Temperate Rainforest Fall 2009
The Underwear Papers: Getting Intimate with the Scientific Literature
The peer-reviewed literature provides the backbone for scientific endeavor. Inexperienced
scientists often feel daunted by finding and interpreting scientific articles. However, the joy of
learning from the primary source will be ours as we work through these exercises on our own
personal scientific paper.
You will be assigned an article from the literature and which concerns some aspect of temperate
rainforests. You should self-select your level of expertise (A,B, C). Each assignment will result
in a carefully written paper (2-3 pages; typed; 1.5 spacing; provide hardcopy and turn into your
seminar leader).
1. Getting Acquainted.
a. Read the article as thoroughly as you can, writing down any terms you are not familiar
with and any questions that come to mind,
b. Look up and define the terms you do not know.
c. Go to other sources (reference librarian, statistics books, other papers) to answer as
many of the questions you generated.
d. Contact author(s) by email, telephone, or letter and ask them about any questions you
have concerning the article and about work they have since carried out. Summarize their
answers in your paper.
e. Some possible questions: What training was required to complete this research?
How long did it take? What happened in the course of research that is not
reflected in the article? How well does the article represent the scientific process
that the author actually went through the conduct the research? Where does it fit
into the scientist’s overall research program? With whom did the scientist
collaborate? What was the peer review process like—what revision were
requested, what revisions were made? Who funded the research? What are the
practical implications of the research?
f. How were the answers from the communication with the scientist reflected in the
paper? What would a reader miss if he/she didn’t talk to the author?
Note: if you cannot contact any of the authors, then find a paper in the bibliography
that has been used in a major way – and contact the author(s) of THAT paper.
2. Say what? If you truly understand a paper, then you can communicate its meaning to others.
a. Choose a non-scientific audience (e.g., NPR listeners, preschool kids) to whom you
describe the work contained in your paper – the methods, results and why it is important.
b. Deliver the message(s) of the paper to your audience using appropriate language and
venue (e.g., newsletter of a recreational fishing group; text for a radio spot aimed at
truckdrivers).
3. “Forward and backward” Scientific papers are themselves rooted in the literature of the past
They also contribute to knowledge of the future. Learn about the roots and impacts of this paper on
the scientific record by examining the bibliography of your paper.
a. identify and skim the five most critical papers that led up to your paper, and report on
their contribution to the paper
b. Go to the Scientific Citations Index (see the Reference Librarian) and gather information
about the scientific impact of this paper.
c. Of the papers that cite it, choose one, and describe how author(s) of the subsequent paper
used the information generated in your paper.
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Temperate Rainforest Fall 2009
4. Where else in the world??? The research questions posed in your paper may have been
investigated in other temperate rainforests, in tropical rainforests, or in other habitats.
g. Find and compare a paper from the primary literature that concerns the same question(s)
but which has been carried out in another geographical region.
h. Discuss the similarities and differences in approach, methods, results, and conclusions.
5. Synthesis: the final frontier: Synthesis – the putting together of two things to make something
new – is a difficult part of scientific writing and thinking. You will be assigned one (or two)
papers (and their accompanying people) to work with.
a. Read each others’ papers and underwear papers, and share insights with each other
b. Think up a study for the future that draws upon the results of both.
c. Assess the challenges and benefits of synthesis thinking and writing.
d. Turn in a joint paper for this assignment.
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