Describe at least two of the requirements for a planet to support (and sustain) life (e.g., water, etc.).

Earth Sciences 1086F/G
Scientific Report – For an essay course you are required to compose original material that reflects your ability to
comprehend and synthesize information from a variety of sources. For this course you will be required
to write a 1500-word scientific report on an assigned topic.
The topic is “THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARS”. Humans have long been fascinated with the
prospect of finding life on the planet Mars. Historically, it was believed that complex civilizations once
thrived there. However, currently we have not yet found evidence of even simple bacterial life. In the
summer of 2020 NASA launched their mission “Mars 2020”, which put a new rover called Perseverance
on the surface of Mars. The main purpose of Perseverance is to look for evidence of life and collect
samples that will later be returned to Earth. Your assignment is to write a scientific report about life on
Mars. You will be asked to research and write about two themes: 1) Why do we believe there is a
possibility of life on Mars? and 2) What kind of evidence of life are we searching for?
The most important skill in writing a scientific report is the ability to obtain useful and quality
information from published literature. To do this well, you must be able to:
1. Choose quality sources
2. Scrutinize what you are reading
3. Recognize the information that is pertinent to your report
4. Summarize the pertinent information in your own words
5. Synthesize the information into a coherent and succinct argument
To polish the skills required to write a decent report you may submit your work twice. The report is
worth 35% and is submitted in two different versions. The first version will be worth 25% of your
course grade. You will receive feedback on this version that you can use to improve your essay and
resubmit for the second version, which is worth 10% of the course grade. Revising your essay to
improve its content, based on feedback from your TA, is an opportunity both to improve your writing
and to increase your grade. The revised (second) version of the essay may be submitted at any time up to
the final submission deadline. If no revisions are made or if you do not submit a second version, the
grade for the final version will be the same as that for the first version.
Your report will be marked on:
1. Content (which reflects your ability to gather, synthesize and convey information): 60%.
Please see the detailed OUTLINE (below) for a summary of the information you need to include
in your report.
2. Formatting (based on your ability to follow instructions and your writing style): 40%
Please see the FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS (below) for specific instructions on how to
format your report.
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This document includes the following information:
1. OUTLINE – provides a summary of the information you MUST include in your report and is a
guideline on the expected layout of the report.
2. MARKING SCHEME – provides a breakdown of mark distribution for the report.
3. DUE DATES and late penalties
4. SUBMISSION process for OWL
5. TURNITIN – This software checks for similarities among student reports and other published
work. Here you can find information on what to expect for your Turnitin report.
6. GENERATIVE AI – Although the use of Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) is not required some
people may choose to use it. A statement regarding Generative AI is REQUIRED for all essays.
Place this on the Title Page.
7. TIPS FOR CHOOSING GOOD REFERENCES – You must use at least 12 sources for your
report. At least 4 of your references must be from peer-reviewed scientific journals. This
document will give you tips on selecting quality sources. Marks will be given for quality of
references and formatting.
8. FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS – This is a detailed list of how to format your report. Follow
these guidelines carefully – they are fairly standard requirements for scientific reports (and it is a
road map for free marks). Many students needlessly lose marks by not bothering to read these
instructions.
a. File format and naming
b. Word limit
c. Title Page
d. Table of contents
e. Section Headings
f. Figures and Table
g. Citation and Reference formatting
h. Spelling and Grammar
i. Help with writing
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OUTLINE:
Please use the following outline to guide your research and writing. It is expected that your report will
include discussion of all things included in this outline.
Note: In each of these sections I am looking for more detailed information here than what is provided in
the course notes. Search the literature, seek recent research studies, always provide evidence for your
statements (do not cite course notes), and always put your facts in context (e.g., provide background and
explain implications).
I am giving approximate word-counts for each section – these are loose guidelines (and will not be
marked) to help you gauge the level of detail I’m expecting and the significance of each section. Only
the overall word-count (1500) will be marked.
Introduction (250-300 words) (10 marks)
Begin by just stating very simple facts – all the details will come in later in the report.
• You’ll want to provide some introductory facts that will convince the reader that your subject is
worth discussion. You should include:
o Where/what is Mars?
o Why are we investigating life on Mars and not other planets?
• You’ll need to include a definition of “life”.
• Give some historical context – did people ever believe there was life on Mars? Why or why not?
What is the current belief?
• Statement of Aim (this may be a subsidiary heading under Introduction or simply a separate
paragraph): just a sentence or two about what the report will cover.
Can Mars Support Life? (400-600 words) (20 marks)
• Describe at least two of the requirements for a planet to support (and sustain) life (e.g., water,
etc.). Please note that liquid water and temperatures that allow water to be liquid are the same thing.
