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Summary
This best-selling writing guide by a prominent biologist teaches students to think as biologists and to express ideas clearly and concisely through their writing. Providing students with the tools they'll need to be successful writers in college and their profession, A Short Guide to Writing about Biology emphasizes writing as a means to examine, evaluate, share, and refine ideas. The text teaches students how to read critically, study, evaluate and report data, and how to communicate information clearly and logically. Students are also given detailed advice on locating useful sources, interpreting the results of statistical tests, maintaining effective laboratory and field notebooks, writing effective research proposals and poster presentations, writing effective applications, and communicating information to both professional and general audiences.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents PART I General Advice about Writing and Reading ] Biology 1�Introduction and General Rules What Do Biologists Write about, and Why? The Keys to Success Eleven Major Rules for Preparing a First Draft Seven Major Rules for Developing Your Final Draft Nine Finer Points: The Easy Stuff The Annoying but Essential Last Pass On Using Computers in Writing On Using Computers for Data Storage, Analysis, and Presentation Summary Technology Tip 1. Getting the Most from Your Word-Processing Program 2�Locating Useful Sources Using Indexes Using Science Citation Index Using Current Contents Search Using Medline and Other Databases Prowling the Internet Conducting Web Searches: Developing Productive Search Strategies Final Thoughts about Efficient Searching: Technology Isn�t Everything Closing Thoughts Summary Technology Tip 2. Using Search Engines Effectively 3�General Advice on Reading and Note-Taking Why Read and What to Read Effective Reading Reading Data: Plumbing the Depths of Figures and Tables Reading Text: Summarize as You Go Plagiarism and Note-Taking Plagiarism Take Notes in Your Own Words Split-Page Note-Taking: A Can�t-Fail System Final Thoughts on Note-Taking: Document Your Sources Summary 4�Reading and Writing About Statistical Analyses Statistical Essentials Variability and Its Representation When Is a Difference a Meaningful Difference? What You Need to Know about Tomatoes, Peas, and Random Events Establishing a Null Hypothesis Conducting the Analysis, and Interpreting the Results Degrees of Freedom Summary: Using Statistics to Test Hypotheses Moving Beyond p-Values Statistical Power Effect Magnitudes and Alternative Analyses Reading about Statistics Writing about Statistics Summary 5�Citing Sources and Listing References Citing Sources Summary of Citation Format Rules Preparing the Literature Cited Section Listing the References�General Rules Listing the References�Using the Correct Format A Sample Literature Cited Section Technology TIP 3. Bibliographic Management Software 79 Technology Tip 4. Producing Hanging Indents 6�Revising Preparing the Draft for Surgery: Plotting Idea Maps Revising for Content Revising for Clarity Taming Disobedient Sentences�Sentences That Don�t Say What the Author Means The Dangers of It Problems with And Headache by Acronym Revising for Completeness Revising for Conciseness First Commandment: Eliminate Unnecessary Prepositions Second Commandment: Avoid Weak Verbs Third Commandment: Do Not Overuse the Passive Voice Fourth Commandment: Make the Organism the Agent of the Action Fifth Commandment: Incorporate Definitions into Your Sentences Revising for Flow A Short Exercise in Establishing Coherence Improving Flow Using Punctuation Revising for Teleology and Anthropomorphism Revising for Spelling Errors Revising for Grammar and Proper Word Usage A Grammatical Aside: Rules-That-Are-Not-Rules A Strategy for Revising: Pass by Pass by Pass Becoming a Good Reviewer Receiving Criticism Fine-Tuning Sentences in Need of Revision Checklist Technology Tip 5. Tracking Changes Made to Documents PART II Guidelines for Specific Tasks Prelude: Why are you writing papers and giving talks? 7�Writing Summaries, Critiques, Essays, and Review Papers Writing[ Essays and Critiques Writing the First Draft Writing the Summary Sample Student Summary Analysis of Student Summary Writing the Critique The Critique Analysis of Student Critique Writing Essays and Review Papers[ Getting Started Researching Your Topic Developing a Thesis Statement Writing the Paper Getting Underway: Taking and Organizing Your Notes The Crucial First Paragraph Supporting Your Argument The Closing Paragraph Citing Sources Creating a Title Revising Checklist for essays and review papers 8� Answering Essay Questions Basic Principles Applying the Principles Summary 9�Writing Laboratory and Other Research Reports Why Are You Doing This? The Purpose of Laboratory and Field Notebooks Taking Notes Making Drawings Components of the Research Report Where to Start When to Start Writing the Materials and Methods Section Determining the Correct Level of Detail Giving Rationales Describing Data Analysis Use of Subheadings A Model Materials and Methods Section Writing the Results Section Summarizing Data Using Tables and Graphs Constructing a Summary Table To Graph or Not to Graph Preparing Graphs (Not) Falsifying Data The Question: To Connect or Not to Connect the Dots? Making Bar Graphs and Histograms Learning to Love Logarithms Preparing Tables Making Your Graphs and Tables Self-Sufficient Putting Your Graphs and Tables in Order Incorporating Figures and Tables into Your Report (or Not) Verbalizing Results: General Principles Verbalizing Results: Turning Principles into Action What Is a �Figure�? Writing about Negative Results Writing about Numbers In Anticipation�Preparing in Advance for Data Collection Citing Sources What to Do Next? Writing the Discussion Section Expectations Explaining Unexpected Results Analysis of Specific Examples Writing the Introduction Section Stating the Question An Aside: Studies Versus Experiments Providing the Background A Sample Introduction Talking about Your Study Organism or Field Site Deciding on a Title Writing an Abstract Preparing an Acknowledgments Section Preparing the Literature Cited Section Preparing a Paper for Formal Publication Checklist for the Final Draft Technology Tip 6. Using Computer Spreadsheets for Data Collection 193 Technology Tip 7. Graphing with Excel 10�Writing Research Proposals What Are Reviewers Looking For? Researching Your Topic What Makes a Good Research Question? Writing the Proposal Introduction Background Proposed Research Citing References and Preparing the Literature Cited Section Tightening the Logic The Life of a Real Research Proposal Checklist 11�Presenting Research Findings: preparing Talks and Poster Presentations Oral Presentations Talking about Published Research Papers Talking about Original Research Talking about Proposed Research The Listener�s Responsibility Preparing Effective Visuals Using PowerPoint Checklist for Being Judged Poster Presentations Layout of the Poster Making the Poster Checklist for Making Posters 12�Writing Letters of Application Before You Start Preparing the R�sum� Preparing the Cover Letter Recruiting Effective Letters of Recommendation Appendix A Revised Sample Sentences Appendix B Commonly Used Abbreviations Appendix C Recommended Resources Appendix E Sample Form for Peer Review Appendix F Some Useful Web Sites Index


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