Summary Finding References Report Format Evaluation Extra Credit Appropriate College Library Journals Goshen Hospital Library Journals
Please read these directions carefully! Your score will depend on how closely you follow directions. If you do well, you can earn more than 100%
SUMMARY
1. Friday, March 21: Primary research reference approved by instructor.
2. Report due date: 5 PM, Monday, April 7 (see below for late penalties)
3. Report on a scientific article containing original experimental research about the biology of a human disease that is of interest to you (it's OK if this research involves experimental animals instead of humans)
4. Include at least one textbook reference as well (details below)
5. Cite your references in your report and a bibliography - also called a reference list (see below for proper bibliographic form)
6. Please use a typewriter or word processor if possible. Length, not counting bibliography : 2-5 pages, double-spaced, (not counting the bibliography) or equivalent if not typed.
7. See details below for what else needs to be included in your report.
8. Extra credit is available - see below for details
9. Evaluation details are also described below
Read and report on a recent research paper that describes research about the biology of a human disease that is of interest to you. The paper (or article) that you read must be an original experimental research report, from a scientific journal such as the New England Journal of Medicine or the Journal of the American Medical Association. We also have Science and Nature magazines. Although they are not medical journals, they frequently carry research reports about research in medical diseases, or animal models of medical diseases. These four journals are all available in the library. Some recent issues of them are also available in the biology reading room. You should NOT report on a review article, such as a Newsweek report, or a newspaper report, or even one of the news or review articles in a medical journal. You may, of course, read anything you like, including review articles if it helps you to understand your primary reference, and they may be used as secondary references.
If you need help, please make use of the services of the reference librarian. (reference librarian hours are mainly during the day)
Primary Reference:The primary article you use for your report should be an original experimental research article, that investigates the biological aspects of a disease. The article should be approved by the instructor no later than Monday, March 8. For article approval, you should have the name of the article and the journal it comes from. If you have copied the article, I would like to see the copy as well.
You can pick any disease you are interested in. For example - aspirin and heart disease, diet and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, colon cancer, exercise and cardiovascular disease, etc. You could get ideas, or even select an article by scanning through recent issues of a medical journal. Alternatively, you can look for ideas and/or specific articles or by using a resource in the Reference Room that index articles by topics. Another alternative would be to look at the magazines in the biology reading room, on the second floor of the science building. Issues of some recent years of the New England Journal of Medicine , the Journal of the American Medical Association, Science and Nature magazines are available there. You could page through them and look for an article that catches your interest.
You may find the computerized reference index helpful. The best reference for looking up a specific topic is the >ABRIDGED INDEX MEDICUS, available in our library. Most of the journals cited in the Index Medicus are not available in the GC library. If you really want to use an article that our library doesn't have, you may be able to get it elsewhere. The Goshen hospital library has some journals we don't. At the end of this document there is a list of which appropriate journals are available here and at the hospital. Notre Dame would have most of the journals referenced in the Index Medicus if you are willing to make the trip. You can also obtain articles from Notre Dame or other universities by interlibrary loan, if you plan far enough in advance.
In preparing your report, you should refer to at least one book. Use this book to briefly review two aspects of the disease that your primary reference is concerned about: [1]normal anatomy and physiology of the affected organ system(s) [2]the basic biology of the disease itself (how it affects normal anatomy and physiology. The library has numerous textbooks that you might use for this purpose; two general texts that could be helpful are Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine and Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology. Also, several college level pathophysiology texts are on closed reserve at the main desk in the library. You might also find our A&P text by Hole to be helpful, especially on reviewing nomral anatomy and physiology. As another alternative, you might be able to find one or more books that has material about your disease topic if you check the card catalog. Such books could be used instead of, or in addition to a textbook reference. If you do not understand some of the terms used in the article, you may need to refer to a medical dictionary. You do not need to cite dictionaries you use unless you quote them directly.
Prepare a two to five page report (preferably typed, double spaced, or equivalent in length if not typed) briefly explaining the significant points of the article. Write this report for a non-clinical audience, such as your classmates. The report must be submitted for credit no later than 5:00 PM, Friday, March 29. Papers that are submitted late will be penalized.
You need to include all of these elements for full credit.
Title page:
1. Title (the topic, or name of the disease)
2. Your name
3. Date, course, professor's name
Parts of the paper (please label each of these so that they can be clearly identified)
4. Abstract - 1 or 2 brief paragraphs summarizing what you learned
5. Introduction - a description of the relevant normal anatomy & physiology; background information about the disease; reasons why the researchers conducted their research.
6. Main body - a summary describing the research methods, results, and interpretation presented in the article reviewed
7. Conclusions - one or two brief paragraphs where you can comment on your opinions about the quality of the research, implications of the research, questions raised by the research that should be investigated in the future, related topics you would like to learn more about, things you didn't understand, etc.
