Journal, Magazine, Newspaper, Literary

A written and published report describing original results. The reader should be able to do the following:  Assess the observations reported  Repeat the experiment exactly  Evaluate whether the author’s conclusions are justified from the data.

Importance of research can be classified in two general attitudes:  1. It has value, and is an addition– no matter how small– to the body of scientific knowledge.  2. It does not seem to have “importance” except as an addition to scientific knowledge; that is, it has no apparent use beyond science itself.  This distinction in the two attitudes is a constant source of disagreement in places where scientific research is conducted and where such research is funded.

 Significance of the research question or subject being studied  Originality of work  Appropriateness of approach or scientific design.  Soundness of conclusions and interpretations  Relevance of discussion  Adequacy of title  Length of article (“Guidelines for Reviewers,” American Journal of Microbiology )

 Esoteric language  Proper grammar  Clear organization  Acute observations  Appropriate word choice

 Audience has some interest in science  Terms generally explained in context  Some background may be required  Reader friendly

 HEADLINES Geek bites head off snake By Monty Python  * Contains a vivid active verb (often ends with "s")  * The headline attracts attention  * A sub headline often can add clarity to an attention- catching headline  * The by-line follows the headline  * Only proper nouns and first word are capitalized’

The lead is the first one or two sentences of a news story. The most important information is contained in the lead.  The lead should contain the 5 W's and an H  Who  What  When  Why  Where  How  The lead should capture the audience's attention

Parking lot barbecue leads police to meth lab by Kevin Head Police say a man roasting a raccoon in a Memphis, Tennessee parking lot Monday led them to a meth lab that landed his brother in jail. Officers found the man grilling the raccoon in the back parking lot of a midtown apartment complex. In addition to the cooking raccoon, he also had several large knives.

 INVERTED TRIANGLE AND CUT RULE  The news is presented in descending order of importance.  Paragraphs are very short (1-3 sentences)  After the lead, any paragraph may be cut and the story will still be complete.

SYNTAX  Eclectic style of writing; mixture of simple, compound and complex  Sentences often begin with conjunctions Inaccuracies: Search for any of the following:  a. long sentences  b. paragraphs with more than one topic  c. confusing words  d. scientific words not explained  e. words in interviews not attributed  f. words that could be interpreted in more than one way  g. trite phrases  h. misspelled words  i. words used incorrectly  j. errors in punctuation, syntax, and usage

 Author has scientific knowledge  High interest of audience on specific topic  Wide variety of styles:  Scientific non-fiction  Novel with scientific woven through  May (not always) be an emotional reaction to science (pathos) yet retains objectivity