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How
to Write a Bioethics Research Paper without Plagiarizing M. Halsall Bell 900 February 31, 2021
“As part of your Research Scope and Sequence Program, all Biology students are required to complete a research project on a current bioethical issue” (Halsall “Bioethics”). You can find the requirements on-line at Mrs. H’s website, but they will be explained and examples will be given in this paper (Halsall “Bioethics”). You will first choose a biotechnology topic that has ethical considerations from the list provided (Halsall “Topics”). Only one student from each class may choose a specific topic, so it is important that you look over the list ahead of time, choose several that interest you and look on-line to see what kind of information you can find, and then claim your topic before school on the day that you can choose your topic. If you wait until later in the day, you may not get one of your top choices (Halsall “Bioethics”). You will be given three days in the library, as seen on the schedule on-line, to research your topic and find appropriate resources to support the question you develop in your paper. If you find your resources early, you should start your outline. If you finish your outline in those three days, you should start your rough draft (Halsall “Bioethics”). Do not waste your library time by socializing, because you will get no more class time for your paper. Your outline due and preliminary “Works Cited” date is on-line, and is set in stone. If there is not a school wide emergency where school is called off, there will be a “No paper. No grade. No excuses” policy in effect (Halsall “Bioethics”). The outline is due at the beginning of the bell, and will not be give a grade other than “0” if it is not handed in early or at that time. If you get sick that morning, call a friend and have them deliver your outline. If you know ahead of time that you will be absent, get it in early. Computer problems are not a valid excuse. If you do not have access from home, use Mrs. Halsall’s or the library’s computers. Give yourself enough time to take care of problems if they occur (Halsall “Bioethics”). If you have been smart, you have saved your work to the school web. You can do that from home by accessing your files through the district’s Virtual Private Network (Virtual). You may use sentences for your outline, or you may use phrases (but not single words) instead. You will have to reference the resources where you found your information and ideas. You do that through internal citations of these resources, which you will list on your “Works Cited” page. Place the internal citation in parentheses at the end of the information in your outline so that you have the internal citation when you go to write your paper. You know that you should have internal citations for quotes, but you also must have internal citations for any ideas of information that you got from your research sources. Be sure to include these at the appropriate places in your outline (Halsall “Bioethics”). The papers, books, on-line resources, and other resources that contain the information that you use in your paper must be in your “Works Cited” section. You need to find a minimum of five resources. There is no maximum number allowed. One must be a printed resource other than your textbook, one must be an ethics resource (I will give you that resource reference and internal citation), and two must be internet sources. If you use a general encyclopedia, your textbook, or “Wikipedia” they must be in your “Works Cited” but they will not count toward your total of five references. (“Wikipedia,” Halsall “Bioethics”). Your first section of your outline should introduce the bioethical question, give a historical perspective, and contain scientific background information. This is where you may discuss the history of the technology, and what the traditional approach has been. You will also want to discuss the biology behind the technology, which, in simple words, is how the technology is actually done. This section will take about two pages of your written paper. Do not leave out the history and science, because you will lose lots of points if you can’t show that you understand the science behind the technology. All of this information should have internal citations referring back to the resource listed in the “Works Cited” section (Halsall “Bioethics”). The next section is about the various viewpoints about the biotechnology and its ethical use. Do not support any one viewpoint, but explain the various uses and views from the resources you found. You do not have to find only positives and negatives. This is not a “pro” and “con” paper. There may be viewpoints in the middle as well. You are not arguing any one viewpoint, just giving all the uses and views that are available. Be sure to use internal citations for all of the resources you talk about. The resources will all be in your “works cited” (Halsall “Bioethics”). The last section will discuss the ethical use of biotechnology being discussed. Be sure to use our ethics resource to examine the ethical questions that arise because of use of the technology (Halsall “Bioethics”). Examine the core ethical considerations, and how the technology either reaches or does not reach these standards, and therefore how it should be used. Since this is a formal, scholarly paper, this does not mean that you will give an emotional rant. This is an even-handed, thoughtful, scholarly paper. You will also write this in the third person, so the word “I” will not appear in your paper (Halsall “Bioethics”). Remember, you will submit your “Works Cited” page at the same time as you submit your outline. I cannot grade the outline unless I have your “Works Cited” page, too, so that I can see that each internal citation matches your “Works Cited” resource (Halsall “Bioethics”). I will also check the form of your “Works Cited” entries to be sure that they follow the MLA format. You can find examples of MLA citations for different types of resources at our school library web site (Colpi). Once your outline and “Works Cited” are submitted, you are ready to start writing your rough draft. I will turn the outline and “Works Cited” back as soon as they are graded so that you can make any changes that are necessary to improve your rough draft. (Save this grade sheet! You will need it again!) Be sure to make the corrections to your “Works Cited” and internal citations! I will also have correct obvious spelling and grammar errors, as well as made suggestions for improvements. Be sure to take those to heart and improve your paper (Halsall “Bioethics”). Your paper should fill out and follow your outline. Write your rough draft as if it is your final draft. Make it as correct as possible. Be sure that your cover/title page is correct and contains all the information asked for. Start typing one inch from the top of the page, and do not have your name or the title on any of the pages of the body of the paper, nor on the “Works Cited” page. The finished work should be from 1500 to 2000 words long in order to sufficiently cover the topic. This includes quotes, with a total of up to 100 words. If you quote over 100 words in your whole paper, you have defeated the reason for using quotes. In this paper, quotes will be used for emphasis, not to deliver information. Look for clever, concise wording of important ideas. Quote the best, and paraphrase the rest! Be sure that both quoted material and paraphrased information is followed by the appropriate internal citation, and that the referenced work in the “Works Cited” section is correct. Be sure to use the “grammar check” as well as the “spell check” capabilities of your computer. Many of the grammar errors in papers are due to problems with homonyms and will not be picked up with either, so have someone else read your paper (Halsall “Bioethics”). When you turn in your rough draft and corrected “Works Cited” page, I will look for agreement between your internal citations and your “Works Cited” entries. I will also look for other obvious problems in the format of the paper so that you can correct those and not lose points when you turn in your final paper. I will not grade the content of your paper at this time, but may make suggestions. I would take any changes or suggestions seriously and make changes to improve your paper. I will not grade your final paper if you do not make the corrections! I do not want to have to do the same thing twice, and you don’t want to lose points for spelling, grammar, or other format considerations. I will also check the margins at this time. If your margins are not one inch all the way around, you will lose points on your final paper (Halsall “Bioethics”). Sometimes you need to set the margin to another value for it to print out with one inch margins. This is often the case with the bottom margin, which you may have to set as low as 0.8 inches to get the right width. This is a function of your computer and printer compatibility, as well as the settings (see your technology staff for help). Before the due date, I will give you a check-off sheet for the items you need to turn in with your paper. Be sure to stack them up in the order given, so that check-in of your paper is quick and smooth. The biggest problem students have is not submitting two complete copies of their paper. A complete copy consists of a cover page, the body of the paper, and the “Works Cited” page (Halsall “Bioethics”). One of the most important things I will look for is originality of your work. Plagiarism is a big problem when you are using web sources. It is so easy to copy and paste and the temptation to do so can be high. This is a habit that you do not want to have. Universities are finding that plagiarism is rampant on campuses, and are taking steps to stop it. These steps include at the least failure of the class in which the plagiarism occurred, through expulsion from the university, to revoking degrees. To help you avoid unintentional plagiarism, it is important to learn to paraphrase effectively. One technique to use is to read the information you want to paraphrase several times so that you think you understand it. Then turn the paper over, and write what you understood the paper to say in your own words. Check to see that your understanding is correct, and put an internal citation after the paragraph you just wrote. Do not just change as word here and there, or use synonyms with the same sentence structure as the original. That is not paraphrasing (“Paraphrase”). When you submit your paper to Turnitin, you will be able to see any inadvertent plagiarism and will have the opportunity to correct the problem and resubmit to Turnitin (Turnitin.com). Be sure you have done this before you submit your final paper, because I will see the plagiarism and will not be happy! It is a smart idea to finish your paper ahead of time so that you can take care of any problems in printing or finishing your paper. I will be glad to help you solve your problem if you come to me a week or so ahead of time. If your printer is almost out of ink, please change your ink cartridge or arrange to print at school. If the ink on your finished paper is smeared, you will want to clean your printer and reprint. Your paper is a formal paper. You want it to look as crisp, clean, and professional as possible. Since the due date is not flexible, you cannot hand the paper in late due to computer problems, being absent, or other problems that arise at the last minute. Be sure that you have a back-up plan to get your paper to school at the beginning of your class period. This will be an enjoyable experience and you will learn a lot about analyzing science if you keep on pace to meet the deadlines and work with your teacher!
Works Cited Colpi, Emily. “MLA Citation Format and Examples.” 2007. Mariemont High School Library. Mariemont City Schools. 24 Jan. 2008 <http://www.mariemontschools.org/hslibrary/MLA/mla_handbook.php>. Halsall, Mary. “Bioethics Research Paper.” Mrs. H’s Biology Homepage. 18 Jan. 2008. Mariemont City Schools. 24 Jan. 2008 <http://www.mariemontschools.org/halsall/q3bioethrespaper.htm>. Halsall, Mary. “Topics of Bioethical Interest.” Mrs. H’s Biology Homepage. 22 Jan. 2008. Mariemont City Schools. 24 Jan. 2008 <http://www.mariemontschools.org/halsall/questbioeth.htm>. “Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words.” The OWL at Purdue. 2007. 24 Jan. 2008 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/01/>. Virtual Private Network. 2007. Mariemont City Schools. 24 Jan. 2008 <http://www.mariemontschools.org>.
Turnitin. 2008.
iParadigms, LLC. 4 Feb. 2008 <http://turnitin.com>. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 10 Jan. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org >.
© Mariemont City Schools 2002, Halsall (08/18/08 )
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