GENERAL INFORMATION FOR YOUR FDSCI 500 PAPER AND POWER POINT PRESENTATION
The whole purpose of this course is to give students some experience with writing about a topic of THEIR CHOICE. Those listed in the syllabus are only examples. At least 1/2 of what students write about are not in that list, rather they are selected because they have an interest in the topic.
Topic selection is a timely manner is very important, especially for the SUMMER term, where getting finished on time is difficult. The topic needs to lend itself to finding science-based papers with information to write about. It’s nice to pick a topic where references are available that contains both quantitative and qualitative information (e.g., numbers etc. as well as just concepts and principles). Also important is to focus on a portion of a larger topic so that the paper doesn’t get too big. For example, if one was to write about Salmonella (a hugely broad topic), you could focus on any of several subtopics such as its: Biology, Salmonellosis, Role in a particular food, Microbiological techniques for Salmonella, Significance in world health, Analytical methods, etc. If you happen to focus on the controversial issues of a topic, please be aware that you must present an unbiased evaluation of both sides of the issue. You might like to deemphasize the controversy and focus on the scientific documentation of both sides of the issue.
Where do you find references? Using the internet resources are probably best and easiest, but you must be EXTREMELY careful that the reference is reliable, not just someone’s opinion. You must also get all the details as the to the internet site, when it was accessed etc. to put into your reference list. Get the authors name if at all possible and use it to help identify the citation. Many students utilize KSU DCE office’s help in getting library copies of articles. Details are in the course syllabus.
Papers vary in length, often 5 (too short) to 30 (too long) pages. Length is not as important as QUALITY OF CONTENT. Generally 12 to 15 pages of text (plus the cover and reference pages) is average. References should be cited in the text in a manner similar to that done in the paper sent with the syllabus. Please do not use footnotes. For information from the WEB you need to give a citation that can be directly linked to the material. THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF DOCUMENTING YOUR SCIENTIFIC FACTS, FIGURES, AND IDEAS IS FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO BE ABLE TO TRACE YOUR INFORMATION AND RETRIEVE REFERENCES THEY WANT.
Perhaps the best advice I can give you besides spending some time on an outline, is to review the suggestions for the paper in the course materials. It is suppose to be a SCIENTIFIC paper, not some newsy magazine article. It should give you an opportunity to practice some of your knowledge of the science of food by incorporating into your “story” both quantitative data as well as the qualitative description of the topic. When ever possible, work in some of the pertinent science for the point you want to make in the text or as tables and/or figures. Again, for technical articles your readers MUST be able to tract back your facts and figures to a particular reference, so be sure to check the sample paper in the course materials to see how they cite references.
Please submit manuscript and Power Point to me (not DCE) directly via an email attachment of Word and Power Point files. Start the file name with your last name, first name_short title_FdSci 500_semester and year.
Please be sure to use continuous line numbering – see sample paper. This helps a lot during the critique and if you need to make edits, additions, deletes etc. It is not uncommon that I give students the opportunity to revise their papers (if necessary) after my first evaluation (if there is enough time remaining in the semester). Often students can correct some mistakes and improve their grade. Since it takes time for me to evaluate the papers and possibly ask for some revisions, it works best if you can get the paper to me 3 to 5 weeks before the semester ends. If your paper arrives at the end of the semester, I may have to give you an INCOMPLETE, and then you can finish it up after the semester ends.
Turn in manuscripts and Power Points anytime you have them done, but NOT BEFORE you have proof read the paper several times and have “spit and polished” the paper as much as possible before sending. The Power Point presentations does not have to include ALL details listed in the paper – rather is should be a NEAT outline/prompter for an oral presentation. See the samples files.
Hope this helps. Send me any questions as they arise.
Good luck with tracking details and good proof reading (multiple times).
Format for the manuscript
Cover page ‐Title, course name, student’s name, complete address, date, phone, E‐mail, and the ACTUAL semester you were enrolled in the course. At the bottom of the page, give very short paragraph stating why you selected this topic.
Outline – One to two pages showing heading, subheading, and list of key points made in each section — parts of this section can be single spaced.
Summary ‐ One page or less presenting a concise overview of the report
Introduction – The significance and importance of your topic to the food industry
Review – Qualitative and quantitative literature review of the topic data with appropriate headings
Conclusion ‐ Do not restate a summary‐ give your conclusions
References ‐ ALL REFERENCES MUST be cited somewhere in the text and all listed references must be cited in the format shown in the sample paper posted at KSU Online.
Suggestions for the manuscript
Use 1‐inch top and right margins and use 0.6” for the left (accommodates the continuous line
numbering) and 0.4” bottom margin (accommodates page numbering) margins, font size 12, double line spacing (except parts of the outline), page numbering, continuous line numbering, spell and grammar checks, and lots of proof reading. Do not place manuscript in binder. If you use tables or figures, which is commonly done, do NOT put these items into the text, rather place them as Table 1, 2 etc. and Figure 1, 2 etc. AT THE END AFTER THE REFERENCES (this will greatly simply the formatting of your document). Refer to the Sample Paper posted on KSU Online as necessary. PROOF READ, PROOF READ, PROOF READ.
Importance of references
The key to any good science‐based manuscript is good, concise, clear writing that is based on accurate citations of all referenced material. This is one of the keys to success for your manuscript. There are lots of ways to clearly cite references in the text, but one similar to that in the Sample Paper, is a good way to proceed. Another critical factor in references is to provide a complete and traceable source of each reference. Again, there are various formats that can be followed, but the one used in the Sample Paper is reasonably simple and concise — IT INVOLVES PLACING THE REFERENCE FOR A PARTICULAR SENTENCE INSIDE THE PERIOD OF THAT SENTENCE.
Before you go too far into the planning and writing of your manuscript and PowerPoint presentation ‐‐‐ spend some time on establishing your method for citing references in the text and be consistent with the formatting of the reference list. If you use internet references or websites, please evaluate the information for scientific accuracy and make sure that the facts, figures, tables and content is based on scientific information ‐‐‐ not just someone’s opinion. Formatting these references is more difficult because they often differ from one website to another. In addition, they are often “authorless” and often do not give a date. Usually you can create an “author” out of the website name and many times you can get a date. Then you need to fit this information into the format similar to the one you are using for your journal articles, textbooks etc. Lastly, you MUST give the hyperlink (be sure the hyperlink takes you DIRECTLY TO THE IMPORTANT MATERIAL cited — not some generic cite for the material) to these resources and GIVE THE DATE you accessed the information.
Use of Internet references
Information obtained from the Internet is often more opinion than good scientific information and is harder to reference. Be careful to select Internet data for good science and then provide a complete reference name, title, date and reference source (as for all reference material) AS WELL AS THE INTERNET ADDRESS—every reference must be traceable.
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