Scientific Writing (Methods)

Now this is the section of the paper in which you provide the detail so that other people/scientists can repeat the experiment/project that you have just completed.  Enough quantitative detail (how big, long etc.) needs to be included so that your results can be reproduced.

The Latin and common names of the species used and studied must be included, as well as the instruments and equipment used and how many repeats were taken.  A description of the species may also be useful/necessary, for example, average size.

If the project was in the field, e.g. Norway then a site description, with significant features, both biological and physical must be mentioned.

The experimental design must be included and the hypotheses tested, describe any statistical tests used to analyze the data gathered and reference if your method has previously been used elsewhere. Also reference any statistical software and data transformations.

Also, avoid using overly ambiguous terms, e.g. tube 1, 2 and 3 as this makes it hard to follow both in and out of context.

If you have performed more than 1 experiment or project then it can be useful to include subheadings in order to make it easier for a reader to follow.

Scientific Writing (Introduction)

The way I was taught to structure an introduction was that of an inverted triangle: with the broad, more general stuff at the beginning, narrowing down to your personal objectives and what you studied.

In the broadest sense you want your introduction to answer these questions:
What were you studying?
Why is this important?
What knowledge was there already of this topic?
Where can we go from here?

First describe the purpose and scope of your project and you can summarize current knowledge and information on the topic that you are studying.  This leads on to the next step: background.  For the background it is useful to expand on what was already written in the abstract, introduce the area (e.g. if it is a field course where were you? ), the organism or molecule studied and stresses on that organism (if applicable).

It is within your introduction that you outline the hypotheses you're investigating and the approach you will use to investigate it.

Show what knowledge there is on your topic, reference primary sources, such as other journals and review articles.  Always reference any sources you have used.

Remember to keep everything short and concise but give all the background information required to understand your project.

Scientific Writing (Title and Abstract)

Title

Obviously the first thing that anyone s going to read is the title.  Since most papers are now online a clear title helps them to be picked up in search engines.  Ideally this should be kept to the minimum number of words necessary to convey the required information, in this case the topic of research.
A good way to do this is to pose the title in the form of a question.
You shouldn't include chemical formulae, for example Glucose should be used rather than C6H12O6, or any abbreviations.
A good idea is to include key words of the project, including the organism/molecule studied and where this study was carried out.

Abstract

The abstract could be likened to the blurb of a book, it contains key information that allows the reader to decide whether they would like to read the entire works.  But, unlike a blurb, it contains the conclusions and results in addition to methods and aims...and all this in approximately 200 words.  This, like the title, is important in allowing other readers and scientists to find the paper in a search engine or data base and allows them to see whether it is worthwhile them reading the study in full if it is relevant to their own research.

The 6 main topics that should be included in an abstract are:

1. Aims, Hypotheses and Objectives - what question where you trying to answer and what was the overall purpose of the study?

2. Introduction  and Background -Where was the study carried out and under what conditions?  It may be useful to give the reader some background knowledge to give the project some context.

3. Methods- How did you measure your variables? What equipment did you use? What statistical tests did you perform?  Briefly outline the methodology.

4. Key Results- Which results supported your original hypotheses, state the overall trends and differences.

5. Firm Conclusions- Briefly summarize your conclusions and findings

6. Context- what are the implications of your results and what's next?

Scientific Writing (in a nutshell)

Heyy, I'm back (again) after another temporary hiatus.  Had a very busy (and stressful) summer so far with project write ups and work experience (more on that in a later post).  But, I though now would be a good time to bring up a topic that many people (including myself) find quite difficult...scientific writing.

Now this is also a skill that seems to be vastly underestimated and many people don't appreciate how important it is in science to be able to express yourself clearly and concisely.  Whether it's a project report, lab book or dissertation this is a necessary skill.

This is also a useful skill after graduation whether you want to go into academia or into a completely different field, e.g. Law or management consultancy.

In the next few posts I shall attempt to give some tips on how to write in the form of a scientific paper since that is what I am currently doing as part of my field course work.

