| Peer Review Form | Responding to Peer Review Comments | Revision Response Form | "How to Write" Guide|
Introduction
Science is most often done as a collaborative process. The design of an experiment, the interpretation of the results, and formal reporting of these results in a scientific paper often involve the contributions of many people. All you need do is take a look at any recent scientific journal and note the lack of single-author papers. Thus, since one of the goals of this Biology course is to help you learn scientific writing, we decided to introduce the concept of collaborative lab reports. We call this the PI System because in research laboratories the head of a research group is called the Principal Investigator or PI. The process you'll undertake is patterned after that used by scientists everywhere as they prepare papers for publication. In 2 of the labs in each core course, you'll use the PI System as described below to write up your lab work as research journal-style papers. We will ask EACH GROUP of students to hand in a single, anonymously peer reviewed lab report for each of the designated PI labs. The PI group can be a source of support, encouragement, and could even form the basis of a study group to help achieve your goals in this course.
Preparation for each lab: hypotheses, background literature, experimental design
The first week of a multi-week PI lab will always be used to teach you techniques appropriate for answering a particular type of research question. For example, in the first PI lab in Bio 242 you will pose a testable hypothesis regarding the effects of altered conditions on the hydrolytic activity of alpha-amylase. The first week of a PI lab should be spent learning and refining the techniques presented so that your group can design an experiment to test your hypothesis in a subsequent lab.
The group should undertake a literature search to find relevant information pertaining to your type of experiment. Very often your instructors will provide some advice on the types of information and resources to target. In brief, the background should summarize our current knowledge of the specific problem you are studying. The group should produce a carefully written, well-revised draft of your paper's TITLE (working draft) and INTRODUCTION and bring this document to lab when the experiment is performed. Either an instructor or a TWA will critique your TITLE and INTRODUCTION during lab (or soon after) and return the paper to you with some verbal and written feedback.
Experimental Design (Bio 242)
Your experimental design, a carefully thought out description of the actual experimental procedures, should then be developed and discussed with your lab instructors. A general guideline for designing an experiment is provided in the Resource Materials Guide and we encourage you to use it: Experimental Design Worksheet. We will critique your design to help you refine your experimental design such that it will test your hypothesis and can be done within our constraints of time, equipment, and budget. Each lab group will perform the experiment they designed and collect the data which is relevant to the question posed. These data should allow the group to propose an ANSWER or EXPLANATION for the hypothesis the experiment tested.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Either during lab, if there is time, or immediately thereafter, the PI group must meet to analyze and graph the data, determine what the results are, and arrive at an interpretation of the results. The sooner the group meets after performing the experiment, the more accurate your recollections are and the more clear will be your understanding of the data you collected. If you have difficulty understanding your results, consult with your instructor to get clarification. Everyone in the group MUST have a full understanding of the results and interpretation of your experiment.
Writing the Draft in Collaboration
Initially, the entire group will work together to sketch out the content of the entire paper. This might include a detailed outline, or could be simply a rough overview of the points to be covered in each section. As you work together you will discover the strategy that works best for you. Instructions for writing a paper in scientific journal style and format will be given as a workshop in Bio 242 and in detail in "How to Write..." guide. Your strategy for writing the actual draft is up to you. Some groups work best by all writing it together in one place. Others may opt to divide up the parts and then bring them together. If you choose the latter strategy, it is critical that you critique each others sections. In the end, the style of the whole paper MUST be unified, i.e., it must sound as though one person wrote the whole draft.
NOTE: This is a good point at which to check in with your instructor and /or the TWAs, especially to consider your overall paper organization (the outline) and any particulars about the presentation.
- Summary comments on the Peer Review Form; and
- Explicit editorial suggestions on the draft.
Remember: this entire process is a COLLABORATIVE EFFORT. Utilize the talents of all group members to improve the quality of work. If group members possess expertise in various fields, e.g., computer graphics, statistics, writing, etc..., tap into these skills. Producing a well crafted scientific paper is hard work, but if all group members contribute to the effort from their areas of strength, the chances succeeding and enjoying the experience will be much improved.
NOTE: We strongly encourage all groups to meet with their lab instructor to check your data analysis and interpretation before you begin to write up the results. You will have extraordinary difficulty interpreting your results and crafting your paper if you do not fully understand these aspects.
Feedback on your papers will be provided formally by anonymous Peer Review. Each student in the course will be assigned a random ID number to facilitate anonymity in the Peer Review process. On an assigned in lecture, each group will bring three photocopies of their paper for distribution to reviewers in other lab sections. Instead of your names, you should put your ID numbers under the title. Your instructors will distribute the papers such that each student receives one paper to critique anonymously. The obvious advantage of anonymous review is that you can be honest and complete in your critique without risk or worry about causing ill-feelings among your classmates.
