5 Little Know-How’s for Completing a Biology Research Paper
When most students think of the sciences, they think of memorizing vocabulary words and turning in laboratory assignments. In reality, many biology classes require essays. To get a top score in these classes, students need to learn how to write a biology research paper. By using the following five tips, students can make sure that they turn in the best essay possible.
Talk to the Teacher
During class and office hours, students should make sure that they get to know their teacher. By connecting on a personal level, the student can easily ask the professor for help with their biology research paper. Getting to know teachers is a good idea overall because it will ensure that the student has a teacher who can write them reference letters or recommendations later on.
Choose a Good Topic
The best topic will be broad enough for easy researching, but narrow enough in scope to be covered in a few pages. Students should read through their textbook or ask their teacher for topic ideas. Ideally, students should also check the library before they start writing to make sure that there are enough research materials available to write the biology research paper.
Make an Outline
In the outline, the student should write out their thesis statement and the topic sentences for each paragraph of the essay. Beneath the topic sentence, students should include two to three pieces of research that support the topic. By building the outline, the student can make sure that they have enough research for actually writing the essay.
Use Formatting Guidelines
Before writing and turning in the biology research paper, students should read through the writing prompt. This prompt will include the type of format that the student needs to use. If the student uses the wrong writing style, their grade can end up getting marked down. Since using different writing styles is difficult, students should find an example essay. This will allow the student to easily look at the format, citation style and footnotes instead of having to look these things up in a writing manual.
Remember to Cite Sources
As an academic essay, a biology research paper must included cited research. If the student uses any information, they need to cite it or it will be considered plagiarized. In addition, students need to make sure that they are using the write citation style for the type of source. Movies, websites, interviews and clinical studies are all cited in a different way, so students need to look these techniques up before they write their biology research paper.