BiologyHonorsThesisGuidelines
Purpose:toprepareBiologyHonorsstudentstowriteuptheirresearchprojectintheformofascholarly
SeniorHonorsThesis.
Thisdocumentprovidesguidelinesforwhatisoftenthemostintimidatingpartoftheresearchproject:
writinguptheHonorsThesis.AftercompletingyourHonorsThesisproposalandcollectingandanalyzing
yourdata,youwillpresentyourworkininoralandwrittenformats.Goodworktakestime,sostartingthe
writingprocessearlyandallowingsufficienttimetorevisearekeytowritingahighqualitythesis(and
loweringyourstress).Thegoodnewsisthatyoualreadyhavestartedthisprocess.InwritingyourThesis
Proposal,youexploredyourtopicintheprimaryliterature,andrationalizedyourstudy.Sincethen,you
have,nodoubt,collectedandreadadditionalresearcharticlesandbecomemoreknowledgeableaboutyour
topic.Still,theThesisProposalisagoodstartingpointforbeginningtowriteyourThesisandyoumaywish
tosimplyaddinformationtotheThesisProposalwhilewritingyourHonorsThesis.
GeneralFormat:YourHonorsThesiswillfollowtheconventionalformatforascientificresearchpaper,
includingthefollowingsections:Abstract,Introduction,MaterialsandMethods,Results,Discussion,and
LiteratureCited.TheHonorsThesisshouldbewrittenaccordingtoconventionsofscientificwritingusing
clear,concisesentencestructure,well-developedparagraphswithstrongtopicsentences,andalogical
progressionofideas.Forin-depthdetailsonwritinginBiology,itmaybeusefultorefertothematerialsused
inyourWritingIntensiveBiologyclass(e.g.,BIO306WorBIO311W),including“AStudentHandbookfor
WritinginBiology”byKarinKnisely(2013).WhiletherearenotspecificpagelimitsfortheHonorsThesis,itis
likelythatatleast20pages(12-pointfont,double-spaced,notcountingfiguresorworkscited)willbeneeded
toprovidesufficientbackgroundinformationandtodocument,analyze,andcontextualizeexperimental
results.
Timeline:Goodwritingtakestimeandmultipledrafts.Waitingtowriteupyourthesisuntiltheendofthe
semesterislikelytoresultinanunacceptablypoor-qualityproduct.BeforestartingtowritetheHonors
Thesis,itisagoodideatoformulateaplanandtimetable.Duringthisplanningprocess,makesuretoleave
enoughtimeformultiplerevisions(allowingyourresearchmentorabouttwoweekstocommentoneach
draft).DraftsthatarenotuptostandardsmayberejectedbytheBiologyHonorsAdvisor,andevendrafts
thatarewelldonearelikelytorequireatleastoneadditionalroundofrevisionsbasedoncommentsfrom
theHonorsAdvisor.Followingthetimelinebelowwillimprovethequalityofyourwriting.
Year Date
1-2
MeetwithBIOHonorsAdvisor,begintoexploreresearchopportunities
2
Identifyaresearchadvisor;begindiscussingpotentialprojects
3
Sept-Nov
MeetwithBIOHonorsadvisortodiscussThesisProposal,prepareThesis
Proposal,submitThesisProposaltoresearchadvisor,revise
3
January31
ThesisProposalduetoBIOHonorsadvisor
3-4
Conductexperimentsandcollectdata
4
January
UndergraduateSymposiumAbstractdue
4
January
Completedataanalysis
4
Jan-March
PreparedraftofHonorsThesisandUndergraduateSymposium
presentation
4
EarlyMarch
SubmitdraftofHonorsThesistoresearchadvisor,revise
4
LateMarch
UndergraduateSymposium(oralorposterpresentation)
4
April1
HonorsThesisduetoBIOHonorsAdvisor
4
Mid-LateApril
ReviseHonorsThesisbasedoncommentsfromBIOHonorsAdvisor
4
LateApril
AfterapprovalbyBIOHonorsAdvisor,submitfinalrevisedHonorsThesis
toHonorsCollege
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GuidelinesandTips:
•
•
Title.Thetitleshouldspecifytheexperimentalsystemusedaswellaskeyvariablesanalyzedand/or
significantdiscoveries.Itshouldbespecific,informative,andbrief.
Abstract.Theabstractisaone-paragraphcondensationoftheentirework.Theabstractshouldbea
self-containedunitcapableofbeingunderstoodwithoutthebenefitofthetext.Itshouldcontain
fiveelements,inthisorder:1)anintroductorysentencehighlightingtheimportanceofthetopic;2)
thepurposeofthestudyandthehypothesestested;3)abriefstatementofthegeneralapproach
takentotestthehypotheses(themethodsused);4)astatementofwhatwasfound(theresults);5)
abriefstatementofconclusion.Themajorportionofyourabstractshouldbepresentationof
results.Limittheabstractto250words.
