Final pa.per part ii – outline & literature search
Please provide me with a brief outline of your p. aper. See the mail I sent titled “Biol108 MUST READ Part II Paper” for more guidance on writing an outline.
The paper will be five to six pages and you need at least ten sources. The sources can be from the peer-reviewed scientific literature, review papers, or reports from credible organizations. You can NOT use wiki, websites, or blogs as sources, although they can be a starting point for finding more credible sources. If you are uncertain about the credibility of a source, ask me.
This is due June 26rd. The semester is almost over, so I encourage you to get working on it right away. The sooner you turn it in the sooner I can give you feedback.
The top peer-reviewed journals that cover conservation biology issues are:
Conservation Biology, Biological Conservation, Conservation Letters, Journal of Applied Ecology, Ecological Applications, Ambio, Animal Conservation, Biodiversity Conservation, Science, Nature, and Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
You must include at least three sources from the peer-reviewed literature and they can include review papers (papers that summarize a field of peer-reviewed research).
While you may not have the background to understand the methods sections or all of the results section, you should be able to glean information from the introduction and discussion (conclusions).
Go to https://www.library.umass.edu and the search box is at the top. The left part of the box has a pull down menu for specific types of searches.
Credible organizations include: IUCN, NASA, NOAA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Organization for Tropical Studies, Wildlife Conservation Society.
Although they do some great work, I do not consider most conservation advocacy groups (Sierra Club, Green Peace, etc.) always reliable sources of scientific information.
There are several science news sites, please limit them to no more than four of your sources. www.sciencenews.org, www.sciencedaily.com, New York Times Science section, and the Guardian’s Science section. These are also great places to find references to other sources.
Since the last week of summer session is next week, you should start your literature search and reading today.
