MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

Here is important reading about publication ethics:

• Paying by researchers to make open access (Opinion)
• Science news article on PubMed catching fakery
• Nature just overtook PlosOne (news feature)
• Retraction Watch (one of the first -- and best!)
• 11 tips on fraudulent journal protection at PlosOne bogs
• Peer review problems because of outsourcing (WaPo news piece)

Fake journal watch lists (not always kept up) 

• Computer science focus (is this a bot)
• Librarian U Colorado system Jeffrey Beall's two lists aka Beall's Lists:
  • Stand alone
  • Questionable publishers

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Critique in science articles:  First, look at this Duke resource, including the two links at the end.  You will be helped in more general tasks about your review. From the Duke page:

Note limitations of the study at the end of the essay:

o Do the data and conclusions contradict each other?

o Is there sufficient data to support the author’s generalizations?

o What questions remain unanswered?

o How could future studies be improved?

 

 

Look at my hyphen in the title.  Hyphens are helpful.  

1. punctuation with quote marks (nice summary  here at Grammar Monster)
2. colon and semi colon use (start here with The Oatmeal's take)
3. That-which: which takes a comma; that does not! See this  handout on choosing which and that.
4. Empty subjects DRAFT HANDOUT.
5. hyphens are little and used with words; dashes are longer and used between words (See this guide from DOOK)
   1. setting off appositives (dashes NOT hyphens; use with caution)
      1. Brian May -- lead guitarist for Queen -- holds a doctorate in physics.
      2. Brain May -- PhD in astrophysics -- was the guitarist for the rock group Queen.
   2. some words where hyphens are helpful
      • fast-sailing ship and fast sailing ship

What does the hat say?

Paragraphs are really important in the two-article review.  Another way to think about

Here are some readings:

• Analysis by D.C. (pharmacology professor) about significance problems in science (read the links, too)
• General commentary on strong science communication by making "counter arguments" (aquatics field)
• Grid to guide your reading (download or copy to use)
• John Bohannon's publication experiment (in Science, 2013) BTW, he holds a PhD in molecular biology

Two videos to "read"; first, 20 minutes on the "red wine is healthy" claim.

This next video is about 10 minutes, by marine biologist/film maker Randy Olson.  Warning:  the f-bomb early on.

You will need to use signal phases as way to be professional, ethical, precise, and careful in your citation. Read this brief guide, noting carefully the table of words and phrases at the end. The signal phrases ANNOUNCES where your cited information begins.  Then, you complete the announcement by placing the author, date--parenthetical cite.  Example,

According to Hocking's 1994 analysis (INSERT, SAY FIVE SENTENCES)

(Hocking, 1994)

Bottom line:  When you place a cite in a paragraph, the location can be ambiguous in at least three ways:

1. do you mean to cite on the information in THAT ONE SENTENCE?
2. do you mean the cite to encompass or surround all the information that PRECEDES the citation?
   1. to the beginning of the paragraph?
   2. just select sentences?
3. if you place the citation at end of paragraph, do you mean to cite
   1. ONLY THE LAST SENTENCE?
   2. the ENTIRE PARAGRAPH?

Sentence bank for the coffee cup memo: 

Hocking's work, though dated, is strong support for the styrofoam cup choice.  We should, however, acknowledge that if you weight the fate of ocean plastic as more important than climate change, you would reach another recommendation. Oceanographer Charles Moore.......

Overall, I recommend paper cups for our office.  I based my analysis on two criteria:

• fate of ocean plastic as the primary environmental problem, and,
• LCA to examine the existing peer-reviewed evidence.

Having described both our office problem and reviewed the way we use and dispose of hot beverage cups, let's turn now to life cycle analysis (LCA).  LCA is.......The EPA provides this useful definition  THREE OR FOUR SUMMARY SENTENCES THAT YOU PARAPHRASE.....then, (EPA, n.d.) 

Now, some humility sentences that address fairly the counter-argument: 

I want to acknowledge the reasonableness of the other recommendation.

Clearly, this recommendation is limited in several ways. First, we begin with the environmental problem in our analysis.  

The problems of the fate of ocean plastic and climate change are incommensurate, or without common measure.  

