btec science writing
TRANSCRIPT
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The Use of Agarose Gel Electrophoresis to Separate DNAa scientific literature reviewA literature review is a style of scientific writing that involves taking as much of the information as there is a b o u t a g i v e n s u b j e c t a n d summarising it into an easily readable format
Your first literature review is going to be about separating DNA using agarose gel electrophoresis This will take about a week to complete and will by far be the longest and most sophisticated piece I will have asked you to produce so far
This piece of work isnrsquot going to be something you can bash out at the last minute and get away with it You need t o u s e yo u r t i m e w i s e l y a n d purposefully
This document will outline some of the information you need to write your literature review and will go through step by step on the how to write this literature review so what canrsquot happen at any stage is I hear the words ldquoMiss what are we doing
Your literature review will use websites textbooks and scholarly articles as references will contain at least 20 references will be about 2000 words long and will be entirely your own work It will be thoroughly referenced and it will be beautiful
due date Monday October 13th 10am
SCIENTIFIC WRITINGB
TEC
Nat
iona
l Yea
r Tw
o 3
Oct
ob
er 2
008
2
It is absolutely vital that you start with a good set of resources before anything else
They will come in three formats1 books2 papers3 websites
Some of these will be good reliable sources and some will be horrible horrible sources for information You need to learn how to be discerning in regards to your references Just because you found a reference doesnrsquot mean that it is any good
A tip to get you started which may surprise you Go to wikipedia and look up the following terms
1 Agarose Gel Electrophoresis2 Restriction Enzymes3 Gel Electrophoresis4 DNAScroll straight to the bottom of the
page and look for the references that people have cited to add their
information to wikipedia How many of these can you access
This is a good way to start gathering information Other places to start include
1 Google search2 Google book search3 Google Scholar search
Wersquove already looked at how the different searches provide different standards of results
In addition to these the following sites are very useful
wwwncbinlmnihgovhttpbiologyplosjournalsorghttpwwwnaturecom
ldquoThere is nothing like looking if you want to find something You certainly usually find something if you look but it is not always quite the something you were afterrdquo
JRR Tolkein
Gathering Good Informationhow to do it where to start
BTE
C N
ATIO
NA
L Y
EA
R T
WO
LIT
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UR
E R
EVIE
W
Fusce ac leo Purus in consectetuer Proin in sapien Fusce urna magnaneque eget lacus Maecenas felis nunc aliquam ac consequat vitae feugiat at blandit vitae euismod vel
3
BTE
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L LI
TER
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REV
IEW
3 O
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Sectionswhat and when
The first thing in your report and the last thing you write is the a b s t r a c t 2 0 0 w o r d s t h a t summarise your entire paper
Next is your introduction here you outline why you are discussing this topic and the basic areas you want to cover (1-200 words)
The majority of your work will be spend in the discussion This is where you show all you have
learned about the subject area It should be fully referenced in the text and be structured logically (1400 - 1600 words)
You conclude the piece with your findings what have you learned from all the resources what do they agree on are there any conflicts (3-400 words)
The last and most important thing is your reference list A full list of all the sources you used (remember- at least 20)
How to writewhat where how where why and who
Writing a literature review isnrsquot something you rush into Because unti l you have reviewed the information you have no idea what it is you want to say A significant part of your time should be spent reading literature making plans and notes before you start
50 of your time should be spent getting your information together Then highlighting the relevant bits and making notes You will gather a lot of in fo rma t ion toge the r so deciding what you want to add is crucial
So what are we writing about
Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
awhat is itbhow does it workcWhat is agarosedWhy does it have a
charge
Separation
eWhy do we separate biological molecules f Why do we separate
DNAgHow do we cut DNA
to make it separatehWhat do we use for
this and how do they work
DNA
i What is DNAj W h a t p r o p e r t i e s
mean it can be separated by agarose gelkWhy should we want
to separate it
So these are the key things to look out for in your sources These key words and ideas Highlight them make a note of them and use them in your literature review
ldquoThe time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to sayrdquo
Mark Twain
Give yourself enough time to do it and donrsquot leave it till the last minute It wonrsquot work
2
It is absolutely vital that you start with a good set of resources before anything else
They will come in three formats1 books2 papers3 websites
Some of these will be good reliable sources and some will be horrible horrible sources for information You need to learn how to be discerning in regards to your references Just because you found a reference doesnrsquot mean that it is any good
