1

IICBPhDCourseWork:AdvancedChemistry&Advanced BiologyExamination2009

Writingatermpaper& TermPaperFormat
Thestructure TableofContent Introduction(I) MainPart(II) Conclusion(III) Citations(footnotes/endnotes) References

Structureofthepaper:
Cover: Nameandtitle Page2: Listofcontents Page312: Text(doublespace)
I.Introduction II.(Mainpart) 1.... 2.... 3... a.... b.andsoon 4.... III. Conclusion Page13: Footnotes Page14: Keyreferences

TheIntroduction(I)
Theintroductionshouldconsistofthreeaspects: 1.Adescriptionofthetopic,theimportanceofthetopicand whichaspectsofthetopicyouare goingtowriteabout.

2.Adescriptionofthestructureofthetermpaper: youshouldexplainhowyouhavestructured yourtermpaper,whichaspectsyouaregoingtodealfirst,secondandsoon. 3.Youshouldgiveashortoverviewofthemainsourceswhichareimportantforthetopicand whichsourcesyouhavefinallyused. Giveonlythetitleswithafootnotefromwhichthewhole titlecanbeidentified. Withatermpaperoftenpages,theintroductionshouldbenomorethan onepage.

Themainpartofthetermpaper(II)
Themainpartofthetermpaperhastobeconstructedsystematically. bookstoseehowtheauthorshavestructeredthecontentoftheirbooks. Therearedifferentsystemsforarrangingthecontentofapaper: 1.Numbers 2.Letters 3.Numbersandletters. Lookatseveralbookswithdifferentsystemsanddecideonthesystemyouwouldliketoapply. Youmustonlyapplyonesystem. Usually,themainpartstartswiththedefinitionsofthecentralconceptsandashortreviewofthe topic. Refertothetableofcontent toseeanexampleofalistofcontentsshowingthesystematic structureofatermpaper Lookatseveral

Conclusion(III.)
Intheconclusionyoushouldtrytosumupthemainresultsofthetermpaper.Youshould try to put down the results in three or four short statements or thesis. At the end, you shouldgiveyourownpointofview.Trytoexplainwhysomeauthorsarewrongorright, and what do you think about the topic, but you have to base your own opinion on reasonabelearguments. Theconclusionshouldbenolongerthan1page.

Citations(footnotes/endnotes):

3
Citations are very important. A term paper without citations will not be accepted. They are necessary in order to show which sources you have used and allow the reader to look up the referencesforfurtherreading. Therearethreesystemsforwritingcitations: 1.atthebottomofeachpage(calledfootnotes) 2.attheendofthetermpaper(calledendnotes) 3.inbetweenthetext Tostartwithwewouldrecommmendtousethesystem1or2. Donotmixtwosystems.Applyonlyone.

WrappingItUp.
Forthebestpossiblegrade,reviewyourpapertobesurethatyou: Address the subject of the seminar. Since this is a science seminar, your paper should relateinanimportantwaytoscience(nottechnology). Sticktothechosentopic.Don'tstrayintosideissues. Make the structureand organization ofthepaperappropriateto the subject and clear to thereader. Discussissuesandthemes.Don'tmerelyrecountfactsandevents. Thoroughlydocumentallsourcesandassertions,withinternalreferencesinaconsistent form. Presentthematerialinareadableandprofessionalstyle.Doublespacethetext.Useonly onesideofeachsheet,withatleastaoneinchmarginattheleftand3/4inchmarginson theotherthreesides.Avoiddistractingfontstyles.Securethepagesinsomewaysothat theycan'tgetoutoforder. The commonest deficiencyoftermpapersaretheir lackof analysis ofissues, failure to exposeconnectionsandrelationsortodigintohistoricalbackground.Anotherdeficiency wastooheavyrelianceonlanguageandstyleofsources.Agoodessayisnotacutand pasteoperation.Itmustshowclearlyyourcontributiontotheorganization,selection,and analysisofthematerials.

TermPaperGuidelines YourObligationtotheReader.
The authorof a book orpaperhasan obligationto givethereader somethingbeyond what the readercouldobtaindirectlyfromthesourcematerials.Theseservicestothereadermayinclude:

Researchandinvestigate.Seekoutobscureandhardtofindmaterial,andunifyitintoa clearpresentation. Synthesize. Drawtogetherdiversethingstoshowpatternsandrelations. Organize.Givelogicalcontinuityandstructuretodiversematerials.

Analyze. Provide critical analysis in which arguments are examined for evidence, validity,logic,andflaws. Clarify. Makeevidenceandargumentsclearertothereader.Elucidatedifficultmaterial. Examineinabroader context.Show how a specificsubjectfits intoabroader context, relatestoanotherfield,orrelatestohistoricprecedents. Selectanddistill.Weedoutfluffandirrelevanciestogetatthemainissuesofacomplex subject. Adoptapointofview.Showhowthepreponderanceofevidenceandreasonfavorsone sideinacontroversialissue.

TheQuestionofplagiarism:
Youcannotliftparagraphsfromotherbooksorarticlesandplacethemintoyourtermpaper.This iscalledPlagiarism takingparagraphsfromanauthorandpresentingthemasyourown. Youhave towriteyourowntermpaper. Ifyouquote,youhavetogiveafootnote.

Agoodtopicforatermpaperneedstodothefollowingthings:

Itneedstobeappropriatefortheassignment. Itneedstobefairlyeasytoresearchandwriteabout. Itneedstobesomethingyouknowenoughabouttowriteaboutcomfortably. Itneedstonotbetoobroad(i.e.toolargeofatopictocoverindetailwithinthepagelengthlimits). Itneedstonotbetoonarrow(i.e.toosmallofatopictofillupenoughpagesfortheassignment). Itneedstobeinterestingandimportanttoyou(orelseyou'regoingtogetverybored). Itneedstobecreative.Professorshatetiredtopicsthateverybodywritesandspeaksabout.