To help structure this critiquing process, use the Peer Review Form,which you can download, and review the advice on making constructive criticism. The Peer Review form is simply a guide to reviewing the paper. To be effective, you must provide detailed and clear comments that give explicit guidance to the authors for improving the paper. ALL papers at this level need revision, so important to ENGAGE closely with the paper give good, meaningful feedback. Your comments will be in two forms:
If a section needs lots of revision, give clear suggestions as to the text changes you think should happen. Authors are obligated to make changes suggested by their reviewers and incorporate them into the final draft.
What if we disagree with a reviewers comments or suggestions?
Good question! To assist your instructors as we evaluate your revisions based on the Peer Review comments, we ask that you check off the changes made on the reviewed draft (and/or on the PR form). If you decide not to make a change, you MUST provide a note of explanation as to why you disagree with the reviewer. If you haven't made suggested changes and haven't explained why, we will assume you ignored and you will be penalized.
As time permits we will have each group
briefly summarize their experimental design, results, and interpretation
of their experiment in lab the week that a PI lab is handed in.
These presentations should be brief (5 min). Your classmates
and instructors will have opportunity to ask questions. These
discussions are very useful to see the range of results and outcomes,
and to hear alternative interpretations of similar results.
Lab Portfolios: Learn from mistakes made in previous papers.
A PORTFOLIO of your PI labs needs to be maintained, and should include reviewed rough drafts and Peer Review comments. These critiqued labs will be extremely useful in the writing process of the subsequent labs. Learn from past successes and mistakes. Each group member should study the labs in this portfolio before beginning the writing process again. This will help everyone understand the organization and presentation of a lab write-up. We also recommend that each group member photocopy the final graded lab report for their personal files. Papers such as these are frequently useful later as examples of your scientific writing abilities when applying for jobs (e.g., TWA) or graduate school.
DUE DATES: Due dates will be posted on course webpages for each core course. For final papers, your group will hand in a clean, complete copy of the final draft along with all rough drafts, with attached Peer Review forms.
GRADING: PI labs are worth 100 points. Your lab instructors will endeavor (against all odds!) to return them to you within a week. To insure equity in grading between instructors, we have devised a point scale which assigns values to each section of the paper and to overall considerations such as format, clarity of writing, use of cited literature, etc. A copy of the grade form will be attached to your draft when it is returned so that you can quickly get a sense of your paper's areas of strength and those that need work.
Peer reviews are worth 30 points and are graded separately. Reviews will be evaluated on how well they have identified the major strengths and weaknesses of the paper, particularly the organization and flow of information.
REGRADES: All papers receiving scores of 60-90 points may be revised for up to one half the credit lost. paers below 60 points may receive up to a maximum score of 80. In order to do this, you must first meet with your instructor ASAP to go over the critique and receive specific instructions on how much and which parts to revise. You may be advised to seek assistance from Seri Rudolph (call x6159 for an appointment) at the Writing Workshop. Writing skills and understanding of lab concepts are best developed through the process of peer review and revision. The revised lab's due date will be decided when you meet with your instructor, but is generally one week after the meeting. The revised lab must include a completed Revision Response Form on which you will summarize the changes made to the paper during revision.
The formal PI lab write-up will follow the format of a journal-style scientific paper as described in the website: How to Write a Paper in Scientific Journal Style and Format. Following are our additional instructions:
- Use 12 pt font, preferably Times Roman; 1-1.25" side margins; black ink
- DO NOT use a title page - this is a waste of paper
- Staple you paper together, and use a large paper clip to attach all the PR's and drafts together.
- Make sure your names appear on your final draft handed in for evaluation.
The Technical Writing Assistants (TWAs) will be working in the lab each week. Additionally, they will have regularly scheduled evening hours in Carnegie. The TWAs function is to provide confidential guidance in the development of your paper and to help you discover the best ways to express your ideas clearly in your writing. It is best to identify some specific aspects of your paper on which you would like to work to provide the TWA a starting place. Remember that comments made on one section are likely applicable to all. A schedule of TWA evening hours will be posted on e-mail ASAP.
NOTICE: TWAs DO NOT provide assessment of your writing - do not ask them if your paper is "OK" or an "A" paper - this is not their function or purpose and it is beyond their experience to provide such feedback. All evaluations are done by your instructors who have many years experience in this area.
Your instructors are the most available resources you have in this course and you should take advantage of slack times in lab to get assistance. We will also be available outside of lab time by appointment. Seek help early on so that you can master the basic process quickly.
Seri Rudolph, the Coordinator of Scientific Writing at the Writing Workshop, will be available to assist you with your writing projects by appointment (call x6159). Please come prepared with specific questions or problems to be addressed.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Help Sessions
As mentioned previously, the instructors and regular TAs will hold several evening help sessions specifically designed to provide help with data analysis, computing, and other technical, non-writing aspects of lab. A schedule of these sessions will be posted to e-mail ASAP once the semester begins.
Modified 10-30-08
Department of Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240
