report in an abstract must be consistent with what you reported in the paper

       • Corrrect spelling, clarity of sentences and phrases, and proper reporting of quantities (proper units, significant figures) are just as important in an abstract as they are anywhere else

       Introduction

       Your introductions should not exceed two pages (double spaced, typed). See the examples in the writing portfolio package.

       General intent

       The purpose of an introduction is to aquaint the reader with the rationale behind the work, with the intention of defending it. It places your work in a theoretical context, and enables the reader to understand and appreciate your objectives.

       Writing an introduction

       The abstract is the only text in a research paper to be written without using paragraphs in order to separate major points. Approaches vary widely, however for our studies the following approach can produce an effective introduction.

       • Describe the importance (significance) of the study - why was this worth doing in the first place? Provide a broad context.

       • Defend the model - why did you use this particular organism or system? What are its advantages? You might comment on its suitability from a theoretical point of view as well as indicate practical reasons for using it.

       • Provide a rationale. State your specific hypothesis(es) or objective(s), and describe the reasoning that led you to select them.

       • Very briefy describe the experimental design and how it accomplished the stated objectives.

       Style:

       • Use past tense except when referring to established facts. After all, the paper will be submitted after all of the work is completed.

       • Organize your ideas, making one major point with each paragraph. If you make the four points listed above, you will need a minimum of four paragraphs.

       • Present background information only as needed in order support a position. The reader does not want to read everything you know about a subject.

       • State the hypothesis/objective precisely - do not oversimplify.

       • As always, pay attention to spelling, clarity and appropriateness of sentences and phrases.

       Materials and Methods

       There is no specific page limit, but a key concept is to keep this section as concise as you possibly can. People will want to read this material selectively. The reader may only be interested in one formula or part of a procedure. Materials and methods may be reported under separate subheadings within this section or can be incorporated together.

       General intent

       This should be the easiest section to write, but many students misunderstand the purpose. The objective is to document all specialized materials and general procedures, so that another individual may use some or all of the methods in another study or judge the scientific merit of your work. It is not to be a step by step description of everything you did, nor is a methods section a set of instructions. In particular, it is not supposed to tell a story. By the way, your notebook should contain all of the information that you need for this section.

       Writing a materials and methods section

       Materials:

       • Describe materials separately only if the study is so complicated that it saves space this way.

       • Include specialized chemicals, biological materials, and any equipment or supplies that are not commonly found in laboratories.

       • Do not include commonly found supplies such as test tubes, pipet tips, beakers, etc., or standard lab equipment such as centrifuges, spectrophotometers, pipettors, etc.

       •&nb

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