1. Article Topic • The subject of your paper must be biology-related
• This means a topic on social issues or psychology is not appropriate
• However, psychiatry topics discussing the underlying biology are acceptable
• I strongly encourage you to use this opportunity as an impetus to gain knowledge about a topic that is of personal importance
• For example, to learn about atherosclerosis because your family has a history of high blood cholesterol levels and heart disease
• And remember I have to read these, so try to teach me something new

2. Article Selection • You must cite at least 2 references
• 1 of those must be scientific articles within the past 3 years
• Review articles are acceptable
• Citing a website is not acceptable, for example, citing WebMD or Wikipedia as an information source
• If the information from such sites is accurate, then that information came from previously published scientific work, and these sites should be citing those original sources
• Good resources for finding good review articles
• PubMed:
• In PubMed, you can filter for review articles, and for free articles
• GoogleScholar:

3. Term Paper Guidelines
The term paper must be 7-10 pages of text excluding title page, figures, graphs, tables, and reference page.
The term paper must be submitted through TurnItIn
• A link to TurnItIn is posted on the course site
The term paper must be written in American Psychological Association (APA) format. Contact the Writing Center for more information on APA format. The OWL site at Purdue University ( has several very useful pages on the proper format of APA papers.
• All sources must be cited within the text according to APA guidelines so that anyone reading your paper is able to identify where the information in each sentence was obtained.
• Citing the source at the end of a paragraph does not follow APA guidelines and is unacceptable.

4. Term Paper Guidelines (cont.)
4. Plagiarism of any sort will result in a grade of zero, and consequently, your failure in the course.
Plagiarism includes reusing your own work, e.g., using a paper you submitted for another class.
No more than two quotations of a maximum length of one sentence are allowed for every ten pages of text. I strongly suggest using no quotations: write everything in your own words—there is little reason to do otherwise for this paper
5. Refer to the Class Syllabus regarding the final grading criteria.
• Students must achieve a score of 3.5 or higher (on the 5
point scale on the combined rubric) to pass the class!