The main sections in a paper (and which I shall be writing about) are:

Title
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
References

The Naming of Things

Heyy,

After Kim Kardashian and Kanye West decided to give their daughter the name "North West" it got me thinking about unusual humorous animal and plant names, both common and latin.  after a brief spell on Google here are some of the best that I've found (for the full lists see http://www.curioustaxonomy.net/index.html ) :

Agra cadabra
Carmenelectra shechisme
Kamera lens
Ytu brutus
Colon rectum
Balbaroo fangaroo
Wakiewakie
Doris
Gekko gecko
Campsicnemius charliechaplini
Albunea groeningi (named after Matt Groening)
Draculoides bramstokeri 
Preseucoila imallshookupis
Agra schwarzeneggeri
Aptostichus angelinajolieae

Back

Heyy, yep guess who's back. Also guess who has managed not to fail her 1st year exams :)

1% off a 1st but still, I'm happy and now I have more time to blog.
Got quite a  busy summer coming up, 1st an ecology field course to Finse in Norway. Updates to follow. Also work experience in the university labs and I have a job for freshers week
.
http://www.finse.uio.no/

Exams!!!!!!!

Heyy,  Well it's nearly the end of my 2nd semester and time has gone by so fast, can't beleieve that in a few months I'll be a 2nd year.

Recently I recieved the results of  my January exams, passed both :) so I have a total of 20 credits of my degree, only another 340 to go...
a couple of days ago I was given my provisional exam timetable...didn't look too bad...until I created a revision timetable. So much work so little time :s

Ah best get back to revision then, posts on here will probably become less frequent over the next couple of months, not sure whether that's a good thing or  bad thing.

xx

Truth about Exercise

I have watched the Horizon documentary of the same name and I learnt a great deal of things:
First, I didn't realise how much fat was actually in a fry up, a scary thought as for the first few weeks of my first semester at uni I was having about 2 a week :/
I also didn't realise how immediate the impact of exercise on fat deposits was
The fact that we might only need 3 minutes of exercise of week is a plus, I currently run for an hour 3 times a week, I thought I should up my exercise but maybe I don't have to.  The fact to that just by standing and fidgeting you both burn calories and increase you metabolic rate is also a plus.
The fact now that I am scared that I have put so much unhealthy fat into my body over the years and that since coming to uni I have gained weight, even thought it has been constant for the previous 2 years.  I think I need to do something about my diet and exercise regime.
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Wonders of Life-What is life?

I will be the first to admit I was very excited about this new series and I can honestly say that this first episode did not disappoint.  Apart from the fact I got to watch Brian Cox walking around for an hour in very tight t-shirts and playing with orangutangs I felt that it combined the fields of Biology, Chemistry and Physics very well.  I also feel that he posed so very interesting questions, such as, "what makes something alive?"

Of course Cox is not the first physicist to ask these questions, Schrödinger asked the question "What is Life" 60 years ago and produced a series of lectures on the topic which were then published in a book, a book that I have since, fortunately read.

Starting from a definition of energy, my favourite Mancunian then produced enough energy from a proton fuel cell to power a motor. cox also provided me the way to isolate my own DNA using washing up liquid, salt and Vodka

From proton motive forces to thermodynamics to DNA and evolution Cox seems to explain all topics in a coherent, simple and, most of all, interesting way.

Perhaps though I think that the highlight of this episode was the fact that it is Eric Idle performing a rewritten version of The Galaxy Song for the Credits. :)

Since I enjoyed this episode so much I can hardly wait for the next one, and indeed the rest of the series.
xx

Wonders of Life

Just checked the radio times and there are only 3 DAYS until Brian Cox returns to our screens with his new show "Wonders of Life".  In this series he will combine to of my favourite things: Biology and Brian Cox himself.  As any of my friends could tell you I have been obsessing over this "Rock-star Physicist" for as long as I can remember.  My school yearbook even mentions this obsession.

From genetics to microbiology to ecology he covers it all in this new series.  Hopefully it will contain all the necessary shots of Brian walking and staring into the distance all the while excessively loud music plays.

I can't wait for this new series and, unsurprisingly I shall be reviewing each episode (you lucky people).
xx

Arabidopsis Experiment (part I)

Heyy, as part of my "Plant and Environment" module I have to perform a series of experiments, the longest and most important (as it is the only one that is graded) being my Arabidopsis experiment.

