This year all students are required to read and critically review one original research paper of his/her own choice. Please also get some background information on your subject on the Internet or other sources.

Assignment (2-4 pages) should be submitted by 20th May via e-mail. Please name your file this way:
your family name_2007_species (or problem)

Working in pairs is possible. Pairs review 2 articles, on the same topic.

Do not reproduce copy-righted figures, do not copy-paste sentences, avoid plagiarism. Your work will be uploaded on the Internet.

Cite the paper you review like this:
Farid, M.F.A., El-Shennawy, M.M., Mehrez, A.Z. & Salem, A.M.M. (1983). Protein requirements for maintenance of Barki desert sheep. World Review of Animal Production, 19: 31–36.

After you get a confirmation of acceptance you can come for oral, which will focus on your chosen topic. Additionally, please remember basic concepts we discussed (polygyny, ritualization, optimal territory size etc.)

What is a research paper?

Any article from a primary scientific journal. Usually has Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion section.

1) Visit PMC homepage and type keywords into the search box. Keywords like "wildlife" or "tiger" will result in hundreds of free articles.

2) From any PC at campus you can register to a free science database (ScienceDirect).

Please make sure that the selected article has not been reviewed by others. You can check that here

1) What is the question of the research?

2) Why is that question important/interesting?
Start with the Introduction of the article. Find additional information on the Internet. Make sure to read all essays by other students on the subject.

3) What methods were used?
Just a brief description of the methods used in the study.

4) What are the results?
Just briefly, highlight the most important points.

5) Discuss the findings.
Read Discussion section of the paper, get some additional infomration and form your own oppinion.

 

Scandinavian Brown Bear Project, excellent site with free articles under "Publication"

On Coriolis force

From Norway: Timing and Synchrony of Ovulation in Red Deer Constrained
by Short Northern Summers

Fitch and Reby: The descended larynx is not uniquely human

The influence of top-down, bottom-up and abiotic factors on the moose (Alces alces) population of Isle Royale

The descended larynx is not uniquely human

Age-dependent sexual selection in bighorn rams

Contributions of nitrogen deposition and forest regrowth to terrestrial carbon uptake

Clouded leopard phylogeny revisited: support for species recognition and population division between Borneo and Sumatra