Research Guides: Biological Sciences: Writing & Citing

Writing & Citing

Consult the Library's Writing and Citing resources to learn more about how to use a citation management database to track, build, edit and produce references and bibliographies. There are many different and free citation management tools available. A more extensive list may be found here.

A key citation management tool that provides citations in a variety of styles for books and articles is ZoteroBib. Try it out by cutting and pasting ISBNs and DOIs.

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
A current and comprehensive guide to writing including how to reference and cite using most often use citation styles including APA.
Zotero
Fast becoming one of the most used, free, online citation management tool among many new products! Register for an online account here, install Zotero as a free standalone application here , select different styles to import here, consult this UNC Library video here, add a Word plugin to allow you to do intext citing here, add the Zotfile plugin to help manage your PDFs here, watch a video on Working with PDFs here, and consult this NorthWestern Library guide for tips here or watch basic Zotero how to videos here.
Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (2014)
CSE Style Guide (IRSC Libraries)
CSE Citation Style - Quick Guide (Dalhousie)
Harvard System (Anglia Ruskin University)
Harvard System of Referencing (De Montfort University)
Manual on Scientific Communication for Postgraduate Students and Young Researchers in the Technical, Natural and LIfe Sciences (2017)

Help with Writing, Presentations and Lab Reports!

A selective list of resources to help with writing up laboratory reports.

Lab Report Writing (WriteOnline)
An excellent resource on case study, lab report, literature review and reflective writing by Ontario universities.
Writing Lab Reports (Trent)
Sample Lab Report (PDF)
Scientific Laboratory Reports (UNC Chapel Hill)
How to write a Biology Lab Report (Assignment Expert)
Writing Lab Reports or Research Reports (Guelph)
Writing Undergraduate Lab Reports: A Guide for Students (2017)
A hands-on approach to providing structure, crafting, and writing reports.

Resources that can help you when writing a summary of a research article.

E-books and documents that can help with your report, essay, presentation or poster.

Communicate Science Papers, Presentations, and Posters Effectively (2015)
Communication Skills for Biosciences (2010)
Covers essay writing, practical reports, dissertations, projects and presenting in individual, group and poster presentation settings Offers advice on how to avoid common errors including plagiarism using 'what not to do' boxes throughout the text Includes practical advice on how best to communicate scientific material to different audiences e.g. undergraduates, tutors and non-scientists.
Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism (2016)
The Craft of Scientific Presentations: Critical Steps to Success and Critical Errors to Avoid (in print, 2013)
An excellent review on tips for presentations, teaches the assertion-evidence approach to scientific presentations and more!
An Editor's Guide to Writing and Publishing Science (2019)
From Research to Manuscript: A Guide to Scientific Writing (2006)
Explains how to understand and summarize a research project. From data gathering to writing drafts and rewrites, details each section of a science paper recognizing that experiments in different disciplines need different presentations, and it is illustrated with examples from well-written papers on a wide variety of scientific subjects.
Good Style: Writing for Science and Technology (2005)
An excellent book on writing style e.g. verb tenses, vocabulary, phrasing, punctuation,etc. and how to write for different audiences.
How to Write a Good Scientific Paper (SPIE PDF, 2018)
Open source PDF, all about teaching the style and conventions of writing for a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (2016)
This book remains a current “how-to book” or “cookbook,” focusing mainly on points of practical importance with a legacy of helping those for whom English is not a native language.
Mastering Academic Writing in the in the Sciences: A Step-by-Step Guide (2018)
An invaluable resource for those working on a PhD thesis, research paper, dissertation, or report including sections on before you begin, prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, grammar and examples...
Reporting Research: A Biologist's Guide to Articles, Talks, and Posters (2014)
How to create posters, speak about your work, and improve your writing with the aim to write, speak,
and illustrate clearly and concisely.
Science Research Writing for Non-native Speakers of English (2010)
Scientific Papers and Presentations (2012)
An excellent summary of communicating science whether in person, writing, posters, writing a thesis, paper or publishing data.
Scientific Writing: Thinking in Words (2011)
How to write about your thinking, readability, style, how to refine your discussion, hypothesis testing, and getting started.
Scientists Guide to Writing: How to Write More Easily and Effectively... (2016)
Provides practical advice to help scientists at all levels write as part of a process to become more effective writers so that their ideas have the greatest possible impact.
Short Guide to Writing About Biology (in print, 2016)
A Student Handbook for writing in Biology (in print, 2017)
Includes examples of step-by-step instructions for preparing a laboratory report, paper or presentations.
Successful Scientific Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Biological and Medical Sciences (2014)
Tools for Critical Thinking in Biology (2015)
Essential resource on how to present biological arguments, think through issues, and connect discovery, observations, and data to stories.
Writing in the Biological Sciences: A Comprehensive Resource for Scientific Communication (in print, 2019)
Print book, presents students with all of the techniques and information they need to communicate their scientific ideas, insights, and discoveries. Chapters deal with fundamentals, style, reports, papers, critiquing articles, presentations, posters, job applications, language, etc.
Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences (in print, 2017)
Classic book, mandatory for biological students as a handy reference, best practices, with checklists on handling data, using tables/figures, drafting, etc.
Writing Science in Plain English (in print, 2013)
Writing Scientific Research Articles (2013)
Strategies and steps on how to apply analysis and synthesis skills to overcoming the challenge of how to write for publishing, respond to referees, polish up drafts, and be effective.