SO461, Fall 2003

Writing Exercise Three

 This exercise will be due Wed 12 Nov.  

You will go to the library, and find a paper in the journal Geology published by the Geological Society of America.  You can also do this online.

• Published in 2003.
• Concerns marine geology or oceanography.
• These are 3-4 page papers with a minimum of technical jargon.

From the references in the paper, you will find another paper in the library.

You will write a 1-2 page discussion of the paper that answers the following questions:

• What data did they use, and how was the data collected?
• What conclusions did they reach from this data?
• Why was this research important?
• How did the second paper contribute to the research in your first paper?

• You will have a references cited with the paper listed in the correct format (questions, see the department style manual on the web).
• Writing quality is important.
• This is individual work.

 

The following aspects of scientific writing should be followed especially closely:

• No direct quotes.  Paraphrase everything.
• Do not use terms like "Researchers" or "Scientists".  Use the names of the authors, like Smith (2002), Jones and Blake (2001), or White and others (2003).
• No sentences like "The researchers made important findings".  Say something about what the important findings were.