This assignment consists of two parts: 1) write a short article based on a published journal article; 2) prepare and present an oral presentation based on the same article.
Choose a published journal article on original research and use it as the basis for your written report and oral presentation. You may use additional supporting sources as appropriate. Your primary journal article must be published in a journal abstracted by Chemical Abstracts, Medline or Pubmed, must be available through the UMD library, and have a topical content that is primarily chemical or biochemical. Select a small and understandable set of data (e.g., one graph or table in the paper) and focus on that. If you are currently doing an undergraduate research project, you may choose an article that is related to your research, but not an article for which you are an author.
Write a short article describing the selected research reported in your primary reference. Write the article as if you completed the work, and that you are submitting it to the journal for publication. However, be sure to give clear credit to the original author(s) by including the full citation of the original publication in the byline. Your byline would include your name and affiliation as author, followed by a statement such as "Based on an article by ..." Your article should contain all of the sections listed on pages 17-22 of the ACS Style Guide (or see Components of a Scientific Paper). Your title, abstract, introduction, and other sections should focus on the subset of data that you have selected. Write from scratch; do not simply copy sections your chosen journal article. Submit your article as hard copy, double spaced. Your article must contain at least one table, figure or reaction scheme. Even so, keep it short!
Prepare an oral presentation based on the same source focus you chose for your written paper. The presentation is to be eight minutes long, exclusive of time for questions. Use presentation software (PowerPoint). The oral presentation will be given in class in November and December.
These assignments focus on style, customs, methods and mechanics of presenting chemical information. The content is less important. Content must be chemical (including biochemical) but it need not be recent. For these assignments, clarity and brevity are more important than depth or breadth.
Please complete the Seminar Selection Form in class on the indicated due date.
Updated 10/5/2006