•
Introduction.Thissectionisdesignedtodrawthereaderinandtocontextualizeandrationalizethe
study.TheIntroductionprovidescontextbyexplainingwhyatopicisimportantorrelevantandby
describingwhatisknownandwhatgapsremaininourknowledgeofthetopic.Youshouldstructure
theIntroductionasafunnelconsistingofthefollowingthreeelements(eachofwhichmayrequire
multipleparagraphs):
o
o
Anexplanationofthegeneralbiologicalissueanditssignificance
Areviewthestateofcurrentknowledgerelatingtoyourtopic(includingsignificant
unansweredquestionsorgapsinunderstanding)
Adescriptionofthespecificresearchquestionyourstudyaddresses
o
Tomakeyourcase,youwillneedtoreferencetheprimaryliterature.Itisoftenusefultocitereview
articlesrelatingtoyourtopicintheopeningparagraphs(andreadingreviewarticleswillhelpyouget
ahandleonthecurrentstateofthefield).InthefinalparagraphofyourIntroduction,includethe
goal/purposeofthestudy,thehypothesisandpredictions,andthegeneralapproachusedtotestthe
hypothesis.Besuretoincludeabiologicalmechanism(theexplanationwhy)withinthehypothesis.
Theuseofoneormorefigures/modelswithintheIntroductionisrecommendedtoillustrate
importantconceptsrelatingtoyourhypothesisand/orexperimentaldesignandlogic.Theuseof
topicalsubheadingswithintheIntroductionisrecommendedasawaytoimproveorganizational
clarityofthissectionoftheHonorsThesis.
•
•
MaterialsandMethods.ThissectioncanoftenprovidesagreatstartingpointforwritingaThesisor
researchpaper.TheMaterialsandMethodssectionshoulddescribeyourresearchapproach,
includingspecificreferencesforexperimentaldesign,laboratorytechniques,specificreagent
formulations,analysesorprocessing,andstatisticalanalyses,asappropriate.Whiletheinformation
inthissectionoftheThesisshouldnotbethesameasadetailedprotocol,thedescriptionsshould
providesufficientdetailtoenableanindividual“familiarwiththeart”torepeatyourexperiments.
Theuseofcitationstorelatedstudiesemployingsimilartechniqueslendscredibilitytoyour
approach,thoughyoumayalsoincludenovelapproaches.Ifthereareseveralpartstoyourstudy,
theuseofsubheadingscorrespondingtoeachportionisrecommended.Ifyourprojectisafield
study,thefirstsub-sectionshoulddescribethestudysite.Ifyouareworkingonaparticular
organism,youmightbeginwithasub-sectionrelatedtoitsnaturalhistoryoritsuseasamodel
organism.Considerusingvisualaidstoillustrateexperimentaldesignorprocedures.Inorderto
learnaboutfield-specificconventionsfordescribingparticularanalyses(orotheraspectsrelatedto
theMaterialsandMethods),seekingexamplesfrompublishedworksinthefieldisrecommended.
Results.Thefunctionsofthissectionareto(1)summarizegeneraltrendsinthedatawithout
comment,bias,orinterpretation,and(2)reporttheresultsofstatisticalanalysestestingyour
hypotheses.Conclusionsaboutwhetheryourresultssupportorrefuteyourhypothesesshouldbe
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savedfortheDiscussion.LikeintheMethodssection,youshouldorganizetheResultssectionwith
sub-headings,andthesesub-headingsshouldmirrortheorderinwhichtheyweredescribedinthe
Methodssection.Describeyourresultsinwords,referringtotablesandfiguresparentheticallyto
supportyourstatements.Itisimportanttorememberthattablesandfiguresdonotsubstitutefora
writtensummaryofthefindings.Inshort,thetextshouldbeabletobeunderstoodbysomeone
whohasnotseenyourfiguresandtables,whilefacilitatinginterpretationofthefiguresandtables.
•
Results–useoffiguresandtables.Experimentaldatashouldbepresentedusingfiguresortables,as
appropriate.Figures(graphs,maps,anddiagrams)andtablesareindependentunitsofinformation.
