General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Scientific Literature & Hypothesis Testing
Overview
Inordertoadvancescientificunderstanding,scientistsmustcommunicatetheresultsof
researchthattestsoriginalhypotheses.Oneofthemostimportantwaysscientists
communicatetheresultsoftheirresearchisbypublishingscientificpapers.Thissemesteryou
willbeconductingascientificresearchprojectandtestinganecologicallyrelevanthypothesis.
Youwillalsocommunicatetheresultsofyourresearchintheformofascientificresearch
paper.Consequently,youneedtobecomefamiliarwiththepurpose,organization,format,and
strategyofcitingscientificliterature,aswellashowtocraftanecologicalhypothesis.
The Purpose of Researching and Citing Scientific Literature
Whygotothetroubleofresearchingscientificarticles?Thisisagreatquestion!Itcantake
alotoftimetofindtherightarticles–andonceyou’vefoundthemyouactuallyhavetoread
andunderstandthem!Perhapsthemostimportantreasonforconductingliteratureresearchis
tobecomeinformedaboutwhatisknownandwhatisnotknownabouttheparticularscientific
problemorquestioninwhichyouareinterested.Considerthis.Itwouldbeashame–notto
mentionaterriblewasteoftime–ifyouweretoconductanentireresearchstudyona
questionthathadalreadybeenansweredbyanotherscientistwhohadpublishedtheresultsof
theirstudyjustthepreviousyear?Likewise,itwouldbeunfortunateifyouweretodesigna
studyusingwhatyouthoughtwasanappropriatemethodologicalapproach,onlytofindout
laterthroughaliteraturesearchthatthetechniqueyouhadusedwasdiscreditedanda
superiormethodhadbeendevelopedbysomeoneelse.Ithinkyougettheidea!
Whycitescientificarticlesinaresearchpaper?Thereareanumberofimportantreasons,
butherearesomeofthemainones.Firstandforemost,citingscientificliteratureinapaper
appropriatelyacknowledgestheoriginalsourceoftheinformationorideasinyourpaperthat
you’vegatheredfromotherresearchersinthefield.Thesecondreasontociteliteratureisto
placeyourstudyinthepropertheoreticalandempiricalcontextanddefendtheimportanceof
theresearch.Inotherwords,youwanttocouchyourstudyintermsofwhatotherrelated
researchhasbeendoneandusethatliteraturetosupporttheimportanceoftheworkandthe
needfortestingyourspecifichypothesis.Asmentionedabove,thisisdoneintheIntroduction
sectionofthepaper.Ifyou’regoingtotestahypothesis,youcertainlywanttoknowwhether
someoneelsehasalreadytestedit.Orifthehypothesishasbeentested,thatit’sbeentested
onadifferentorganism,setoforganisms,orinadifferentecologicalsystem.Thethirdreason,
whichisrelatedtothesecond,istosupportyourhypothesis.Thatis,youwanttociteexisting
scientificliteraturetoillustratewhatweknowaboutaproblemorquestionbeingaddressed
andwhat’snotknown.It’swhat’snotknownthatmakesthecaseforandsupportsthetesting
ofyourparticularhypothesis.Inotherwords,agoodhypothesisisnewandborneoutofa
well-researchedliterature.
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Anotherreasontocitescientificliteratureistosupportthemethodsyou’vechosentouse
inyourstudy.Asmentionedabove,it’simportanttouseresearchmethodsthathavebeen
provenbyotherstowork;citingthesemethodsprovidesthereaderwiththeinformation
necessarytoevaluatethevalidityandcredibilityofthestudy’smethodologicalapproach.
Finally,youcitescientificliteratureinordertocomparetheresultsofyourstudytothoseof
others.ThisisdoneintheDiscussionsectionofthepaperandistremendouslyimportant
becauseitallowsthereadertoproperlyevaluatetheimportanceofthestudyandthedegree
towhichtheresultsofyourresearchareconsistentorinconsistentwithotherstudies.
Anatomy of a Scientific Paper
Thereareessentiallytwotypesofpublishedscientificliterature:primaryandsecondary.
