Scientific Paper format                      BIO 304/Sprenkle                  Spring 2006

 

            The Scientific Paper has a specific format which can be found (perhaps in modified form) in many nursing journals, as well as most primary literature in the sciences.  Primary literature is the presentation of original research findings performed by the author(s).  This is in contrast to secondary literature, which often takes the form of a review of the primary literature, and is often narrative in form.  This handout is designed to expose you to the primary literature format, which you are then expected to use for the presentation of the unknown bacterial culture that you will receive later in the semester.

 

The sections of a scientific paper that follow the TITLE are, in order:

            Introduction or Abstract

            Materials and Methods

            Results

            Conclusions or Discussion

            Bibliography

 

Grammar:  Formal English, always in the past, from the 3rd person perspective. 

            Proper example:  “ A nutrient agar plate was obtained and streaked for isolation.  After incubating for 7 days at room temperature (~20oC), well isolated colonies appeared as beige, circular, irregular and flat, with a diameter of approximately 8 mm.

            Improper example:  I got a tube with some bacteria from Dr. Sprenkle and did the K-plate thing so I knew I had a pure culture.

 

Each of the sections of the paper are labeled as such, and usually set apart from the body of the text by bold face:

            Introduction:  Blah blah blah blah, blah-blah (1).  Boo-pee doo, yadda yadda…

 

            Materials and Methods:  The materials and methods were as described in the laboratory manual (2) for the Gram stain, aseptic technique, and biochemical testing.  The exceptions were:…

 

            Results:  After obtaining isolated colonies by streaking for isolation on a nutrient agar plate, I observed a colony morphology that was…..(Table 1.)

 

The purpose of each section:  This may seem to be very repetitive, but often readers of the primary literature will read only parts of the paper, depending on how much and what type of information they are looking to get from the paper.  As such, certain parts must stand alone, and others repeat the information in more detail.

            Introduction or abstract:  provides a complete, overall picture of what you did and why, and what your interpretation of the data was, or what your conclusions were.  It usually is quite short.

            Materials and Methods:  Gives the ‘recipe’ for what you did, such as types of media used and the procedures followed.  If you are following previously published protocols, you can simply cite the protocol (i.e. the lab manual).  If there are changes, you need to state them so that others can repeat your work.  No results are stated here!

            Results:  What were your answers to the described protocols?  (This is where it gets really repetitive, because you have to restate what you did in the materials and methods a bit to say what the results were.)  The body of the results is a narrative, in paragraph form, but it should refer to tables or figures that present the data.  Do not put narrative in the table with your data!  For example:

 

Once it was determined that unknown #7 was a Gram negative, oxidase negative rod, a set of biochemical tests was performed according to the identification key (pg. 335, Johnson).  The results of these tests are given in Table 2.

 

Table 2:  Results of Biochemical Tests for Unknown #7

 

Test

Observation

Result

Glucose Fermentation Broth

Growth occurred, pH indicator turned yellow, no gas in Durham tube

+ acid

- gas

Lactose Fermentation Broth

Growth occurred, pH indicator remained red, no gas in tube

- acid

- gas

MIO tube

Growth occurred throughout tube, pH indicator turned purple, indole reagent turned red

+ motility

+ ornithine decarboxylase

+ indole

 

A table has a title at the top of the table, while a figure is a picture, graph, or schematic, with a ‘legend’, which is a title that appears at the bottom of the picture.  For example:

 

Figure 1:  Sales figures by region for FY 2002

 

 

Conclusion/Discussion:  This is where you add your perspective and additional information to the paper.  What was the final answer, and how did you get there?  What were the problems that should be fixed next time?  What else did you learn about your organism from other sources, once you’d figured out what it was?

 

Bibliography/References:  Lists in-text citations by name or number in an appropriate and consistent format.  For example:

(1)    Johnson and Case, Laboratory Experiments in Microbiology, 7th ed., 2004, Pearson/Benjamin Cummings.

(2)    Talaro, Foundations in Microbiology, 5th ed., 2005, McGraw-Hill

(3)    http://www.afpi.org/serratia.html  accessed March 15, 2006

Environmental Unknown Lab Report                             BIO 304/Sprenkle        Spring 2006

 

NAME_____________________________________

 

Date_______________________________________

 

Introduction:  In order to understand the ubiquity of microorganisms in the environment or on our bodies, a general purpose bacterial growth medium in the form of a nutrient agar plate was swabbed with a sample.  The number and types of colony morphologies were noted, and one selected to attempt to characterize microscopically with a Gram stain.

 

Materials and Methods: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Results:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Table 1:  Representative Colony Morphologies Observed on the Environmental Plate.

 

Appearance (diameter (mm) color, sheen)

Elevation

Margin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 1:  Cell Morphology of Selected Environmental Unknown

 

Conclusion:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Bibliography: