What do scholars in your field agree upon as foundational knowledge? In other words, what will audiences in your field accept without evidence? The
academic discipline this paper is about is Applied Natural (STEM) Sciences.
What am I asking you to do?
using the files provided on the topic, you will compose an IMRaD-structured report on the knowledge these sources agree upon. In other words, you will
synthesize the information from the three sources with the purpose of identifying the basic, common background of your topic that is currently accepted as
true by experts on that topic: the kind of information you’d find in a textbook, for example, where no dispute is evident. Presenting in an IMRaD pattern will
allow you to comment on your research process as well as to provide a summary of your findings.
What kinds of sources are required for this report?
a college-level academic textbook relevant to the
an academic reference source, such as specialized dictionary or encyclopedia relevant to the topic’s academic major or discipline
a circulating book or e-book on the topic
What are the additional required specifications?
Cite at least three published sources in your report.
Use a simplified CSE format for the paper’s heading, margins, page numbers, and documentation (see below for details about CSE format).
When and How is this assignment due?
Think about how you located each source, the research pathways you used to find them. In the Methods section of your Accepted Knowledge Synthesis,
you’ll comment on how and why you did the research the way you did.
identify common content across your three summarized sources: this is what we will rely upon as “accepted knowledge,” because of its confirmation across
three trustworthy sources. Detail your research process and results in an IMRaD-formatted report. See the Assessments section at the end of this prompt for
questions that each section should answer.
What is the “Simplified CSE Format” required for this assignment?
Council of Science Editors (CSE) format offers several options for documentation, but this paper is our opportunity to try out sequence-based citation;
therefore, I am limiting your CSE options to the following requirements and specifications:
Page format: one inch margins all around; double space everything; include cover page with your paper title, your name, the university name, the course, the
date (all centered); omit header and page number on the cover page; after the cover page, header (top right of each page) should include title and page
number (starting with 2).
Center section titles (subheadings) on the page (Introduction, Methods, etc.).
Title your source list “End References” and start it on a new page after your report ends.
Paraphrase or summarize whenever possible; quotation is very rare in CSE style writing.
Instead of in-text citations, use a number in brackets to identify the source you’re citing in the body of your paper (see the Absence article for an example of
the sequence-based citation method). The first source you cite will be source [1]. When you cite a source again, later in your paper, continue to use its original
citation number (so, you may have three or four places where you write [1], for example).
Your End References list will follow the order in which you used the sources in the paper. Each source will be numbered in your End References list.
Here’s the End Reference entry template for books and e-books, including reference books:
Numeral. Author (last name first initial middle initial). Date of publication. Title (1st word capitalized; no italics or quotation marks). Publication city:
Publisher. If online, follow this with date of access in brackets and then the URL. Do not use hanging indent; make a numbered list with the numbers flush on
the left margin, as this list you’re reading now appears.
Samples:
Smith MN, Davis T, Wilson BQ, Forkner SL. 2016. Open heart surgery. Boston (MA): McMillan.
Rosen CG. 2007. Introduction to biology [Internet]. Chicago (IL): University of Chicago; [cited 2019 Oct 22]. Available from
http://www.madeupsite.edu/129873
The report will be evaluated on clear, direct and thorough but concise response to the following essential questions:
Introduction: What is your overall research question/topic for the synthesis project? What aspect or foundation of that topic is the focus of your background
investigation in this report? Why (how is that background topic relevant to your current synthesis research?)?
Methods: Detail your research pathways for the Accepted Knowledge Synthesis. Which sources got you started? Where did you go from there? Why did you
feel these sources were respectable and relevant? Make it possible for someone else to recreate your research journey, and help us understand why you
made the choices you did along the way. (Compliance with source specifications is also scored here.)
Results: What important facts about your topic are presented in each of these sources (individually)?
Discussion: Which important facts about your topic are consistently held to be true across two or more of these sources? Document the appearance of these
facts in at least two sources per fact, to demonstrate the shared belief. How will this background knowledge help you to continue your research into current
conversation about your synthesis paper topic?
References and format: How well do your report’s format and documentation conform to CSE citation-sequence style as detailed in this assignment guide?