A Student Handbook for Writing in Biology
by By Knisely, Karin
Category: Science , Life Sciences , Biology

In this handbook, Knisely (Bucknell University) provides biology students with a practical, readable resource for communicating their scientific knowledge according to the conventions in biology. A beginning chapter introduces the scientific method and experimental design, and subsequent chapters cover locating literature, understanding the tone and format of scientific papers, reading technical material, and the importance of paraphrasing when taking notes. Using the standards of journal publication as a model, students are then given instructions for writing their own lab reports with accepted format and content, evaluating their own drafts, and using peer and instructor feedback to refine their writing. Two final chapters look at poster papers and presentation formats. Appendix chapters give step-by-step instructions, illustrated with b&w screenshots in a two-color format, for word processing in Microsoft Word 2007, making graphs with Excel 2007, and preparing oral presentations with PowerPoint 2007. For this third edition, the focus has shifted away from finding primary references to developing a literature search strategy. Material on documenting sources has been expanded to cover in-text and end-reference format for electronic journal articles, databases, and web sites. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)