Scientificpapersthatreporttheresultsoforiginalresearcharereferredtoasprimary
literature.Becausetheyreportoriginalresults,primaryliteraturepapersareorganizedina
veryspecificway.Namely,theyincludeanintroduction,methods,results,anddiscussion,
followedbyaliteraturecitedsection.Bycontrast,secondaryliterature(orasecondarysource)
summarizes,reviews,orinterpretsscientificinformationthatwasoriginallyreportedelsewhere
asprimaryliterature.Thisliteraturecanbeintendedforotherscientists(i.e.,areviewarticle)or
forthegeneralpublic,andincludesreviews,textbooks,collections,magazinearticles,
encyclopedias,handbooks,etc.Secondaryliteraturecanbedistinguishedfromprimary
literaturebecauseitdoesnotcontainoriginalmethodsorresults.
Primaryliteraturesourcesarevirtuallyallpeer-reviewed.Thatis,theyarereviewedand
evaluatedbyexpertsinthefieldpriortopublication.Onlystudiesthatpassthisrigorouslevel
ofscrutinyarepublishedasprimaryliterature.Secondaryliteratureisoftenbutnotalways
peer-reviewed.
Thebasicorganizationofaprimaryliteraturearticleincludesatitleandlistingofthe
authorsandtheiraffiliations,followedbyanabstract,theintroduction,methods,results,and
discussionsections,andlastlyaliteraturecitedsection.Thesebasicelementsaredescribed
below.
TheTitleprovidesaclearandconcisedescriptionofthestudyandincludeskeywordsthat
allowotherstoeffectivelyfindthearticlethroughsearchengines.Afterthetitle,theauthorsof
thestudyandtheirinstitutionalaffiliationsarelisted.Itisimportanttonotethattheorderof
theauthorsisdeterminednotalphabeticallybutbywhocontributedmosttotheresearch
and/orwritingthepaper.Consequently,thefirstauthorlistedistheprimaryauthorandisthe
onewhoreceivesmostcreditforthework;subsequentauthorscontributedtotheworkbuta
lesserdegreethanthefirstauthor.Theauthorsusuallyagreeuponauthororderbeforethe
paperiswritten.Forthisreason,authorordershouldneverbechangedwhencitingascientific
paper.
TheAbstractisasummaryofthepaper.Itincludesabrief(typically300wordsorless)
descriptionoftheproblemandhypothesis(es)beingaddressed,themethods,theprimary
results,andthemainconclusionsofthestudy.
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
TheIntroductionorientsthereadertothespecificproblembeingaddressed.Itmust
provideawell-informedandresearchedbackgroundonthespecificproblemandtheoretical
contextforthestudy.Theintroductionpresentswhatisknownandwhatisnotknowninthe
scientificliteratureabouttheproblembeingaddressedandleadsthereaderlogicallytothe
study’shypothesis(es),whichis/arestatedattheendoftheintroduction.Consequently,the
Introductionmustincludeproperlycitedreferencestotherelevantscientificliterature.Atthe
endoftheIntroduction,thehypothesesoftheresearchareconciselystatedalongwiththe
approachtakentotestthem.
Inanecologicalstudy,theMethodssectiondescribesthestudysite,theorganism(s)
studied,theexperimentaldesign,andhowthedatawereanalyzed.Itprovidesabriefbut
concisedescriptionofallmethodsusedintheresearch.Themethodssectionisnotoverly
detailed,butdetailedenoughsothatsomeoneelsecouldconductthesamebasicexperiment.
TheResultssectiondescribesasummaryofthefindingsoftheresearchwithout
interpretation.Itprovidesasummaryofthegeneralpatterns,trends,andvariationinthedata
intheformoftext,tablesandfigures.Thetextdescribestheresultspresentedinalltablesand
figuresinthepaper.Tablesareusedtopresentmanynumericalvalues(ortosummarizeor
emphasizedescriptivematerial),whereasfigures(e.g.,agraph)areusedtoillustratean
importantcomparison,pattern,trend,orrelationship.
TheDiscussionsectioniswheretheresultsofthestudyareinterpretedandconclusions
formulated.Inotherwords,thissectionexplainswhythespecificresultsofthestudywere
obtainedand,bycitingsupportingliterature,howthefindingscomparewithpreviousstudies
donebyresearchersexaminingsimilarquestionsorspecies.Italsoaddressesanyshortcomings
oftheresearchandexploresthestudy’sbroaderimplications.TheDiscussiongenerallyends
withashortsummaryorconclusionofthestudy’soverallimportance.