8. Bibliography - a list of the references you used. At a minimum, this should be two - your textbook, and the research article reviewed. If you make specific use of any other articles, they should also be included. Number your references in the order that you first use them; you do not need to list a reference more than once, unless you are using pages from different sections in a book. Please use the following format:
Author(s), Title, Journal name, volume and pages, month and year.
EXAMPLES: (the first is a book, the second a journal article,
and the third a reference to the world wide web (WWW); for web reference
it is very important that you give any information availablity about the
source of information; some sources are much more reliable than others
1. Hole, John W. Human Anatomy and Physiology, 6th edition, p. 567, 1993.
2. Bottazzo, GF; Dean, BM; McNally, JM; MacKay, EH; Swift, PGF; Gamble, DF. "In Situ Characterization of Autoimmune Phenomena and Expression of HLA Molecules in the Pancreas in Diabetic Insulitis." New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 313, no. 6, p. 353-360, Aug. 8, 1985.
3. Jones, JQ; "Recent Findings Relevant to Autoimmune Diabetes Mellitus".
HTTP://www.location.diabetes. Page last updated on Feb. 29, 1999. Site maintained
by the Diabetes Association.
Each of your references should be referred to by number at least once each in your report. At a minimum, when you first refer directly to an article you should give a footnote (reference list) number. You should do the same for textbook references. Preferably the numbers should be put in as superscripts, but if you don't know how, you may use parentheses instead. I do not want actual footnotes at the bottom of the page. The complete references only need to be given at the end of your paper (they could be referred to as 'endnotes' rather than footnotes). After identifying a reference in your writing you do not need to identify it again, unless you later quote directly from it, or if you make reference to another source, and then switch back again. A reference only needs to be listed once in your bibliography. If you refer to it more than once, use the same number. If you copy anything word for word, it must be put in quotations, and befollowed by a reference number. Not to do so constitutes plagiarism. It's OK to copy things word for word if you use quotation marks. (Don't overuse this privilege.)
This report counts for 4% of your total grade. I will give it a percentage score. (for example, 85%)
1. article reviewed is an original experimental research (-5% for Scientific American articles) - 20%
2. article & your review deals in significant ways with biological aspects of the disease - 5%
3. report follows proper form described above - 10%
4. good use of an appropriate book reference - 10%
5. report displays an understanding of the research, its meaning, & explains it well - 30%
6. report is clearly written and coherent - 15%
7. report uses good grammar, spelling, proper bibliography, etc. - 10%
TOTAL = 100%
LATE PENALTIES: Reports which are turned in late will be penalized as follows: 3% plus 1/2% for each day they are late. (this would total 3 1/2% if they are 1 day late, 4% for two days, etc.)
You can earn extra credit by using more than the minimum of one journal article and one textbook. Additional references would need to be on the same or a related topic. These do not have to be approved by me.
Up to 15% can be added onto your score as extra credit for using additional references.
additional book reference, or a WWW reference - 5% max
2 additional book references, or WWW references - 7% max
other additional journal reference - 7% max
two other additional journal reference - 10% max
one additional experimental research reference - 10% max
two additional experimental research reference - 15% max
The use of additional references for extra credit will be graded quite strictly, on the basis of their relevance and quality (understanding conveyed, quality of your writing, etc.) Depending on the quality, you may receive partial or full credit. You may do any combination you wish of extra research reports or text references, but the total extra credit given will not total more than 15% (for example, you might receive 12% out of a possible 15% for using two extra research reports, and 4% out of a possible 5% for and additional text reference; the total of 16% would then be reduced to 15% because that is the maximum allowed).
Am. Jr. of Public Health
JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association)
Journal of the Am. Dietetic Assoc. (some articles good only as sec. references)
Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness
Nature
New Engl Jrl. of Medicine
Pediatrics
Science
If you think an article in another journal is appropriate, please check with me.
Journals that might be appropriate as secondary, or extra credit references, but NOT primary references:
Am Family Physician
Am Jrl. of Nursing
AORN Jrl.
Heart & Lung
Journal of Obstetrical, Gerontological, and Neonatal Nursing
You cannot get into this library. However, if you have reference information, you can get copies made of articles in journals housed in the Goshen Hospital library by calling 533-2141 and ask for the person in charge of the hospital library. Most recently the librarian was Sue White. The hospital has the following journals that might be useful. - often as primary references, sometimes as secondary references.
American Family Physician
American Journal of Clinical Pathology
American Journal of Clinical Pathology
American Journal of Medicine
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
American Journal of Surgical Pathology
Anesthesiology
Annals of Internal Medicine
Annals of Surgery
Archives of Internal Medicine
Cancer
Journal of Pediatrics
Lancet
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics