B32C09 COURSEWORK SUMMARY OF RESEARCH PAPER

QUESTIONS FROM STUDENTS

How are the marks allocated? The summary of the paper will be marked as follows Overall presentation - 2 points. Quality of appraisal 4 points e.g. written expression, quality of proof reading, correct use of terminologies, chemical names. Content 4 points e.g. is it easy to understand, can it be read as standalone summary which means that the reader can read it without the need to refer to the original paper. Can I adapt the boxes on the proforma? The boxes on the pro forma are flexible, you can adapt them to match the paper. Do not copy any part of the paper, do not copy from your fellow students (some will read the same paper). Use your own words, focus on the main findings, provide some indication of the methods (but do not summarise the procedures in detail). I've been doing my summary for the chemistry journal; however as i have a really long journal it has been difficult to keep it at 800 words. Initially I had a word count of 1300, however I have reduced it to 950 words. I feel that if I remove anymore the summary would be missing vital pieces of information. I just want to ask if I would be marked down by this as i am around 150 words over the recomended word limit. All the research articles, including your assigned article, for the coursework have been carefully reviewed by at least two staff members, to ensure that the assessment criteria could be achieved. Hence, if you exceed the specified word count, you would be penalised. In the situation that youve indicated, you would exceed the word allocation by nearly 20%! Hi i am second year pharmacy student. I have a question concerning the coursework. Do we have to write it on the proforma sheet provided or can we write it on a different word document without incuding titles for each category included?? Please refer to the detailed guidelines provided by Dr Dekker. A copy is also found at WebCT. The proforma should be used as a guide to formulate your coursework content. I know in the presentation we had on the C09 coursework it says that we can adapt the proforma as we wish, but I was unsure if that meant just the sizes of the boxes, or whether we can rearrange the titles and order. You can change the sizes and if appropriate adapt the boxes

I was wondering if we can change the subheadings on the coursework pro-forma, so that instead of having the discussion and conclusion in one section, we have the results and discussion presented together under one subheading. Yes, that would be fine If I make a table, is this included in the word count? Yes I have a quick question about the coursework, my word count is 795 counting what I have writen but when I include my figure which is a table I have modified on Word it takes my word count up to about a 1000, I have had lengthy debates with people about this, as my figure is a table and not a structure dose it affect my word count? The Table content will contribute to the specified word count. Typically, a Table could be used to summarise texture content. In the context of your coursework, a Table should be used to add value in your discussion of the key findings/discoveries of the research paper, but not to add unfocussed and diffused information. A useful Table should not be more than 30 words, hence a Table of some 200 words (i.e. 25% of your word allocation) is not only unhelpful but gives unfair advantage, and hence will be severely penalised. Are the title and authors included in the word count? No In the slide presentation it says to 'Provide the full title and the authors', does this mean that we have to include all the authors names? My paper has 9 authors so do I need to include all 9 or would it sufficient to put the first author et. al.? It does not matter too much; you can mention all the authors but if you just mention the first three authors and then et al it is also fine. Please include the title. In the paper summary should we use the spellings used in the paper or the english spellings for words? eg. the paper title says 'modeling' but in english it should be 'modelling' The English spelling would be best. But American spelling will not be penalised Can we submit our summary on webct more than once? And does this give us an originality report? In line with regulations on the submission of all materials for summative assessments, which include coursework and exam scripts, submitted materials cannot be recalled. Hence, you are only permitted to submit your B32C09 coursework once, both the electronic and an identical paper copy. The originality report is likely to be obtained by submitting your prepared coursework to Turnitin and any other similar internet software. Turnitin would report a

Similarity index in % in its Originality Report document. This process is independent and outside the WebCT submission. I am slightly confused as to what information you require in the experimental section. I have began how the first chemical was synthesised and this alone was 70 words...yet there are another 19 of these. Is it required how much of each compound was used and all their names and procedures noted? Or can we briefly state the order and general procedures? We are assessing your ability to identify and summarise the key findings of your allocated research paper. Hence, you should bear in mind these assessment criteria. As a hint, would you consider a commentary on the synthesis of a catalogue of chemical reagents the key findings or discoveries of the paper? My query is about is about using figures, in my paper there is a large table of data with different constituents to the original molecule and then the IC50 values which inform me of its selectivity. We are told that we can only use 1 figure from the text so how would I work round the fact that I can't use all the IC50 values? Should I only really refer to the new structures that have actually increased in selectivity in comparison to the starting material? Also, with structures of compounds, are we able to include those in our write up? We are assessing your ability to identify and summarise the key findings of your allocated research paper. As a hint, would you consider a description of the action of each individual compound the best way to describe the key findings or discoveries of the paper? You may use up to one figure (e.g. structure of a key compound), but you need to make this figure yourself, not copy it from the paper. I'm a second year pharmacy student currently working on my B32C09 chemistry coursework summarising a research paper. The result of the study was the creation of a new compound, hence a structural diagram of the compound isn't available from anywhere apart from the paper in question. So can I take the structural diagram from the research paper? I ask because you said not to copy any part of the paper or take any figures from it, however the compound hasn't even been named yet so is impossible to find from another source. Yes you are right, if you want to insert the chemical structure into the summary, it will be the same as in the paper; the chemical structure is the chemical structure, you should not change it. What we meant by not copying is literally not copying, but you can still draw the structure and present it in your own way. I have managed to get my total word count within the limit of 800 words, including the title for the figure that I wish to include. However, in the figure, which is mainly a chemical synthetic scheme and is composed of structures, I need to include reagents for the steps involved and am wondering whether or not 'reagents & conditions' count as part of the

final word count? Not part of the word count, only if these figure annotations/legends are less than 15 words. You should also consider if the reagents & conditions texts serve any purpose or add value to the summary report. I just wanted to ask a quick question regarding the coursework. In the coursework lecture slides it says we can have up to one figure in our work but it can't be copied. Does this mean we can only use the appropriate chem sketch programs to draw just one compound/molecule etc? This was comprehensively addressed at the revision session. Briefly, it must be obvious from the research paper(s) that you have read, a figure could be comprised of several chemical structures. With reference to the coursework for the B32C09 coursework, my paper is one with many different synthetic compounds and when talking about the results section shall I refer to them all by name or can i use the numbering references provided by the paper itself. You will be assessed for your competency in preparing a summary account that highlights the main findings/discovery of the research paper. A commentary of the lists of compounds reported in the paper cannot be the main findings of the paper. Furthermore, from the assessment criteria, your summary report should ideally be a free-standing document. Would the summary be free standing if you extensively use compound number references to the paper?