In short I must grow two sets of Arabidopsis thaliana, one as a control group and the other as the experimental group.  To the latter group I must provide a stress (which I still need to come up with) and see how this stress affects the growth rate of the plants.  Then I must write this up and draw a few graphs. The highlight of this experiment, for me, is the fact that we get to take our Arabidopsis home with us which means I will have some new décor for my otherwise, frankly stark room.

But first a bit of background, what is Arabidopsis and why am I experimenting with it?
Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant (essentially a cabbage) that has been used for many years as a model organism, that is an organism that is extensively studied to understand biological phenomena. Other examples of these include bakers yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and the  fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster).  

The reasons why this plant (and other model organisms) is used are:

Under experimental pressures it behaves in the same way as crop plants whilst having no economic value itself

It produces many seeds and is a small and easy to cultivate plant

It has a small genome and few chromosomes so it is easy to identify any mutations, extensive genetic and physical maps of these genomes are available.

It has a short life cycle from germination to mature seed production and so genetic analysis is easy and there is a small experimental downtime

There are many genomic resources available and many mutant variations are available

My experiment (as well as hopefully giving me a good grade) aims to show how certain chemical compounds and elements affect the growth and general health of the plants.

xx

Tachinid Fly

Last April (2012), I photographed this metallic-green fly basking in the sun on the West Pennine Moors.  I first thought that this was a green bottle, but I later learned that it was a Tachinid fly (Gymnocheta viridis), a true fly belonging to the family Thachinidae. 

Tachinids are parasitoids, their larvae feeding on the immature or adult stages of invertebrates such as butterflies, moths or beetles.

"Lost in translation"

I read the other day a story in The Independent newspaper about the eminent geneticist, Prof. George Church, who was going to use a  modern human surrogate to bring a Neanderthal  back to life.  I read today that this was entirely untrue and apparently the confusion arose when the interview was translated (or mistranslated) from a German magazine.  It is hard to believe that a scientific interview could have been misinterpreted  so wrongly.

Does anyone know of any more interviews, scientific or otherwise that have been misinterpreted during their translation from a foreign language?
xx

In Print

As a university student I am required to write essays.  One such essay, my 1st essay of the 1st semester was on a topic that I find very interesting, Human Evolution.  After writing my essay about how mitochondria can help us to understand our ancestry, I dutifully sent it to a friend at Durham University who was studying Archaeology  and was writing an essay on a similar topic.

A few days later and she sent me a copy of her essay and highlighted one particular line of her bibliography, in it she had referenced my essay, my first ever citation, exciting times.

Hopefully this will be the first in a long line of bibliography references, we shall see.
xx

Careers Talk

Today, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a life sciences careers talk by the Society of Biology (www.societyofbiology.org)  This, apart from making me miss lunch, allowed me to learn about loads of different careers that a graduate biologist (which I hope to become one day) can do.

Before this I did not realise the sheer breadth of jobs that were available to a science graduate, biological or otherwise.  As well as the obvious (academia, teaching and research) there is also : Consultancy, Communication, Patent Law and Policy and Legislation.  

This talk also gave me advice on what experience to do and I managed to sign up to become an affiliate member of the society.  As well as the obvious benefits (being able to claim that I'm a member of a science society) I am also able to receive a bi-monthly magazine "The Biologist", 20% life Science publications, free careers conferences, and access to research and travel grants, quite handy since I think this is what I want to do when I do eventually graduate.   All of this for only £15 a year, sounds like a bargain to me.

After the talk I was able to have a chat to the speaker where she gave me a handy leaflet with more info about bioscience jobs. Pictures to follow shortly

xx 

Nina

Now, my first real post.  A friend of mine at uni recently told me of a project undertaken by the Jane Goodall  Institute in South Africa.  In a collaboration with Wild Earth they have set up a live stream  showing the progression of one of their Chimps, Nina, as she goes through pregnancy.  I was told that she gave birth to a healthy son in the early hours of this morning.  This is apparently the first chimp ever to be filmed giving birth from beginning to end.

More info can be found here:
http://www.chimpeden.com/

Hello there...

I'm Eleanor, a first year biologist at the University of Birmingham, and after reading through science blogs I have decided that I want one of my own.

I am here to ramble about all things science and technology, mainly so I can stop obsessing and annoying my friends.

Hopefully you will enjoy this and follow and comment and I assure you that my next posts will be more interesting :)
xx