Outline & Initial Literature Citations
(50 pts max)

Deciding on an interesting and manageable topic is just the beginning! To eventually produce a scholarly paper, the general topic must be refined. That process involves a continual interplay between research in the library and organizing that knowledge into some sort of hierarchical, conceptual framework: essentially developing a skeleton of the paper. Early in the process, an outline can be used to direct one’s efforts in the library (e.g., identifying gaps in your knowledge). Later, soon before one starts composing a fully worded paper, an outline serves two key functions:

1) Organizing all of the details that have been learned from the literature review

2) Providing a map for acquiring the remaining details that must be explored in the literature.

A good outline makes writing easy: the author just needs to add some meat (i.e., complete sentences) to the skeleton’s bones! Furthermore, a good outline makes the remaining time in the library very directed and efficient. With a clear view of the big picture and most of the details, one searches for just a few resources that provide insight on just a few nagging details.

The PDF Term Paper Handout has additional information on formatting an outline. An outstanding example outline written by a student in Fall 2001 is provided as an example (link above).

Literature Citations

All literature cited in the outline should be included in a list of Literature Cited. Only literature that is actually cited should be listed. Biol 515 students should follow the formats of the journal Ecology. Formats for the most common forms of scientific literature are listed below; additional examples can be found in any recent issue of Ecology. As specified in Ecology, the list of cited literature should be arranged alphabetically and by year of publication.

An article in a journal
Hentschel, B. T., and R. B. Emlet. 2000. Metamorphosis of barnacle nauplii: effects of food variability and a comparison with amphibian models. Ecology. 81:3495-3508.

A chapter in an edited book
Wilbur, H. M. 1996. Multistage life cycles. Pages 177-219 in O. E. Rhodes, Jr., R. K. Chesser, and M. H. Smith, editors. Spatial and temporal aspects of population processes. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

A book
Pearse, V., J. Pearse, M. Buchsbaum, and R. Buchsbaum. 1987. Living invertebrates. Blackwell Scientific, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

In most cases, websites are not considered scholarly literature. Some websites will, however, include citations of scientific literature that students might find helpful (read that literature and cite it, not the website!). There are some rare websites that stand alone as primary sources of scientific information (e.g., interactive databases, unpublished manuscripts, data archives). If such a website needs to be cited, students should consult Dr. Hentschel on the proper method.