Details

Written critique assessment task – overview
Set article: Møller, A. and Mousseau, T. (2009) Reduced abundance of insects and spiders linked to radiation at Chernobyl 20 years after the accident.  Biology Letters, 5: 356-359 (pdf in folder on LMS)

Task: Summarise and critique Moller and Mousseau (2009), where relevant, on aspects such as, but not necessarily limited to, overall aim, experimental design, data presentation, contribution to the area of study.

Use the discussion in your week 7 tutorial session to help you approach evaluating and critiquing the article.  Also see the ‘tips’ files in the Tutorial week 7 pdf folder.
Your critique should be structured using paragraphs, with appropriate subheadings if necessary. Ideas should link together.  Do not simply list answers to the questions posed in the tutorial or in the tips for successful evaluation.
Use other scientific papers from the primary literature to help you understand the broader context of the set article’s research field.  Such papers can assist in identifying, the questions and hypotheses, the appropriateness of the methods, the interpretation of the results and, the conclusions.  Published articles by other authors can also help to support your conclusions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the set article.   Do not rely on the set article as the only source of information.
Length: 1500 words (excluding References)

Format: Double spaced lines.  Font – Times New Roman, Arial or equivalent.  Size – 12 point.  Margins -‘Word’ Moderate (approx. 2.5cm left and right, approx. 1.9 top and bottom).  Following these guidelines assists reading and allows for easy annotation by tutors.

Referencing: Follow the FSTE First Year Survival Guide 3rd ed (2013) instructions for referencing, which can be found in Chapter 5.  There are multiple copies of the 2013 FSTE First Year Survival Guide available in the library in the 3hr Reserve area.

Assessment criteria:  These will be discussed at the end of the week 7 tutorial and posted on LMS (in the same section as this overview – ‘Written article critique’)

Additional Files:

Reduced-abundance-of-insects-and-spiders-linked-to-radiation.pdf