Note:  Material from an excellent book by Robert Day entitled How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper is available at the library reserve desk in the
Zoology 250 folder.  There are short sections from the book describing how each of the section below should be approached and what each section of the paper should do.

Grading scale for each criterion below:
 

poor	fair	okay	good	great
0% of possible points	50%	70%	85%	100%

- e.g., 'good' gets 85% of 2 pts or 1.7 pts.

Introduction: The student.... 3 pts
 

Criterion		poor	fair	okay	good	great
establishes the background for the experiment, clearly and concisely describing the relevant principles and concepts	2
clearly states any hypotheses being tested	1

 

points

Results: The student... 5 pts
 

Criterion		poor	fair	okay	good	great
organizes and presents data clearly and legibly in appropriately labeled tables and figures	3
convincingly displays a solid comprehension of the experimental data (note: clearly explaining tables and graphs is a big part of this criterion)	1
ably balances written and graphical/tabular representations of the experimental data	1

points

Discussion: The student... 5 pts
 

Criterion		poor	fair	okay	good	great
clearly returns to the problem and hypothesis (or hypotheses) being tested	1
provides effective interpretations of results and points out limitations where appropriate (experimental error, experimental design)	2
convincingly supports or refutes hypothesis (or hypotheses). Makes a case for alternative hypotheses where appropriate.	2

points

Presentation
 

Criterion		poor	fair	okay	good	great
format and style are appropriate to a scientific paper	1
spelling and grammar are correct	1

points

 

Total Points: ________