TheLiteratureCitedsectionlistsonlythereferencesthatwerecitedinthebodyofthe
paper;thatis,itisNOTabibliography(whichincludesallsourceswhetherornottheyare
actuallycitedinthepaper).Citationsreferencedinthetextofthepaperarelistedattheendof
thepaper.Althoughthecitationsaregenerallylistedinalphabeticalorderbyfirstauthor’slast
name,somejournalslistthepapersnumericallyintheLiteratureCitedsectionintheorderthey
werecitedinthetext.Inthiscoursewewilllistthemalphabetically.
How to Find the Right Articles
Findingtherightprimaryliteraturearticlesneednotbeamonumentaltaskorafrustrating
one.Infact,giventheavailabilityandpowerofonlineelectronicdatabases,it’seasierthanit’s
everbeentoidentifyandacquireaprimaryliteraturearticlethatpertainstoaspecificresearch
problemorquestion.Withafewkeytipsonhowtoconductanonlinesearch–plusalittle
practice–you’llfindthatit’sactuallyquitesimple.
Asinanysearch,thefirst–andmostimportant–stepistoknowwhatyou’relookingfor.
So,beforeyouembarkonasearchforaprimaryliteraturearticle,takesometimetonarrow
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
yourfocusandcomeupwithafewkeytermsthatyoucanusetoconductyoursearch.Thiswill
makethejoboffindingresearchpapersthatarerelevanttotheproblemorquestionyouare
addressingaloteasier.Asaruleofthumb,startwiththemostspecifictermsfirstandthenget
moregeneralifyoucan’tfindappropriatearticles.Forexample,ifyoustartbytryingtofind
papersonaparticularanimalspeciesalongtheAmericanRiverinSacramentoCounty,
California,youmaynotfindanypublishedpapersbecausethetopicandlocationaretoo
specific.Inthiscase,youwillneedtosearchmorebroadly–say,forexample,anything
publishedatallontheparticularanimalspeciesyou’relookingfor.Inthislabyou’lllearnabout
SacState’sliteraturesearchdatabasesfromoneofSacState’ssciencelibrarians,aswellasa
fewvaluablestrategiesandtricksofthetradetofindthebestarticlesforyourproject.
Citing Scientific Literature
Acrossthevastnumberofpublishersofprimaryliteraturearticles,eachusesadifferent
formattocitescientificliterature.Inthiscourse,wewilluseacitationformatusedinthe
journalEcology.NotonlywillyouuseEcologyformatinthislabexercise,butyouwillalsouseit
inyourfinalresearchpaper.AdetaileddescriptionofEcologyformatcanbefoundontheCSUS
library’swebsite:http://csus.libguides.com/ecology.
Inascientificarticle,citationsarefoundintwoplaces:inthetextitself,andattheendof
thearticle.Eacharticlereferredtointhetextislistedasafullcitationattheendofthepaper.
Acitationthatoccursinthetextisreferredtoasanin-textcitation;thecorrespondingfull
citationincludesalloftheinformationnecessarytolocatethecitedreferenceandislistedat
theendofthepaperintheLiteratureCitedsection.Thiswayoforganizingcitationsinan
articleallowsthereadertoseeinthetextthattheauthoriscitingaspecificsourceforthe
informationbeingpresentedandisgivingcredittothatsource.Italsoallowsthereadertofind
thearticlebeingcitedbyprovidingthecorrespondingfullcitationattheendofthepaper.Note
thattheLiteratureCitedsectionisNOTabibliography;itonlyincludesalistofthereferences
citedinthepaper.
Tomaintainthefocusandflowofthetext,aswellasconservespace,anin-textcitationis
writteninashorthandstylethatincludesonlytheminimumauthorinformationandyearof
publication.Forapaperwithonlyoneauthor,thein-textcitationinEcologyformatissimply
theauthor’slastnamefollowedbytheyearofpublication.Fortwoauthors,thein-textcitation
wouldincludethelastnamesofbothauthorsseparatedby“and,”andfollowedbytheyearof
publication.Ifthepaperhasmorethanthreeauthors,thentheLatin“etal.”(meaning“and
others”)iswrittenafterthefirstauthor’slastname;thecitationisthecompletedbyaddingthe
yearofpublicationattheend.