These two problems resist a direct and definitive comparison. In other words, you cannot declare which environmental problem is worse.  Both problems poet sustainability problems for us.

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Lesson on Oxford comma, in science style: Consider these examples from Sarah Lichter.  Here is one from my writing practice recently:

Conservation biologists look at two approaches to biodiversity losses, species counts in the tropics and changing distribution maps.

What about this one that the "protodoctors" among us might say to a patient:

Your cancer can be treated with chemotherapy, surgery or immunotherapy.

Now, what about paragraph transitions: like pearls on a string .Here is an exhibit on paragraph transitions, in this Google doc.  The beauty of these two documents is that they were written by friends of mine.  I simply marked the strong transitions.

How is your coffee cup memo arranged?  Here is a good but rough pattern for you to use:

Polite first person opening, where you 1) preview the recommendation and 2) reveal your bias about the environmental problem 

Description para with quantifiers about office problem

Review briefly the three choices in two categories -- Use one or two short paragraphs 1) compare contrast of paper/styrofoam 2) description of ceramic option as main reuse-able

Define LCA (needs source) and explain this is your main decision criteria

Hocking's work OPTIONAL PLACEMENT FOR THIS PARA

Moore' s work OPTIONAL PLACEMENT FOR THIS PARA 

Recommendation paragraph (use bold title to flag this part of the memo)

Restatement of Moore or Hocking's work BUT
Acknowledgement of other readings of the options

You CAN add the reusable concept, too.

Example paragraph (people like concrete examples)

Polite closing 

I want to chat about four grammar/convention items:

• that v. which
• that v. who (things v. people)
• punctuation with quotation marks, the US convention
• commas with appositives (extra information or details, set off by TWO commas) 

Now, on to paragraph coherence, a style topic, in the coffee cup memo:

Lesson on paragraphs: Coherence in a paragraph (sample content but the paragraphs might not be complete for the purposes of your coffee cup paper):

"Meh" paragraph
Plastic and paper cups pose problems for recycling. Ceramic cups are very energy intensive to produce. Recycling seems environmentally-sound.  Paper does not degrade deep within most landfills and the plastic coating is also difficult.  Not all plastic can be recycled.  You need to check the bottom of the container.  Landfills are increasingly full.  There is a huge "patch of garbage" in the Pacific Ocean.

Better paragraph
Paper and plastic both pose disposal problems.  First, not all plastic can be recycled. Check the bottom of the plastic container. "No. 1" and "No. 2" types can be recycled by most facilities. Second, paper does not degrade deep within most landfills because of low oxygen conditions. The plastic coating also interferes with decay. Landfills are increasingly full.  There is a huge "patch of garbage" in the Pacific Ocean.

Even better paragraph (can you see the re-thinking of content as well as sentence-level revision)
Paper and plastic both pose disposal problems.  First, not all plastic can be recycled. Check the bottom of the plastic container. "No. 1" and "No. 2" types can be recycled by most facilities. Second, paper does not degrade deep within most landfills because of low oxygen conditions. The plastic coating also interferes with decay. Landfills are increasingly full, with paper and plastic part of the waste stream. Not all plastic is recycled or landfilled. MISSING SOMETHING? According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) huge "patches of garbage" in the Pacific Ocean are further evidence of the environmental harm posed by plastic that "leaks" out of disposal/recycling systems.

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Life cycle analysis definition paragraph content items:

use a source sentence like

• According to ........Life cycle analysis (LCA) assesses......
• Life cycle analysis is the primary decision criteria used in this memo to evalauate our coffee cup choice.

Note the life cycle definition paragraph leads (transitions) to either

• Martin Hocking's work uses LCA to assess the energy intensivity of paper, styrofoam, and ceramic cups. OR
• Charles Moore's work on the fate of ocean plastic can be understood as focusing on the "grave" or last stage of ilfe cycle analysis.

Be sure to establish the ethos of both Hocking and Moore, in these research summary or evaluation paragraphs.  Recall what we did with Allen Davis.  Use signal phrases on these huge paragraphs.

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Ok, let's focus a bit on the case for the Oxford comma: