BIO 152 Modern Biology II
Adapted from Dr. J. Anastasia
Writing Assignment:
Summary and Critical Analysis of A Scientific Article
The assignment requires students to locate, read, and critique a primary research article on a topic in biology.
Due dates:
Article Choice Due:
Article Summary Due:
Length: 600-700 words (not including references); use your word processor to count words and include word
count at the top of your paper)
Source: You will be given several articles to review and you will choose one to read and summarize for your
assignment. The articles from which you will choose will be available for review on the course website. Once
you have chosen an article, you must then use the library databases to find an additional article on the topic
from a scientific, peer-reviewed journal that was published in the last 5 years. Repeat the assignment using this
second article of your choice. Be sure to hand in a hard copy with your final assignment. For each of the two
articles, complete the following:
Assignment: Write an essay in your own words (do not copy sentences out of the paper) that summarizes and
critiques the article you have read for an audience of your BIO 152 classmates. Be sure to begin by briefly
summarizing the article. Next, analyze those aspects of the article that were clear or confusing to you. Conclude
by speculating about broader implications and future directions of the research described in the article. A
suggested plan for your essay is shown below:
First 1-2 paragraphs: Summarize the objectives, methods, results, and conclusions as the authors have
presented them. This section should reflect your understanding of the research presented in the article. If the
article is a review paper lacking methods, you must indicate this.
Next paragraph—the strengths of the article. Identify and characterize the useful features of the article. That is,
what aspects of the article seemed particularly strong? Did you find a certain section of the article (for example,
introduction, methods) to be particularly helpful?
Next paragraph—the weaknesses of the article. Identify and characterize the confusing aspects of the article.
That is, did you find any weaknesses in the study? Was any particular section confusing to you? Why?
Last paragraph: Conclude your essay. Speculate about the broader implication of this research (for example,
the results might represent breakthroughs, or the results could have far-reaching implications) and try to identify
the future directions of this research (go ahead and be creative).
Plagiarism: Do not copy any portion of a paper into your essays. Plagiarism interferes with the main purpose of
having you prepare these papers, which is to get you to synthesize what you have read and then explain it and
analyze it IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
References: The first time you refer to your research article, be sure to parenthetically reference it using the
author’s/authors’ name(s) and publication date, as shown below:
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BIO 152 Modern Biology II
Adapted from Dr. J. Anastasia
A recent study found that doing things rather than memorizing trivia helps educate students (Smith and
Jones, 2002).
At the end of your paper, provide a complete citation of both the article that you are summarizing and critiquing
and the additional article that you found. Give authors, year, article title, journal name, journal volume, and
page numbers, and list the articles in alphabetical order by author’s last name. An example is shown below:
Rosin-Bouffay, C., Jang, W., Caprette, D.R., and Gomer, R.H. (2000) A precise group size in
Dictyostelium is generated by a cell-counting factor modulating cell-cell adhesion. Molecular Cell 6,
953-959.
Format:

Provide a copy of the additional article selected with your assignment. Failure to do this will result in a
grade of zero for that portion of the assignment.
Late paper policy: For each day the paper is late, 5 points will be deducted from your grade. NO late work will
be accepted following three days of lateness.
Grading criteria: Papers will be graded out of a total of 50 points. Attached is the scoring rubric for this
assignment.
Module by: The Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication.
Project, C. 2008. Writing Assignment: Critical Analysis of A Scientific Article - BIOS 202: Introductory
Biology. Connexions, July 21, 2008. http://cnx.org/content/m15922/1.3/.
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BIO 152 Modern Biology II
Adapted from Dr. J. Anastasia
Writing Assignment Grading Sheet
Student Name_____________________________________
Completed Assignment:
Purpose and aims of article
_____/10
Discusses how results lead to conclusions
_____/8
Analyzes those aspects of the article that
are clear or confusing
_____/8
Organization and Style
_____/6
Broader implications and future directions
_____/8
Format Requirements
_____/6
Citations: Correct within body of paper
Correct form in Works Cited
TOTAL SCORE
2 pts possible
_____/2
2 pts possible
_____/2
_____/50
Comments:
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