Your term paper will be due at the end of the semester, submitted in Module 9, and constitutes 20% of your overall grade. Your topic MUST be approved by me. I strongly encourage you to begin working on it as soon as possible and work on it continually throughout the semester.
Purpose/Topic Choice
The purpose of this paper is for you to do research on a topic that relates biology to personal health or disease. You may also research the work done by a winner of the Nobel Prize in biology using the following link www.nobelprize.org. Use your favorite search engine to look online for ideas. Or use your online textbook which is also a good resource for topic choices.
Your paper must be complete and informative.
1. Choose a topic. Make sure that the topic is narrow enough to do a thorough report on. e.g. if your topic is “Lung Cancer” it would be too broad a topic to cover completely in a 7-10 page paper. Therefore, you should choose one aspect of lung cancer such as, “the effect on the respiratory system of the compounds in found cigarette smoke”.
2. Research the topic. Choose your sources carefully.
Remember that “.COM” websites are usually trying to sell you something. “.ORG” websites are usually nonprofit/noncommercial sites, “.GOV” websites are government sites and “.EDU” websites are colleges/universities. Each type has both good and bad points. Remember to examine who the author is and double check evidence with more than one source.
online journals are a good source. Professional journals will have up to date articles and many journals heavily screen their content.
Most importantly you must document your sources. You are required to have a minimum of 9 different sources for your final paper, of which 3 MUST be printed text, journals or books.
Paper format and requirements
Organize your research into a paper that has a focus and flow and remember to explain the point of your paper. Keep the information at an appropriate level, challenging enough to make it interesting. Use introductory and summative paragraphs and be sure to spell-check your paper and re-read it to ensure it all makes sense.
You should prepare a research paper with in-text citations. You should use the citations you have already turned in as part of your bibliographies thus far. You must include additional citations to enhance your paper. Note a minimum of 9 references is required.
You should use Times New Roman font, 12 point, and double space your paper.
The paper must be 7 -10 pages in length with your references listed in alphabetical order and APA format at the end. The cover page and reference list are not included in the 7-10 page required length.
As always, I am here to help and can point you in the direction of some relevant sources of information. Your sources should be a “balanced mix” of books, articles/journals and websites. Be sure to use APA format for all your sources. I will gladly review an outline/plan of your paper and provide feedback if you contact me before week 12 of the semester.
Make sure you cite your references using APA guidelines. When in doubt cite! Plagiarism will result in an automatic zero and remember Wikipedia is not a reliable nor valid source for this science class. Look for original peer reviewed articles for your sources.
