BIO 801
Scientific Literature and Writing
Review Questions - Day and Gastel's 'How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper'
Exam 2

Chapter 13 - Why are many papers rejected by journal editors (p.69)? What are the essential features of a good Discussion (p.70)? How should the Introduction and Discussion function as a pair (p.70)? How should the Discussion end (p.71)?

Chapter 14 -Who should you acknowledge in the Acknowledgment section (p.73)? Why do the authors of your text wish that the word 'wish' would disappear from Acknowledgments sections (p.74)?

Chapter 15- What are the two rules to follow in the References (or Literature Cited) section (p.75)? When should a reference be cited as ‘in press' (p.75)? Where are more mistakes made in papers than anywhere else (p.75)? (& know that the mistakes are: including references in the Literature Cited section that are not cited in the paper & not including references in the Literature Cited section that are cited in the paper. These mistakes often develop during the process of revising a paper.) Why is the name and year system advantageous (p.76)? What is the 'et al.' rule (p.77)? What one aspect of reference citation has been standardized (p.79)? Where should references be placed in sentences (p.80)?

Chapter 16 - What are 2 reasons for the general rule: do not construct a table unless repetitive data must be presented (p.85)? Why are Tables 1 and 2 (p.86) useles (p.85-87)? Why is Table 5 (p.88) useless (p.88)? Should like elements read down or across in a Table (p.88)? Why is Table 7 better than Table 6 (p.88-89)? In tables, how are words & numbers lined up in columns (p.89)? Why do journals encourage abbreviation of certain words in Tables (p.91)?

Chapter 17- How does one decide whether to use a table or a figure (graph) to present data (p.94)? What should the size of the lettering in a graph be based on (p.95)? Why shouldn't you extend the ordinate or the abscissa (i.e., x & y axes) beyond what the graph demands (p.97)?

Chapter 21- What is the role of a journal's editor (p.118-119)? What preliminary decisions are made by editors when a manuscript first arrives at a journal's editorial office (p.120)? For most journals, how many reviewers are selected for each manuscript (p.121)? Does the peer review system work (p.121)? What are the 3 possible decisions an editor can make about a submitted manuscript (p.123)? What are the rejection rates for most good journals (p.126)? What is the primary function of editors and reviewers (p.129)?

Chapter 22- Know the material in Table 10 (p.134).

Chapter 23 - What is the purpose of a review paper (p.141)? What do really good review papers do (p.141)? How do the audiences for review papers and primary papers differ & how should this difference influence writing style (p.144)?

Chapter 27 - What is the greatest distinction between a published paper & an oral presentation (p.168)? Why should slides be designed specifically for use with oral presentations (p.170)? How long should it take to understand a slide (p.170)? Why are graphs preferable to tables in an oral presentation (p.170)? What should you do if you don't know the answer to a question (p.172)?

Chapter 28 - Why have poster displays become more common at scientific meetings (p.173-174)? What organization should a poster follow (p.174)? What should be the relative length of each section of a poster (p.174-175)? How long & how large should the title of a poster be (p.175)? Why do the authors believe that lots of white space throughout a poster is important (p.175)? What makes the great majority of bad posters bad (p.176)?

Chapter 36 - What does curriculum vitae literally mean (p.227)? What should be included in a CV (p.229)?