First I give some rules about citation in essays which should be of use in all SBS work (essays, practical write-ups etc). All essays should contain extensive citation of the source of the ideas in your essay (NOT just any words or phrases but the IDEAS). If you do not cite the source of EVERY idea in the essay then you may be guilty of plagiarism... consult the rules in your student handbook.
The first section gives examples should give you some idea of how to include your citations. The second section sets out advice on how to construct an essay, but applies to essays for me (RAN) and may not be appropriate for other tutors.
You should cite the source for ALL ideas that you obtain from others. All verbatim quotes should be in inverted commas. 3 examples are given below
Nichols (1995) gives the following definition: "a gene is whatever I say it is"
(note use of quotation marks)
a gene might be what a scientist says it is (Nichols 1995)..
(note Nichols' words are not quoted verbatim so there is no need for quotation marks)
Nichols (1995) mentioned the following definitions of a gene a) A recombinational unit b) A mutational unit c) A transcribed region d) Any length of DNA
He points out that telomeres and centromeres are counter-examples to a and b respectively, short tandem repeats are counter-examples to c and that d seems unsatisfactory. Eventually he takes refuge in "whatever I say".
(Note this example avoids having to say "Nichols (1995)" over and over again).
References should be in full
( meaning volume 2 pages 76-100 0f Essays in biology [nb does not exist]).
(Note that the publisher and town are given for a book. It is often sensible to give the page no. in the text of your essay eg 'Nichols (1995; p34)'. [nb this book does not exist either!])
Essays should be typed. They should be 1000-1200 words (not including references).
Advisorial essays should be brought along on the day.
Integrative studies essays should be handed in by 5pm on the Monday before the tutorial.
The examples below concern an essay with the title "What is a gene?"
(nb. you may have a different title)
1/3 of your essay should be introduction (what you understand by the question, what you are about to say in response, why the subject is important)
1/3 should lay out the main material (find out what a variety of sources say)
1/3 should be discussion (compare the definitions from different sources and come to some judgement about them... this last bit should be mostly your own ideas and words).
Make copious use of headings and sub-headings
In your discussion you might try to
In the case of an essay on the subject of "What is a gene" you might want to deal with the following definitions and problems with them:
I gene 1 enzyme based definitions: do all loci produce enzymes, are all loci transcribedand translated?
Unit of recombination: at limit this could apply to a single base... or could it?
Unit of selection- cannot selection act within a gene
How do these definitions deal with telomeres, centromeres, short tandem repeats. Do you think any of these are genes? Do they fit the definitions?
Dawkins also talks about a gene as a replicator... what does this mean? Is it useful?
How about restricting the definition to a transcribed sections of DNA and its control regions.
How will the ever increasing knowledge of molecular genetics affect our views over the next decade or so?