A tip to get you started which may surprise you Go to wikipedia and look up the following terms
1 Agarose Gel Electrophoresis2 Restriction Enzymes3 Gel Electrophoresis4 DNAScroll straight to the bottom of the
page and look for the references that people have cited to add their
information to wikipedia How many of these can you access
This is a good way to start gathering information Other places to start include
1 Google search2 Google book search3 Google Scholar search
Wersquove already looked at how the different searches provide different standards of results
In addition to these the following sites are very useful
wwwncbinlmnihgovhttpbiologyplosjournalsorghttpwwwnaturecom
ldquoThere is nothing like looking if you want to find something You certainly usually find something if you look but it is not always quite the something you were afterrdquo
JRR Tolkein
Gathering Good Informationhow to do it where to start
BTE
C N
ATIO
NA
L Y
EA
R T
WO
LIT
ERAT
UR
E R
EVIE
W
Fusce ac leo Purus in consectetuer Proin in sapien Fusce urna magnaneque eget lacus Maecenas felis nunc aliquam ac consequat vitae feugiat at blandit vitae euismod vel
3
BTE
C N
ATIO
NA
L LI
TER
ATU
RE
REV
IEW
3 O
cto
ber
200
8
Sectionswhat and when
The first thing in your report and the last thing you write is the a b s t r a c t 2 0 0 w o r d s t h a t summarise your entire paper
Next is your introduction here you outline why you are discussing this topic and the basic areas you want to cover (1-200 words)
The majority of your work will be spend in the discussion This is where you show all you have
learned about the subject area It should be fully referenced in the text and be structured logically (1400 - 1600 words)
You conclude the piece with your findings what have you learned from all the resources what do they agree on are there any conflicts (3-400 words)
The last and most important thing is your reference list A full list of all the sources you used (remember- at least 20)
How to writewhat where how where why and who
Writing a literature review isnrsquot something you rush into Because unti l you have reviewed the information you have no idea what it is you want to say A significant part of your time should be spent reading literature making plans and notes before you start
50 of your time should be spent getting your information together Then highlighting the relevant bits and making notes You will gather a lot of in fo rma t ion toge the r so deciding what you want to add is crucial
So what are we writing about
Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
awhat is itbhow does it workcWhat is agarosedWhy does it have a
charge
Separation
eWhy do we separate biological molecules f Why do we separate
DNAgHow do we cut DNA
to make it separatehWhat do we use for
this and how do they work
DNA
i What is DNAj W h a t p r o p e r t i e s
mean it can be separated by agarose gelkWhy should we want
to separate it
So these are the key things to look out for in your sources These key words and ideas Highlight them make a note of them and use them in your literature review
ldquoThe time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to sayrdquo
Mark Twain
Give yourself enough time to do it and donrsquot leave it till the last minute It wonrsquot work
3
BTE
C N
ATIO
NA
L LI
TER
ATU
RE
REV
IEW
3 O
cto
ber
200
8
Sectionswhat and when
The first thing in your report and the last thing you write is the a b s t r a c t 2 0 0 w o r d s t h a t summarise your entire paper
Next is your introduction here you outline why you are discussing this topic and the basic areas you want to cover (1-200 words)
The majority of your work will be spend in the discussion This is where you show all you have
learned about the subject area It should be fully referenced in the text and be structured logically (1400 - 1600 words)
You conclude the piece with your findings what have you learned from all the resources what do they agree on are there any conflicts (3-400 words)
The last and most important thing is your reference list A full list of all the sources you used (remember- at least 20)
How to writewhat where how where why and who
Writing a literature review isnrsquot something you rush into Because unti l you have reviewed the information you have no idea what it is you want to say A significant part of your time should be spent reading literature making plans and notes before you start
50 of your time should be spent getting your information together Then highlighting the relevant bits and making notes You will gather a lot of in fo rma t ion toge the r so deciding what you want to add is crucial
So what are we writing about
Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
awhat is itbhow does it workcWhat is agarosedWhy does it have a
charge
Separation
eWhy do we separate biological molecules f Why do we separate
DNAgHow do we cut DNA
to make it separatehWhat do we use for
this and how do they work
DNA
i What is DNAj W h a t p r o p e r t i e s
mean it can be separated by agarose gelkWhy should we want
to separate it
So these are the key things to look out for in your sources These key words and ideas Highlight them make a note of them and use them in your literature review
ldquoThe time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to sayrdquo
Mark Twain
Give yourself enough time to do it and donrsquot leave it till the last minute It wonrsquot work