Eachin-textcitationmusthaveacorrespondingfullcitationattheendofthepaperinthe
LiteratureCitedsection.Fullcitationsaregenerallylistedinalphabeticalorderbyfirstauthor’s
lastname.However,somejournalscitepapersusingnumbersandlistthefullcitationsatthe
endofthepapernumericallyintheordertheywerecitedinthearticle.Despiteformatting
differences,allarticlescitedinthetextarelistedattheendofthepaper;sourcesthatwere
usedforreferencebutnotactuallycitedinthetextarenotlistedattheendofthepaper.
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Hypothesis Testing
Likeallscientists,ecologistsattempttounderstandthenaturalworldthroughthe
systematicandrigorousprocessofscience.Scienceisnotjustabodyoffactstobememorized.
Itisaprocessthatisusedtolearnaboutnature.Learninghowtodoscience(theprocess)is
justasimportant,ifnotmoreso,aslearningfacts(theproductsofscience).Althoughthis
processhasbeencommonlyreferredtoasthe"scientificmethod,"intruththereisnosingle
scientificmethod;indeed,itisaprocessthatvariesfromonedisciplinetoanotherandcantake
manydifferentforms.
Inmostcases,however,theprocessofscientificinquirybeginswithanobservationof
somethingthatisinterestingorunexpected.Inecology,ourobservationsareoftenpatternsin
naturethatintrigueusandforwhichweseekanexplanation.Patternsinecologycantake
manyforms.Forexample,interestingecologicalpatternsmightincludecertainforaging
behaviorsofsmallmammalsinrelationtopredationrisk,thedistributionofindividualsor
speciescorrespondingtodifferenthabitatconditions,orglobalpatternsofproductivitythatare
coincidenttolatitudinalvariationintemperatureandprecipitation.
Basedonsuchobservations,incombinationwithwhatisalreadyknownfromthepublished
literature,wecandevelopplausibleexplanationsthatcanbetestedwithexperimentation.This
sequence,fromobservationtohypothesistoexperimentationandinterpretationdescribesthe
scientificmethod,whichgenerallyinvolvesthefollowingsequence:
Observation
Anobservationinscienceconsistsofobtainingknowledgeoftheoutsideworldthroughour
senses,orrecordingsuchinformationusingscientifictoolsandinstruments.Inecology,the
kindsofobservationsecologistsmaketellussomethingaboutthewaythenaturalworldworks.
Notethatthisdiffersfromdatarecordedduringanexperiment,whichcanalsobecalledan
experimentalobservation.Here’sanexampleofanecologicalobservation:Twoplantspecies,
AandB,areneverfoundinthesamelocation,eventhoughtheyseemtothriveinsimilar
habitats.
Hypothesis
Onceanobservationismade,aproposedexplanationorpredictionfortheobserved
phenomenonismade;thisisahypothesis.Ahypothesisisneverstatedasaquestion.
Althoughaquestionoftencomesfirst,forittobeahypothesisthequestionmustbeconverted
intoasinglestatement.Ahypothesismustalsobetestable.Thatis,theremustbeasetof
observationsormeasurementsthatcanbemadetodeterminewhetherornotthehypothesisis
supported.Italsomustbefalsifiable.Inotherwords,itmustbepossibletoshowthatthe
hypothesisisfalse.Ahypothesismustalsoincludebothanindependentanddependent
variable.Theindependentvariableisthefactoryou’remanipulating.Thedependentvariable
iswhatyou’remeasuring(i.e.,theresponsevariable)andiswhatwillactuallybemeasuredin
responsetotheindependentvariable.Inshort,independentvariablesanswerthequestion
"WhatdoIchange?"anddependentvariablesanswerthequestion"WhatdoIobserve?"For
example:
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Example1:PlantspeciesAwillbemoreabundantafterafirethanplantspeciesB.
Example2:Algalbiomasswillbegreaterinlakesthatreceivehighamountsofnutrientrunoffthaninlakesthatreceivelownutrientrun-off.
Ineachhypothesisabove,canyouidentifythedependentvariable?Theindependent
variable?
