Principles of microbiology

10/1/2019 9:58 AM the format of the paper is wrong. according to the paper template. they boxes are suppose to be at the bottom of every page, and there are suppose to be certain sections on their own page. check attachment Paper template fall 2019.docx
within the document “Culture-based Project Presentation and Paper Expectations” (in the paper section) the introductions says As described in handout “Writing Microbiology Lab Reports”
• Should approach but be no longer than a page. The boxes should still
appear at the bottom.
• The following questions need to be answered. One paragraph for each.
• What is known about antibiotic resistance in environmental sites similar to where you sampled (e.g. river)? Use three separate sources. (Suggested database – Agricola found under Academic Search Complete)
• What are the specific modes of action for all of the antibiotics you investigated (including the one used during the initial isolation)? It is not sufficient to say an antibiotic “inhibits protein synthesis”. You have to describe how. (Suggested database – Medline, found under Academic Search Complete or Pubmed)
• What specific features allow bacteria to survive exposure to each of the antibiotics you discussed in the previous question? These features cannot be the same ones you use in your inferences
(discussion). (Suggested database – Medline, found under Academic Search Complete or Pubmed)
Introduction
The introduction leads the reader to the study you have done. Sufficient background is given to allow the reader to understand the objective for the experiment.
• Define specialized terms where appropriate.
• Review literature appropriate to the study. You will be given questions to guide you.
• State specific objective(s) at the end.
• Written in the present tense.
• There should be no references made to information belonging in the materials and methods, results or
discussion.
• Other than in the objectives statements, there should be no discussion or reference made to the experiment(s).
• Sources used elsewhere in the paper may not be used.
• The paragraphs should be well constructed and flow easily. They should have an appropriate introductory
sentence(s).
10:08
Results
The results describe what you found, not what it means! Text is absolutely necessary. Tables and/or figures will also be included. The text summarizes the important features what is found in the tables and/or figures without restating all of the details.
• Always refer to the appropriate table or figure. List as (Table 1) or (Figure 2) in the text.
• Do not say “Results are shown in Table 1.” or anything comparable. Appropriate tables are indicated in
(E.g. do
parentheses as shown above.
• State the experiment and describe the data. Do not restate the materials and methods again. • Do not interpret or infer what the data means.
• Do not restate all the information found in the tables in the text.
points.
• Written in the past tense.
• Be specific in stating results.
• Report results of statistical tests. p values are reported
• Do not refer to “positive” or “negative” results. This does not tell the reader anything and/or is unnecessary
text. State what the specific result was. • “Do not use the word “Significant”
o Significant means that a statistical test has been done.
o Even if a statistical test been done, you would not use the word “significant”
§ p values would be reported instead. This is only done in the results.
Tables
• Tables should be formatted to be read down (the independent variable in the first column on the left and
dependent variables in the columns to the left of the independent variables)
• Tables and figures need a descriptive title and annotations below the table (if necessary). The rule of thumb
is as follows. If someone was given your table or figure by itself, they should be able to understand what is being shown based on reading the title and annotations.
o Footnotes may be included for explanatory purposes such as explaining abbreviations. • Only horizontal rule lines are used, usually three or four per table (see below).
• Include statistical results (p values) where appropriate.
• Table will be on the same page as the Results section.
• Table will be single spaced.
• If necessary, the font size can be reduced to have the table fit on the page neatly.

Example
Table 1. Traits of penicillin resistant bacterial isolates from Lake Huron.
Structural and metabolic properties
Isolate number Gram stain Catalase activity Glucose fermentation Endospore stain
105 purple + – –
108 pink – – –
110 purple – – +
Gram stain – Final color
Catalase activity and glucose fermentation positive reaction +, negative reaction – Endospore stain green spheres present +, absent –
Discussion
• Give two clear inferences that are supported by evidence (scientific literature).
o State the specific observation you are addressing. o State specific information from the reference(s). o Give a clear inference using tentative language.
• Written in the present tense.
• Do not restate results unnecessarily.
• If you are about to write the words “further study is needed…” or the like, stop and tell yourself that you are
about to commit an error. These words are, more often than not, pointless statements.
• Do not refer to “positive” or “negative” results. This does not tell the reader anything and/or is unnecessary
text. State what the specific result was.
• Do not use the word “Significant” unless a statistical test has been done.
o p values should not be reported. This is only done in the results.
• can only be used in the results or discussion if the data has been assessed using a statistical test and the null
hypothesis has been rejected (alternative accepted).
o You will use statistical tests for the last project. See the Writing About Statistics section below
• Human or experimental error is not an acceptable explanation and should not be mentioned.
References
All ideas and knowledge that are not your own must be referenced!!!…otherwise it is plagiarism. You will be expected to provided references in the Introduction, Discussion and, sometimes, the Materials and Methods. Failure to reference properly will result in up to a 10% penalty.
• References will be alphabetical order by the last name of the first author.
• Primary and secondary journal articles can only be used unless otherwise given permission. Primary journal articles describe a study. Secondary journal articles summarize or review a number of studies.
• Journal titles need to be abbreviated
• You will use the Council for Scientific Editors formatting for references. The rules are summarized below. Links
to the CSE style guide can be found on Blackboard or using the following hyperlink
o https://www.scientificstyleandformat.org/Tools/SSF-Citation-Quick-Guide.html
• To ensure your citation information is correct, try Googling the title of the article. You should find a website with “NCBI” in the link. This will give you the information you need including the abbreviation for the journal name.
• Googling the journal name with “abbreviation” will also give you the correct short form.