• Discuss (in detail) TWO pieces of evidence that Mars meets (or met at some time) some of these
requirements. Note – I am not asking for evidence of life, just evidence that there was a suitable
environment to support life. For each piece of evidence, you have chosen explain:
o What was observed? (e.g., ice crystals)
o How was it observed? (e.g., satellite images)
o What does the evidence prove? (e.g., Mars has water)
• Did Mars have the right conditions to support life in the past? What about now?
Ongoing Search for Life (500-700 words) (25 marks)
• In the previous section you proved (I hope) that there is a possibility that life can/could exist on
Mars (e.g., Mars has water). In this section you will discuss how we search for life on Mars. If
you are confused about the difference between these two sections, please ask for clarification on
the Forums.
• Discuss (in detail) TWO of the past strategies used to find evidence of LIFE on Mars
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o Where have we been looking? (e.g., parts of the planet, meteorites etc.)
o What have we been looking for? (footprints, fossils, methane, isotopes etc)
o What was observed?
o What has worked/failed and does failure mean that there is no Martian life?
• What are the strategies/technologies that various missions will use to search for life on Mars?
• What would be the significance if we are successful? Try to justify why we are sending missions
to Mars.
Conclusions (150 words) (5 marks)
This is a summary of the important parts of the report; neither new material nor personal opinions
should be included.
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MARKING SCHEME
Major Assignment – Scientific Report
In order that you appreciate how important format is to a scientific report, there is an almost equal split
in marks for format (40%) and content (60%) for the assignment.
Component: Marks Comments
Generative AI
Statement-NEW!
-5 No marks are given for including the statement but failing to
include one will cause you to lose 5 marks. See below.
Formatting: See the Report Preparation Instructions for formatting
information. Deductions will be made for each formatting error
Title page 2
Table of Contents 5
Word limit – See report formatting instructions for deductions
Page numbers 2
Illustrations/Tables 8 Quality and suitability: illustrations should support and enhance
your report
Headings 2
References 10 Marks for correct formatting and quality of references. See
Choosing References for instructions.
Spelling 3
Grammar 3
Style 5 Marks for coherent and clear writing and professional
presentation.
Content: See the Report Outline for details of what should be included in
the following sections. You will be graded on what information
you choose to include, the accuracy of that information and how
well you express that information, justify your arguments and
achieve your statement of aim.
Introduction 10
Can Mars support
Life?
20
Ongoing search for
Life
25
Conclusion 5
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Due Dates
• First version: Wednesday, February 28
th at 3:00 pm
• Second version: Wednesday, April 3
rd at 3:00 pm
• The “Due Dates” recorded here, on the syllabus (and in the OWL Calendar) are the final
dates of submission without penalty.
• If you have technical difficulties submitting an assignment, contact the instructor
immediately.
• Assignments submitted within two hours after the deadline will receive a 2 mark penalty.
• For 5 days following those “Due Dates” (including weekend days) reports may be submitted
but will be subject to a deduction of 10 marks per day. No reports will be accepted after that.
• Extensions will not be granted because you have a time problem on the due date; it’s up to
you to manage your time and get the report assignment submitted.
• If you require an extension for a legitimate medical or personal reason (e.g., physical illness
or extreme stress or compassionate consideration) please get documentation from your doctor
and take it to an academic counsellor in your home faculty.
• When you submit an assignment, you will receive an email receipt from OWL and an email
receipt fro Turnitin.com. Keep these for your records.
Submission Process
1. Before you submit, open the assignment (in MS Word) and be sure that it looks the way you want the marker
to view it. If you make any changes, remember to resave in the correct format. Close the file. Also save the
file as a PDF to preserve formatting.
2. Go to the OWL site for our course. Choose “Assignments” from the left-hand menu.
3. From the Assignment List choose “Scientific Report – Version 1 (or 2)”
4. You will now see information about the assignment including:
• The due date and time.
• Information about the assignment including this attachment.
• Below that is the title ‘Submission’, and “Attachments”
• Where it says “select a file from computer” click the BROWSE button and a window will open showing
files on your computer.
• Select your assignment file from your computer (click open to attach). This is what you use to send your
report from your computer to the UWO server.
• Please attach a WORD document (which the marker can edit) AND a PDF version.
5. When done, the pop-up disappears, and you’ll be back to the assignment page. You should see your report
listed just below the Attachment title.
6. Below the Comments box are the options: Submit, Preview, Save Draft, Cancel. Click on Submit.
7. You will then get a highlighted message at the top of the screen telling you that your assignment was
submitted at a specific time; if you get that message, everything has gone well. [If you don’t get that
message, then the report has NOT been submitted. First, check that your computer is properly configured; if
it is and still nothing works contact WTS for help].
8. Click OK and you’re done!
9. When you submit an assignment, you will receive an email receipt from OWL and an email receipt from
Turnitin.com. Keep these for your records.
Submission problems: Contact Western Technical Services (which takes time) at: https://wts.uwo.ca/helpdesk/
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Turnitin
Turnitin.com is the name of the software that Western uses to check submitted work for plagiarism.
