Second Year Tutorial
Essay based on a primary periodical publication
For this assignment you will write a 1500 word essay describing the primary research publication provided.
It is important to be able to read and understand research papers as you will be using these sources for most of your courses in the Final year of your degree.
Generally research papers have the following sections although this order is not always used:
Title/Authors-Title of the paper and the people involved in the work.
Abstract-Brief summary of the entire publication which is usually around 200-250 words in length.
Introduction-This provides the background to the work (Why do we care?) and briefly explains what they have done.
Methods-A description of the experimental techniques used to obtain the data for the publication.
Results-A description of the data obtained including graphs, tables and diagrams.
Discussion-Aninterpretation of the results and their significance to the field. The last paragraph often ends in a concluding section to summarise the results.
Reference-All the references cited are listed at the end of the paper.
Acknowledgements-All those who helped with the work but not listed as an author are placed here. The funders of the work are also listed here.
Reading a scientific paper:
There is no set way to do this and it is especially difficult if you are unfamiliar with the scientific jargon used. Usually the paper is written in a scientifically logical way (often this is not the case!)
1.I would start by looking at the title and abstract. This should give you an idea whether you have enough background knowledge to understand the paper. If not, look up the information in a textbook and then go back to the paper.
2.Read the introduction, this should give you a background in the subject and explain why the authors have done the work.
3.Go to the Results section. Try to understand the figures and what they have found.
4.Read the discussion. This should give you an idea of what they have done and how they interpret the results.
To help you structure the essay here are a list of things to think about:
1. What questions does the paper address?
2. What are the main conclusions of the paper?
3. What evidence supports those conclusions?
4. Do the data actually support the conclusions?
5. What is the quality of the evidence?
6. Why are the conclusions important?
Some background information:
Isolating, cloning and sequencing DNA
Glutamate
Glutamate receptors
Expression of ion channels in Xenopus oocytes