Allelic Segregation Research Paper

Use a 12 point font and 1” margins.  Double space everything and DO NOT right justify the document.  No other style will be accepted.

Your research paper should have seven sections, each labeled
with capital letters centered above the section on the page.

Title Page:  Title, Name, Address (Biology Department, . .).  This page should be separate
from the rest of your paper.

ABSTRACT

  Prepare
a very short description of your experiment, the results, and your interpretation.  The abstract should be no more than 200 words
and should have some elements of the Introduction, Methods, Results, and
Discussion.  It should give the reader a
general idea of the experiment performed and the major conclusions, and must
stand alone as a clear summary of your experiment.

INTRODUCTION

  This
section should introduce your experiment to the reader.  It should start very general, explaining the
rationale for the experiment and why it is important.  It should end very specific by stating one or
more hypotheses to be tested in the experiment and associated predictions.  Be concise but thorough, and be sure you only
write about information that is directly related to your experiment.

METHODS

This section
should describe the experimental design, the methods you used to execute the
experiment, and the methods you used to analyze your data.  You should include enough detail that the
reader can repeat even the details of your experiment.

RESULTS

This section
should report the results of your experiment. 
Usually both a text explanation and tables and/or figures are used to
report results.  In your text, you should
refer to your tables and/or figures by number. 
For example, you might say, “Table 1 shows the number of white-eyed and
red-eyed flies in the F2 generation,” or, “More white-eyed females than
white-eyed males were observed in each generation (Figure 1).”  Figures are graphs, drawings, maps,
photographs, etc.  Tables are rows and
columns of data.  Tables should NOT
contain grid lines separating rows and columns; use formatting tools such as
those in Microsoft Word instead.  Figures
and Tables should be on separate pages and be put at the end of the paper.  Figures should have a short caption BELOW the
graph, drawing, etc.  Tables should have
a short explanatory title ABOVE the table. 
Captions and titles should contain enough information about the figure
or table that the reader understands what it is showing without having to refer
to the text.

The results
section is for reporting the data in a way that is easy and meaningful for the
reader.  Do NOT interpret how your
results support or reject your hypothesis here.

DISCUSSION

  The
discussion is where you will interpret your data and how they support or
conflict with your hypothesis.  It usually
starts very specific and ends very general. 
A good discussion should include the following:

· 
Interpretation of the data in light of your
hypothesis.  (I.e. do the data support or
reject predictions of your hypothesis, and what can we thus conclude about the
hypothesis?)  Note that statistical
“hypothesis tests” really refer to predictions based on your hypothesis.  A hypothesis is expressed in terms of
underlying biological causes (e.g. the genetic basis for variation in a
trait).  A prediction is what we expect
to observe if the hypothesis is true (e.g. a particular segregation ratio in F₂
progeny of a cross).

· 
Potential weaknesses of your experimental
design.

· 
Potential problems with your methods.

· 
Discussion of how your study adds to our
understanding of the general problem you are studying.

· 
Recommendations for further studies.