Planning, Proposing, and Presenting Science Effectively: A Guide for Graduate Students and Researchers in the Behavioral Sciences and Biology, Second Edition

This concise guide to planning, writing, and presenting research is intended for biology students of all levels, especially those in behavioral ecology, The reader is guided through a discussion of the nature of scientific research, how to plan research, and how to obtain funding. The authors give advice and guidelines for presenting results at research seminars and scientific meetings, and also provide useful tips on preparing abstracts and posters for scientific meetings. They discuss how to write an effective C.V. and give general tips on how to write clearly. The book is illuminated throughout with personal examples from the authors' own experiences and emphasis is placed on problems associated with field studies. All biologists will find this a valuable resource and guide for the early years of their scientific careers and established faculty will find it an essential instructional tool. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Preface 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 10 I How to plan research 13 SCIENTIFIC EPISTEMOLOGY 14 Science as process and product 14 Deduction and prediction 15 Observation and data 18 Comparison and decision 19 Induction and model 21 Uniqueness of models 22 Some consequences of the uniqueness 24 Models: hypothesis, theory, law 25 Roles of the individual investigator 27 Is natural history really science? 28 PLANNING RESEARCH 29 Finding a problem 30 Formulating a model 33 Devising testable predictions 37 Comparative studies 40 Interrelationship between field and laboratory 41 Other aspects of planning research 43 Implementing the plan 44 2 How to write a research proposal 46 FORMAT 48 CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION 50 What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity? 51 What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? 53 FEEDBACK 53 PROPOSAL CONTENT 55 Significance of a title 56 Identifying objectives 57 Integrating your research with existing knowledge 57 Hypotheses and predictions 58 Methods 61 Significance 65 Literature cited 65 Summary 66 Budget and budget justification 67 Other funding 69 Appendixes 70 Table of contents 71 THE SUBMISSION PROCESS 72 THE REVIEW PROCESS 73 WHAT TO DO WHILE WAITING FOR A DECISION 74 3 How to write a research report 76 FRONT MATTER 78 Title page 78 The title itself 79 The author's name 79 Issues of coauthorship 80 Abstract 82 BODY OF THE REPORT 83 Section heads and subdivision 84 Introduction 84 Methods 85 Results 86 Discussion 87 Series of experiments 88 END MATTER 89 Acknowledgments 89 Appendixes 90 REFERENCES 90 Literature cited section 90 Reference form 91 Sequence of references 94 How to cite references 95 Text citation of references 95 Multiple authors 97 Page citations 99 Latin phrases 99 Checking citations 100 TABLES AND FIGURES 101 Tables 101 Figure legends 102 Figures 103 Types of figures 104 How to cite tables and figures 106 SUBMISSION AND REVIEW 107 Friendly pre-review 107 Where to submit 107 The covering letter 109 The review process 112 Upon receiving the editorial decision 113 How to review a manuscript 115 4 How to present research 120 RESEARCH SEMINARS 122 Advance material 122 Content and organization 124 Practice 125 Style and delivery 125 Ending the talk 128 The question-and-answer period 129 AUDIOVISUAL AIDS 130 Preparing slides: fundamentals 131 Preparing slides: colors and computers 135 Photographs in PowerPoint® 137 Using PowerPoint 141 Computer "slides" 144 Other additions to PowerPoint 146 Other audiovisual aids 146 TALKS AT SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS 148 Abstracts for talks 149 Content of a talk 152 Slides 153 Practice 154 Style 155 POSTERS AT SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS 155 Abstracts for posters 156 Content of a poster 156 Illustrations 157 Mounting 158 Exhibiting skills 159 5 How to write a curriculum vitae 161 PERSONAL INFORMATION 163 Standard personal data 164 Optional personal data 165 EDUCATION 165 Degrees 165 Coursework 167 HONORS, AWARDS, AND SIMILAR RECOGNITIONS 167 Awards and honors sensu stricto 168 Any prize or placement in an academic competition or contest 168 Election to honorary societies 168 Elected memberships and membership awards of professional societies 168 Prestigious professional service 169 GRANTS 169 PUBLICATIONS 170 PROFESSIONAL TALKS 172 TEACHING 173 MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONAL INFORMATION 174 Memberships and service 174 Certifications, qualifications, and skills 175 Employment and other experience 175 Research summary 176 Appendix A How to write clearly 177 GENERALITIES 180 THE THREE PRIMARY RULES 182 STRUCTURE 183 Subsections, blocks, and paragraphs 183 Sentences 184 Word order 185 NUMBERS 186 Units 187 Precision 187 ABBREVIATIONS AND ANIMAL NAMES 190 Latin abbreviations in exposition 190 Abbreviating scientific names 191 Initial capitals in avian names 193 USING SIGNS, SYMBOLS, AND MARKS 194 The hyphen (-) and the dash (-) 194 The number symbol (#) 196 The exclamation mark (!) 197 DIFFICULT INFLECTIONS 197 Matching number of subject and verb 198 "Noun string construction grammar" 198 Adjectival degrees 199 Those awful subjunctives 199 PROBLEMATIC PAIRS 200 USING A WORD PROCESSOR 206 Headers, footers, and line numbers 207 Spell checkers 208 Real dictionaries 209 Layout on a word processor 209 Spacing, margins, tabs, and justification 210 (left-aligned) 211 (right-aligned) 211 Font sizes and types 212 A FINAL SUGGESTION 214 Appendix B Ethics considerations 215 PLANNING RESEARCH 216 Originality of ideas 217 Collaborations 218 Approvals and permissions 220 PROPOSING RESEARCH 220 Originality 220 Feasibility 221 Other funding 221 Reviewing grants: confidentiality and conflicts of interest 222 PRESENTING RESEARCH 222 Honesty equals accuracy 222 Coauthors 223 Publishing non-redundantly 224 Presentations in context 226 PRESENTING SCIENTIFIC CREDENTIALS 226 FINAL COMMENTS 227 Further reading 228 Index 232 This concise guide to planning, writing, and presenting research, especially in biology and behavioral ecology, is intended for students of all levels. The guidelines apply equally to independent projects for introductory courses, directed research-study projects, and undergraduate senior theses, as well as to master's theses, doctoral dissertations, and research aimed at publication. Guides the reader through a discussion of the nature of scientific research, how to plan research, and obtain funding, Discusses writing a research proposal, whether for a formal proposal for thesis research to be written by a graduate student, or for a research proposal for a funding agency such as the National Science Foundation (using the Dissertation Improvement Grant format as a specific example), Deals with writing a research project such as a graduate thesis, or a manuscript for publication in a research journal, Gives advice and guidelines for presenting the results of research at research seminars and scientific meetings, and also provides useful tips on preparing abstracts and posters for scientific meetings, Shows how to write an effective c.v, Gives tips on how to write clearly, common abbreviations (including Latin phrases), and difficult inflections, as well as other issues. "This concise guide to planning, writing, and presenting research, especially in biology and behavioral ecology, is intended for students of all levels. The guidelines apply equally to independent projects for introductory courses, directed research-study projects, and undergraduate senior theses, as well as to master's theses, doctoral dissertations, and research aimed at publication." "Throughout, the book is illuminated with personal examples from the authors' own experiences with research in behavioral ecology, and there is an emphasis on problems associated with field studies."--Jacket