FORMAT:
Length: at least 2 double-spaced pages long
Margins: 1 inch on all sides
Font: 12 point
Title: no title, but put the citation for the paper you are writing about at the top of the first page. Use standard scientific format for citations (see below for an example).
WHAT TO INCLUDE:
Discussion papers should 1) summarize the goals, methods, and findings and/or main points of the reading for that article, 2) discuss positive and negative aspects of the paper (does it make a valuable point and why, is there something wrong with the methodology or conclusions and why), and 3) raise at least one question you have after reading the article. Types of questions can include parts of the paper you didn’t understand, the relationship of the paper to other issues discussed in class or to current events, why the author didn’t do things differently, etc. Make sure that your critique includes at least one question. The question can be integrated with the rest of the paper or just listed at the end.
Following is a more specific outline of what you might want to include in the paper. You do not have to follow this outline exactly – it is just a suggestion. You should be able to address each of the following points in two – four sentences. This is a SHORT paper, so be concise.
1. What is the goal of the research article? Why was it written? What question(s) were the authors trying to answer?
2. What method(s) did the authors use? If they collected data, how did they do it?
3. What were the results or conclusions of the article?
4. What are the strengths of the paper? What makes it valuable? This can include things like the study being conducted well (good experiments, good interpretation of data) and the study making important points that relate to the larger field, etc.
5. What are the weaknesses of the paper? This might include bad experiments or arguments, bad interpretation of data, making a point that is trivial, etc.
6. Overall, is this a good paper? Do strengths outweigh weaknesses? What contribution does this paper make to its field?
7. What questions does this paper raise and/or what future work does it suggest? These could be questions the authors spell out (“we have learned that we need to know more about X”) or questions that are raised in your mind by reading the paper.
8. What question might you bring up for discussion? This can be the same as 7, or might be a different kind of question (like “what does the y-axis on figure 8 really mean?”).
CITATION FORMAT:
Generic citation:
Authors. Year of publication. Title of paper. Title of journal Volume of journal: first page–last page.
Examples:
Underwood, N. and M.D. Rausher. 2002. Comparing the consequences of induced and constitutive resistance for herbivore population dynamics. American
Naturalist 160:20–30.
James, F. C., C. E. McCulloch, and D. A. Wiedenfeld. 1996. New approaches to the analysis of population trends in land birds. Ecology 77: 13–27.