Notethateveryhypothesisthatpredictsachangeinadependentvariableinresponsetoan
independentvariablehasanimpliednullhypothesis.Anullhypothesissimplypredictsthat
therewillbeno(i.e.,null)differenceinthevalueofthedependentvariablewithrespecttothe
independentvariable.Intheexamplesabove,thenullhypotheseswouldbethatthereisno
differenceinabundanceofplantspeciesAandB(Example1)andnodifferenceinalgalbiomass
betweenlakes(Example2).Althoughithasvalueasastatisticalhypothesis,thenullhypothesis
isgenerallynotstatedexplicitlyinaresearchstudy.
Anyonecancomeupwithaplausiblehypothesis.Butwhatdistinguishesthescientistfrom
theamateuristhethirdstep:arigorousandcontrolledtestofthehypothesis.Oftenthis
involvesanexperiment,althoughcomparativeanddescriptivestudiesarealsocommon.
Experiment
Anexperimentisanimportanttoolthatscientistsusetotesthypotheses.Themostrobust
formofexperimentisthemanipulativeexperiment,inwhichtheexperimentermanipulatesthe
conditionsinacertainsetofexperimentalunits.Anexperimentalunitisthebasicunitbeing
measuredinanexperiment.Forexample,anindividualplantmightbetheexperimentalunit
usedtotesttheeffectofsoilnutrientsonplantgrowthbecausethescientistwouldmeasure
thegrowthoftheentireplant–saybiomassorheightofthewholeplant.Becausetheplantis
theunitbeingmeasuredintheexperiment,wesaythatitistheexperimentalunit.
Whenascientistmanipulatesasetofexperimentalunits(e.g.,byaddingnutrientstoaset
ofplants),themanipulationsarereferredtoastreatments(orfactors).Therearetwotypesof
treatments:experimentalandcontroltreatments.Anexperimentaltreatmentinvolvesadirect
manipulationbytheexperimenter.Acontroltreatmentisonethatisleftun-manipulated.By
comparingexperimentaltocontroltreatments–allotherthingsbeingequal–scientistscan
unambiguouslyattributeanyeffectsofthetreatmenttothespecificfactorthatwas
manipulated.
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Pre-lab
Name: ________________________
DUEATBEGINNINGOFLAB
Toreceivecredityoumustturninthisanswersheet.
WatchtheEcologyFormattutorialat:http://csus.libguides.com/bio160tutorial
Takethequizattheendofthetutorial.Printouttheresultofyourquizandattachithere.
Answerquestions1-6basedontheresearcharticle:BaxterandParker(1999).Alinktothepdfcopyof
thisarticleispostedonthecoursewebsiteontheActivities/Assignmentspage.
1. Inwhichsectionofthepaperdotheauthorssummarizethefindingsoftheirstudywithout
interpretationordrawingconclusions?
2. WhatisthepurposeoftheDiscussionsection?IsitnecessarytoincludecitationsintheDiscussion
section?Whyorwhynot?
3. Whatwasonehypothesistestedinthestudy?Inwhichsectionofthepaperisitstated?
4. Wherewasthestudyconductedandhowwastheplantcommunitysampled?Whichsectionofthe
paperdescribesthis?
5. Whatwasthemajorconclusionofthisstudy?Inwhichsectionwasthisstated?
6. IntheLiteratureCitedsectionthereisapapercitedbyWilliams,K.asthefirstauthor.Writethis
citationasan"in-text"citationin‘Ecology’format.
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Lab Activity: Part I – Anatomy of a Scientific Paper (4 pts.)
Wewillreviewyouranswerstothepre-labquestionsontheBaxterandParker(1990)article
(referencedabove).Eachgroupwillbeassignedaquestionandaskedtoreportoutontheir
answer.Note:Besuretobringacopyofthearticlewithyou.
Lab Activity: Part II – Writing a Good Hypothesis (6 pts.)
Thesecondpartofthelabisagroup-shareexercise.Thegoaloftheexerciseisto:
1. Learnwhatmakesa"good"hypothesis,
2. Gainpracticewritingagoodhypothesis,and
3. Developapreliminaryhypothesisforyourresearchtopic
Whatmakesa"good"hypothesis?
Agoodhypothesis:
1. Isaconcisesinglesentencestatementthatputsforthaproposedexplanationforan
eventorobservation.Itisnotaquestion.Aquestionmaycomefirst–andoftendoes–
butforittobeahypothesisthequestionmustbeconvertedintoasinglestatement.
