ECOL/CPH/MCB/VSC 409/509: Evolution of Infectious Disease (Fall 2008)
Syllabus | Schedule, Readings & lecture notes
Term Paper information

The term paper for undergraduates will be modelled after a "News and Views" article from the journal Nature. Check out several News and Views by looking at hard copies of Nature, available in the library, or electronically.

The length should be 1000 words, plus or minus 200. Including the research article you focus on, cite 5 to 10 other papers, no more.

As you will see after reading some examples of the News and Views format, the idea is to write a short, crisp, readable introduction to an important and interesting original research article. Do not choose a "review" paper. Use Web of Science to peruse the scientific literature and find a paper on a topic that is interesting to you. Recent papers will be best, but use papers as old as 2004.

Describe what question was tackled, how the authors went about investigating it, why the work is important, how it fits into what is already known about the topic, where the science might proceed from this point, what, if any, problems there are with the paper, and so on. Your article should put the paper in context so that a scientifically literate reader, not intimately familiar with the area, can understand what the study has achieved and what its significance is.

Choose any paper that falls within the purview of "evolution of infectious disease". Send me or Joel the citation of the paper plus its abstract if you are not sure it is appropriate, assume that I think it's a good choice. The term paper is due Dec 9.

Don't assume that because the paper length is short, that this is an easy project. Writing a successful News and Views type article will require substantial work on your part to understand the research in the area you focus on, digest it, and communicate it effectively without any "padding". Every word counts.

Graduate students need to write a review paper 3000 words in length on a topic of their choice (one that fits within the purview of the course). They should run the topic by me to be sure I agree that it is a good, feasible one. The paper is due Dec. 2 and a 10-minute powerpoint presentation will take place on Dec. 2.