• The cover page must include the paper’s title, the author’s name, the author’s e-mail address, the date, and Biol 515. Do not include other material, such as illustrations, in the cover page.
  
  
• Papers must be stapled in the upper-left corner. Do not use binders or plastic covers.
  
  
• All text, except the list of Literature Cited, must be double-spaced, 12-pt type. Margins must be 1 inch on all sides.
  
  
• All pages, including the cover page, must be numbered.
  
  
• Each student must turn in four copies of his/her term paper. Two of the copies must include the student’s name and e-mail, but the other two must have the author’s name and e-mail omitted (these copies will be distributed for peer review, see below).
  
  
• Each student must also submit an electronic version of his/her term paper to the Blackboard Digital Drop Box (in the “Tools” menu). Be sure that the cover page of the electronic version includes the student’s name and e-mail. Electronic versions must be submitted as either an MS Word Document or a Text file. Files must be named with the student’s last name followed by an underscore, v1, and the file extension “.doc” or “.txt”(e.g., smith_v1.doc).
  
  

Literature citations must follow the formats in the journal Ecology. Formats for the list of Literature Cited are discussed in the guidance on preparing outlines. Within the text of the term paper, there are generally two ways to cite specific literature sources; both are used in the journal Ecology. The most common is to include a parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence:

"Benthic marine invertebrates typically have complex life cycles, most commonly with a pelagic larval phase (Thorson 1950, Strathmann 1993, Pechenik et al. 1998, Pechenik 1999, Hentschel and Emlet 2000).” (The latin “et al.” is an abbreviation for more than two authors.)

Instead of citing literature at the end of a sentence, sometimes the phrasing is better if papers by specific authors are cited directly within the sentence:

“Although Alford and Harris (1988) argued that their results support the model of Wilbur and Collins (1973), I agree with Leips and Travis (1994); the accumulated data show that the timing of metamorphosis becomes fixed during the late portion of the larval phase.

Occasionally, there are some unusual circumstances that arise when citing literature in scholarly papers. The general rule is to cite literature for everything that is not the author’s original idea, data, or phrasing; failure to do this is considered plagiarism! Students are encouraged to consult Dr. Hentschel if they have any questions about citing literature properly.

Term papers will be graded according to the Scoring Rubric for Term Papers. Students are advised to pay very close attention to the directions in this handout and the Scoring Rubric; do not be surprised when points are deducted!

The best way to write well is to revise your writing multiple times. Students are strongly encouraged to show drafts of their papers to Dr. Hentschel prior to the due date. Additional information is provided in the PDF Term Paper Handout.