Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences An introduction to Biological research and paper writing

Chapter Eight: Preparing the Final Draft Scientific names Genus species May be abbreviated G. species Always italicized Don’t use the, a, or an directly before a scientific name Don’t pluralize Anything above the genus is capitalized but not italicized

Chapter Eight: Preparing the Final Draft Time Generally use the military time Examples 7:30 am = 0730 12:00noon = 1200 7:30pm = 1930 12:00midnight = 0000 (rarely seen as 2400)

Chapter Eight: Preparing the Final Draft Symbols and Abbreviations See pages 83 an 84 for common abbreviations that are allowed in scientific writing.

Chapter Eight: Preparing the Final Draft Manuscript Font: 12 point Arial or Times New Roman Margins: 1 inch on each side Left Alligned Indent new paragraphs with one tab (5 spaces) Page numbers on each page in upper right corner (Title page is 1, but don’t number it) Use heading for each section

Chapter Eight: Preparing the Final Draft Title Page No page number (but it is considered 1) Center title 1/3 of the way down the page. Name and course info 2/3 of the way down the page Date on the last line of the page

Chapter Eight: Preparing the Final Draft Figures and Tables All tables and figures get their own page at the end of literature cited section OR Place them directly in the text (don’t mess up formatting!)

Chapter Eight: Preparing the Final Draft PROOFREAD!!!!