIO325-01 Microbiology), the
name of your professor (Dr. Hengartner), the title of your term paper and the date you
submit it in.
5) Length: 500-800 words (excluding cover page and references).
6) Submit a digital copy of your Microsoft Word document into Blackboard’s
SafeAssignment (under Assignment, you will find a link: follow the indicated directions).
Your assignment will be automatically examined by a plagiarism-detection software.
Always save a copy of the work for yourself, and keep until the end of the semester.
TERM PAPER CONTENT (11 pts)
Topic selection and content: Discussed in class.
1) The scientific accuracy and complexity of your topic will be graded, as well as your
topic’s relevance to microbiology.
2) The overall clarity, organization and original synthesis (bringing topics from your
multiple sources into one paper) of your term paper will be graded.
3) Your writing will be graded for spelling, grammar and punctuation (run spell-checker,
but be careful, it does not recognize all scientific terms or names).
Your book (Writing papers in the Biological Sciences, McMillan, 2001) gives details on
how to find biological literature, write a review paper, reference sources using the CSE
or APA format, and what constitutes primary references.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PAPER…
REFERENCES (2.5 pt)
Sources: Select three primary references (research articles that contain a material
and methods section; see your McMillan book) that were published in the last decade.
Select two additional references (research articles, review articles, books, official
government websites: e.g. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA), the
World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland), National Institute of Health
(Baltimore, MD), etc., but not Wikipedia). A photocopy or online print-out of all
references must be shown to me for approval by the due date (I won’t keep them but I
do want to examine them briefly).
Citations: References should be cited in the text and referenced at the end of the term
paper using the CSE or APA format. Please do not follow McMillan’s directions (p. 141:
electronic version of a journal article also available in print) for research articles and
reviews that you found in on-line journals; instead, cite these as you would regular
journal articles (p. 137-138: Journal article with single, two, or more authors).
BIO325 Dr Hengartner
Plagiarism: The paper must represent the student’s own original ideas and wording
and cannot be taken either partially or entirely from another published or
unpublished work. Your paper should be written independently and in your own words.
Note that using a short string of technical or scientific words is sometimes unavoidable
and does not constitute plagiarism. Plagiarized passages will be detected and will result
in the penalties described in your course syllabus.
LATENESS PENALTIES (-1.5 pt/day) for late submission
———————————————————————————————————————
Microbiology Term Paper Grading Sheet (15 pts total)
FORMAT & SUBMISSION (1.5 pts)
-0.5 pt for each deviation from formatting & submission guidelines: MS-Word document, font type,
margins, cover page content (author, professor, class, title, date), page length, submitted digitally
to Safeassignment in Blackboard 1.5 pt _____
REFERENCES (2.5 pts)
1) Proper References at the end of the term paper in CSE or APA format 0.4 pt _______
2) Proper citation of references in the text 0.5 pt _______
3) Three primary references from the last decade 1.2 pt _______
4) At least two additional scientifically acceptable references 0.4 pt _______
TERM PAPER CONTENT (11 pts)
1) Clarity: 2.0 pts ______
2) Scientific accuracy: 2.0 pts _____
3) Scientific complexity: 1.5 pts _____
4) Organization: 1.5 pts _____
5) Topic relevance to microbiology: 1.5 pts _____
6) -0.3 pt for each error in spelling, grammar or punctuation 1.5 pts ______
7) Original synthesis 1.0 pts _____
TERM PAPER TARDINESS (0 to -15 pts)
1) (-1.5 pt per day) up to -15. _____
———————————————————————————————————————
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PAPER…
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
OVER
RATING
YEARS
