PSci 168 Writing Guide for Research Papers

Writing is a key skill for everyone. No scientific investigation is complete until it becomes known to the world. Scientists usually do this by writing papers and publishing them. Too much great science has been ignored because the scientists did a poor job of writing up the results, in ways people could understand.

I will therefore assign a 2000-word paper, due on the last day of instruction, Wednesday, May 11. Since I take this so seriously, I will personally read and grade every one, so make them good!

Having something to say in your paper is essential. How you write it is also important: good content is so much more apparent if it's clear and easy to understand. For hints on writing, see The Elements of Style, by W. B. Strunk and E. B. White. This little book should be available in the campus bookstore for $6.95. (I made it a required text for PSci 21 this semester: I'm sure there will be some to spare.) There is also now an online version. Read it from cover to cover twice a year, for the rest of your life!

These papers may be on any topic on current, historical, or future concerns about energy, energy generation, energy use, any of their effects on the environment, or related science or technology. A typed (or computer printed) paper title and short summary (between 100 and 250 words) is due on Wednesday, April 27. You're allowed to change your topic after this if you discover something better: this is something I like particularly about science. A list of example paper topics should be attached to the printed copies of this syllabus. It is available online at http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/ps168.papers

Papers must be typed (or computer printed), on standard 8.5-inch x 11-inch paper with standard, one-inch margins. Use a readable 12-point serif font such as Times or Computer Modern Roman---not Chicago, Helvetica, Monaco, or Geneva, which are sans serif and hard to read in large doses.

Four thousand words isn't much. I want these papers to be well-thought-out, polished, beautiful little gems, not big loads of ore. It will help to focus on a specific topic. For example, whole books have appeared on the topic of solar energy. Can you really write a 2000-word paper on solar energy that isn't superficial? Better would be "Passive Solar Heating for Household Use," but again, whole books have appeared on this. Even better would be a review of a specific system, design, or method, or building codes or legal issues with building codes.

Likewise, a 2000-word paper on nuclear energy can't be anything but superficial: many whole books have appeared on this. Nuclear reactors would not be much better, as whole books have appeared on them, too. More suitable would be the link between civilian nuclear power and weapons proliferation, or whether Generation IV reactors really are "inherently safe."

For ideas, see the text, including chapters we haven't yet read. See also current and back issues of reputable popular magazines such as Scientific American, New Scientist, Discover, or National Geographic, or scientific journals such as Physics Today, Science, or Nature. Articles in these magazines are what your papers should be like.

Feel free to use the World Wide Web for research, too, but be careful of what you use, since there's a great deal of rubbish on the web. When using the web for research, be sure as always to reference your sources, by listing their web addresses, also known as URLs. Because everything on the web is subject to change without notice, it is also essential to list the date that appears on the page to indicate when it was last updated, as in the above example. If no such date appears on the page, list the version number appearing on the page. If there is no version number, then list the date you consulted the page.

These papers must provide a list of references, or works cited. Not doing so can turn an "A" paper into a "B" paper. There must be at least five references. No more than two of these five can web addressses. You may use more references than this required minimum: indeed, if you want an A, you should have substantially more.

Here are some useful ways to list references:

Knowing how the references were used is also important. You should therefore cite references in the text, especially when making statements of fact that aren't well-known or immediately obvious. Give the author's name and the year of publication, so your reader can easily match up the statements with the references. Here are three different examples of how to cite references in the text:

Here, Smith (1995) and Horne (1999) were journal articles, but Warner (1995) was a book. Note that with the case of Horne (1999), one can put the author's name into the sentence, useful for emphasizing that Horne did this work.

You need not use this exact format for citing references, but do use a format precise enough so that I can look the references up myself. It's frustrating when a student writes something interesting, but gives a reference that's so imprecise, I'm unable to find out more about it!

Here are some other tips on writing:


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Last updated 2005 April 28. Web page by Dr. Ringwald (ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @)
Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno