⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ Netiquette ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Netiquette
❖ Refers to your etiquette online, including how to write professional emails and being
considerate on forums and emails
❖ Email Policy
➢ Email from your UofA email only, emails from your personal accounts may go to
junk mail
➢ Give 1-2 business days for response, with a polite follow-up after 3 days
➢ Follow this form:
Dear (Dr. / Ms. /Mr ___ ),
My name is _____, and I am (a student/ TA / volunteer) in (your BIOL 108 lab / lecture section). I
(have a question / noticed an issue with eclass / am concerned about) and was hoping you could
help me. (politely state your request, question, concern, etc).
I am free to meet with you (state your general availability if you are requesting a meeting).
Thank you for your time; I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely / Kind regards / Regards / Best wishes / whatever suits your fancy,
(Preferred Name)
(Gender pronouns if you like)
❖ Scientific Literature
➢ 1) Use the UofA library search engine (http://library.ualberta.ca/)
➢ 2) If offcampus/need to pay for an article, insert
“https://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=” before the rest of the url
➢ Access the Library Search Engine through eClass. You should see a library widget
on the left side of your dashboard in eClass - type your search directly in there to
access literature easily!
,Journal Articles
❖ Anatomy of a Journal Article
➢ 1) Abstract
■ Summary of the article- including background of the study, what the
authors did, the major results, and a conclusion about the significance of
their work. Although important, you do not need to write these in BIOL
108 lab reports
➢ 2) Introduction
■ Multiple parts: Background, Objectives, Hypothesis, Predictions,
Relevance
■ Usually not individually labelled, and are not always explicitly states in
an introduction
■ Background and Objectives
● Author provides details about why they’re conducting the
research- they will cite previous studies and discuss the history of
the issue they are researching. This section puts the topic into
context for the reader so they understand what previous work has
been done on the topic, gaps in the literature, and why the current
study was conducted. Also discuss the relevance (why it’s
important). State objectives of the study (what they hope to
accomplish).
■ Hypothesis and Prediction:
● Making an observation, forming a question based on that
observation, proposing an answer to that question (hypothesis),
and then testing it. Once a hypothesis is written, the researchers
must design an experiment to test it. A prediction is what results
you expect to see based on your hypothesis. (Aka if your
hypothesis is correct, what will happen in the experiment?)
➢ 3) Methods
■ Procedures in research reports are usually detailed enough to allow the
reader to duplicate your investigative procedures, but the detail of
standard and generally known procedures (ex. How an item was made, or
how a calculation or graph was done in Excel) is kept to a minimum.
, ■ Keep in mind not all of the details you read will be relevant to you- such
as GPS coordinates of the author/where the lab is located if relevant to
the study
➢ 4) Results
■ The authors describe the outcome of their study
■ Include a written description of major results, trends they found, and
figures and/or tables that illustrate these findings.
■ Every figure/table included should be referenced in the text.
■ These trends are NOT interpreted in the Results section- authors simply
state the patterns found, not thoughts as to why. This section only states
facts. And is often pretty boring.
➢ 5) Discussions
■ THIS is where authors interpret the findings above, in the context of both
the background information they provided in the Introduction as well as
other sources. They should compare their findings to those of other
primary literature studies, and discuss what their findings may mean.
■ Talk about significance/relevance of their work in the larger science field
■ Discuss limitation of their study and steps for future research
■ Lengthy! Essay this shit, what’s the meaning here
➢ 5) Literature Cited/Reference
■ Contains, either numbered by order of appearance in the text or in
alphabetical order by first author, a list of all works referred to in the text.
■ We use CSE format citation style
Netiquette
❖ Refers to your etiquette online, including how to write professional emails and being
considerate on forums and emails
❖ Email Policy
➢ Email from your UofA email only, emails from your personal accounts may go to
junk mail
➢ Give 1-2 business days for response, with a polite follow-up after 3 days
➢ Follow this form:
Dear (Dr. / Ms. /Mr ___ ),
My name is _____, and I am (a student/ TA / volunteer) in (your BIOL 108 lab / lecture section). I
(have a question / noticed an issue with eclass / am concerned about) and was hoping you could
help me. (politely state your request, question, concern, etc).
I am free to meet with you (state your general availability if you are requesting a meeting).
Thank you for your time; I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely / Kind regards / Regards / Best wishes / whatever suits your fancy,
(Preferred Name)
(Gender pronouns if you like)
❖ Scientific Literature
➢ 1) Use the UofA library search engine (http://library.ualberta.ca/)
➢ 2) If offcampus/need to pay for an article, insert
“https://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=” before the rest of the url
➢ Access the Library Search Engine through eClass. You should see a library widget
on the left side of your dashboard in eClass - type your search directly in there to
access literature easily!
,Journal Articles
❖ Anatomy of a Journal Article
➢ 1) Abstract
■ Summary of the article- including background of the study, what the
authors did, the major results, and a conclusion about the significance of
their work. Although important, you do not need to write these in BIOL
108 lab reports
➢ 2) Introduction
■ Multiple parts: Background, Objectives, Hypothesis, Predictions,
Relevance
■ Usually not individually labelled, and are not always explicitly states in
an introduction
■ Background and Objectives
● Author provides details about why they’re conducting the
research- they will cite previous studies and discuss the history of
the issue they are researching. This section puts the topic into
context for the reader so they understand what previous work has
been done on the topic, gaps in the literature, and why the current
study was conducted. Also discuss the relevance (why it’s
important). State objectives of the study (what they hope to
accomplish).
■ Hypothesis and Prediction:
● Making an observation, forming a question based on that
observation, proposing an answer to that question (hypothesis),
and then testing it. Once a hypothesis is written, the researchers
must design an experiment to test it. A prediction is what results
you expect to see based on your hypothesis. (Aka if your
hypothesis is correct, what will happen in the experiment?)
➢ 3) Methods
■ Procedures in research reports are usually detailed enough to allow the
reader to duplicate your investigative procedures, but the detail of
standard and generally known procedures (ex. How an item was made, or
how a calculation or graph was done in Excel) is kept to a minimum.
, ■ Keep in mind not all of the details you read will be relevant to you- such
as GPS coordinates of the author/where the lab is located if relevant to
the study
➢ 4) Results
■ The authors describe the outcome of their study
■ Include a written description of major results, trends they found, and
figures and/or tables that illustrate these findings.
■ Every figure/table included should be referenced in the text.
■ These trends are NOT interpreted in the Results section- authors simply
state the patterns found, not thoughts as to why. This section only states
facts. And is often pretty boring.
➢ 5) Discussions
■ THIS is where authors interpret the findings above, in the context of both
the background information they provided in the Introduction as well as
other sources. They should compare their findings to those of other
primary literature studies, and discuss what their findings may mean.
■ Talk about significance/relevance of their work in the larger science field
■ Discuss limitation of their study and steps for future research
■ Lengthy! Essay this shit, what’s the meaning here
➢ 5) Literature Cited/Reference
■ Contains, either numbered by order of appearance in the text or in
alphabetical order by first author, a list of all works referred to in the text.
■ We use CSE format citation style