2. Istestable.Thatis,theremustbeasetofobservationsthatcanbemadetodetermine
whetherornotthehypothesisissupported.
3. Isfalsifiable.Inotherwords,it'sexperimentallyfalsifiableandclearlyisolatescauseand
effect(i.e.,howonethingwillaffecttheother).
4. Includesanindependentvariable(thefactoryou’remanipulating)andadependent
variable(whatyou’remeasuring).Ifyouknowenoughtopredictthedirectionofa
responseorrelationship,usewordslike“increase”and“decrease”toindicatethat.
TheActivity
Youwillworkwithyourgrouptodevelopapreliminaryhypothesisusingtheresearchtopicyou
receivedlastweek.Onceyou’vedraftedahypothesisthatyouallagreeto,yourgroupwill
shareitshypothesiswithanothergroup.Thatgroupwillreviewit,reviseitifneededandshare
theircommentswithyou.Yourgroupwillalsohavetheopportunitytoreview,reviseandshare
itsassessmentofanothergroup'shypothesis.Beforeyoubegin,besuretoreviewthecriteria
aboveforcraftingagoodhypothesis.
Beforeyougiveyourhypothesistotheothergroupforevaluation,checktomakesurethatit
meetsallofthecriteriaaboveandthateveryoneinyourgroupishappywithit.
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Lab Activity: Part III – Article Search Strategies (8 pts.)
Inthispartofthelab,wewilllearnhowtousetheuniversity’sonlineDatabaseandArticle
Searchingsitetolocaterelevantprimaryliteratureforyourresearchproject.Ioroneofthe
ScienceLibrarianswillsharetipsondesigningandconductingasuccessfulsearch,howto
retrieverelevantarticles,andhowtoproperlycitepapersinEcologyformat.
Assignment
Yourassignmentistolocateseveralpeer-reviewedprimaryliteraturearticlesonyourresearch
projecttopicthatwillhelpyoudevelopandrefineyourhypothesis.Foroneofthesepapers,
youmustwritethecitationinEcologyformatbelow.Toreceivecredit,Iwillcomearoundand
checkyourcitationforcorrectformatting.
WriteyourcitationinEcologyformatbelow:
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Post-Lab Assignment (12 pts.)
DUENEXTLAB
Name: _______________________
Toreceivecreditforthepost-labyoumustturninthisanswersheet.
1. Howcanyoutellwhetherornotanarticleisaprimaryliteraturearticle?
2. Findoneprimaryliteraturearticlethatisrelevanttoyourgroupresearchtopicandciteitbelowin
Ecologyformat.
3. Findanotherprimaryliteraturearticleonyourresearchtopicthatfocusesspecificallyonthe
environmentalfactorsthatinfluencetheabundance,diversityorbehaviorofthespeciesyouwillbe
workingwith.Citethepaperasanin-textcitationinEcologyformat.
4. Whatisthepurposeofcitingliterature?Inwhichtwotextsectionsofaprimaryliteraturepaperisit
mostcommon(andnecessary)tocitethescientificliterature?
5. Whencitingascientificarticlewithmultipleauthors,doyouchangetheorderofauthors?Explain
whyorwhynot.
6. Writeapreliminarydraftofyourgroup’sresearchhypothesisbelow.Giventhishypothesis,whatdo
youthinkwouldbeanappropriateexperimentalunit?
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General Ecology (BIO 160) | Scientific Literature
Learning Objectives
1. Understandandappropriatelyapply/usethefollowingterms:
primaryliterature
Discussion
hypothesis
secondaryliterature
LiteratureCited
nullhypothesis
Title
Ecologyformat
independentvariable
Abstract
fullcitationformat
dependentvariable
Introduction
in-textcitationformat
experimentalunit
Methods
scientificmethod
treatment
Results
observation
2. Beabletoexplainthedifferencebetweenprimaryandsecondaryliterature.
3. Beabletoexplaintheorganizationofascientificjournalarticle,plusthepurposeofits
differentsections.
4. Beabletoappropriatelyciteprimaryliteraturearticlesasfullandin-textcitationsinthe
formatusedbythejournalEcology.
5. Developskillandself-confidenceconductingsearchesforprimaryscientificliterature
articlesusingthelibrary’sonlineresources.
6. Beabletoformulateatestable,falsifiableandecologicallyrelevanthypothesis.
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