Theyeachpossessdescriptiveheadingsthatwillallowthemtobeunderstoodbysomeonewhohas
notyetreadthepaper.ThesecaptionsappearBELOWfiguresandABOVEtables.Graphs,maps,and
diagramsarelabeledas"figures"(Fig.1,Fig.2,etc.),andtablesarelabeledas"tables"(Table1,
Table2,etc.).Datashouldbedisplayedinonlyoneformat;i.e.,youshouldchoosewhetherafigure
oratableisthebestwaytopresentthedata.Ingeneral,avisualfigureispreferred,butincases
whereafigurebecomestoocomplicatedforeasyinterpretation,thereistoomuchdata,and/orno
trendisapparent,atablemaybebetter.
•
TipsforwritingtheResultssection:
o Choosedatapresentations(e.g.,figures,tables,gelimages,etc.)thatarebestsuitedto
displayandsummarizethedataandillustrateanyspecifictrends(ifpresent).Besureto
carefullyandunambiguouslydescribealldatapresentationsinthecaptiontofacilitatetheir
interpretation.
o Statementsaboutresultsshouldbebackedupwithstatisticaltests,wheneverpossible.For
example,“Seedsetofplantsgrowninthepresenceofpollinatorswastwotimesgreater
thantheseedsetofplantsfromexclosureplots(t=3.8,df=20,p<0.05).”
o Whenusingstatisticaltests,emphasizethebiologicalresult,notthestatisticalresult.
! Noteffective:“Thestudent’st-testwith20degreesoffreedomshoweda
statisticallysignificantdifferencebetween…”
! Hint:Usethedependentvariable(whatyoumeasuredorcalculated)asthesubject
ofthesentence.
o Statehowmuchofaneffecttheindependentvariablehadonthedependentvariable
(=effectsize),inadditiontomentioningtherewasasignificantdifference.
o Besuretopresentthegeneraltrends,nottheexactdatavaluesinthetextoftheResults
section.Thesevaluesareprovidedinyourtableorfigure.
o Besuretoincludetextdescription(s)ofcontroltrial(s),andcompare/contrastresultsof
thesewithtrialsinvolvingexperimentalvariables.Controlresultsalsoshouldbeincludedin
figures,tables,etc.
•
Discussion.Thefunctionsofthissectionareto(1)evaluatethemeaningofyourresultsintermsof
youroriginalhypothesis,(2)offerinterpretationandexplanationsforyourresults(whetherthey
supportyourhypothesisornot),and(3)compareandcontrastyourresultstothosefromrelated
studies.Userelevantliteraturetohelpcomeupwithexplanations.Itisoftenusefultoorganizethe
Discussionsectionasa“reversefunnel,”startingwithyourstudyandmovingtothebiggerbiological
issuethatyourstudyaddresses.AsintheIntroduction,theuseofsub-headingsintheDiscussion
sectionisrecommendedimproveclarityandorganization.Withineachsection,topicsentences
shouldbeusedtostructuretheflowoftheDiscussionsection.TheDiscussionsectionshould
integrateyourdatawiththerelevantliteraturetoprovideadetailedinterpretationoftheresearch
dataandresearchquestion(s).
BegintheDiscussionwithaparagraphthathighlightstheresultsofyourexperimentsandwhether
yourresultssupportorrefuteyourhypothesis,andoffersabiologicalexplanationforyourresults(if
youhavemorethanonehypothesis,youmightdothisforeachhypothesis-intheordertheywere
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presentedinyourIntroduction).Youcanalsocompareyourresultstothosefromotherstudies(do
theyagree?disagree?andofferpossibleexplanationswhyorwhynot).Rememberthatyourjobis
toanalyzeyourownresults.Youshouldnotdedicatewholeparagraphstodescribingother
researcher'sstudies;theirfindingsshouldbeintegratedwithyoursinordertoformulatecausal
explanationsofyourresults.
TheDiscussionsectionalsocanaddressanyproblemsthataroseandwhereyourstudyleadsus,
however,youwanttotakeapositiveapproachtodiscussing“problems.”Onewaytodothisisto
frameaproblemasalimitationofyourstudyandthenproposewhatshouldbedonetoaddressthis
limitation.Whenproposingfuturestudies,describespecificallywhattypesofadditionalstudies
mightbeusefulandwhatsuchstudieswouldtellus.Speculationisvaluableforstimulatingfurther
thought.
•
BesuretoendyourDiscussionwithashortConclusionparagraphthatsummarizesyourmajor
findingsandfitsthemintoalargerbiologicalcontext.Whatarethemostimportanttake-home
messagesfromyourstudyforthereader?
Literaturecited.Chooseapremierjournalinyourfieldandconsistentlyapplythebibliographic
formattingofthatJournalwithinyourHonorsThesis.Youshouldaimforatleast20references,
includingseveralreviewarticles.TheZoterobibliographicmanagementtool(http://www.zotero.org)
shouldbeusedtoformatthein-textcitationsandbibliographyaccordingtotheconventionsofthe
journalyouselect.
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