This software compares your report to everything that has been published, everything on the internet,
and all other student papers that have been previously submitted to Turnitin (from any university).
When you submit your assignments through the OWL system it will automatically be checked by the
TURNITIN software (no need to submit your report anywhere else).
Of course, I do not want you to plagiarize anything. I am giving you the chance to see the “similarity
report” generated by Turnitin before the assignment deadline. This means that if you submit your
assignment early, you can see the Turnitin report (it can take a day or two for the report to be generated
if the system is busy) and you will know whether there are any passages that are similar (or copied) from
other sources. You will then have a chance to make changes and resubmit the report (you can do this an
infinite number of times until the deadline, but you can only submit once after the deadline).
The Turnitin report is what I use to determine if your paper contains plagiarism. Each Turnitin report
generates a “score” out of 100. Of course, it is almost impossible to have a score of zero – this is a large
class, everyone is doing the same assignment and parts of your work will likely be highlighted as being
like other students in the class. I will be looking through your assignments to ensure that you do not
have sentences or paragraphs copied from one source or another.
IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ
Scores of up to 25% are not unusual, because literally thousands of essays on this topic have been
submitted worldwide. Scores more than 25% could indicate a problem. You MUST check your score
and ensure it is below 25% otherwise the following penalties will be automatically applied:
• Turnitin Scores of 26-30% will receive a 10% deduction.
• Turnitin Scores of 31-35% will receive a 20% deduction.
• Turnitin Scores of 36-40% will receive a 30% deduction.
• Turnitin Scores of 41-45% will receive a 40% deduction.
• Turnitin Scores of 46-50% will receive a 50% deduction.
• Turnitin Scores above 50% will receive a grade of zero (0) and you will be contacted.
Turnitin Scores above 50% will be scrutinized for originality in the written content. If evidence of
plagiarism is found, you will be reported to the Dean. Plagiarism is a serious offense (see note on
plagiarism below) and is treated seriously in this class.
Please note: it may take several minutes, several hours, or even a day for Turnitin to generate a report.
Please plan accordingly! My advice to you is this:
1) Prepare a draft of your assignment well before the deadline
2) Submit the draft assignment and view your Turnitin report early
3) If you have a high Turnitin score (>25%) or any highlighted sections beyond a partial sentence,
reference, or equation then rewrite those sections.
4) Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you are below 25% and happy with the result and then submit the final
version of your assignment.
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IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Use of Generative AI is not required in this course.
Generative AI uses sophisticated models that can generate responses to “prompts” from existing
examples and patterns. Generative AI models use natural language processing (NLP), neural networks,
and deep learning AI algorithms to extract patterns in data. However, you should be aware that all
Generative AI platforms (like ChatGPT) still tend to make up facts and fake citations. You are
responsible for any inaccurate, biased, offensive, or otherwise unethical content you submit regardless of
whether it comes from you or a Generative AI platform.
I acknowledge that some students may be interested in exploring the use of Generative AI as a learning
tool. I have chosen not to ban its use in this course. Instead, I require that all essays MUST contain one
of the two following statements:
1) I did not use artificial intelligence in creating this paper; or
2) I did use artificial intelligence in creating this paper. I affirm I did not generate text with
artificial intelligence and directly copy it into my paper.
You may use of Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, etc.) to get you started and/or help you when you are
stuck. If you choose to do this, you must include a brief description of the following:
• Software and version used.
• A complete list of prompts.
• How the generative AI was used (e.g., brainstorming, preparing an outline, discovering facts
about the topic, locating background information, improving
grammar/spelling/punctuation/structure, etc.)
Why can’t I directly copy words from an AI engine into my essay? There are multiple reasons:
1) this is considered plagiarism (which means presenting others’ words as if they were our own)
2) I have already created several essays using various Generative AI models so Turnitin is
already good at detection and you will likely get a very high similarity index;
3) AI engines are notoriously unreliable on facts;
4) AI engines reproduce biases and prejudices from their source material; and
5) using AI to generate text robs you of the chance to develop your own critical thinking.
The point of this essay course is to help you develop your ability to think critically. Writing is a
mechanism to convey your critical thinking. The act of writing helps you cultivate your own
intelligence. Not artificial intelligence.
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CHOOSING GOOD REFERENCES
For your scientific report part of your mark will be based on the quality and formatting of your
references. To ensure that you make good choices begin this process early to make certain that you read
quality sources that will enable you to write a quality report.
For the report you will be asked to cite at least 12 references. Reference sources may be textbooks,
journals or websites…anything that is ‘reputable science’. You will be graded on the quality of the
sources you choose and the formatting of the citations:
• Are at least 4 of your sources from scientific, peer-reviewed journal articles?
• Do your sources cover the range of topics required for the final report?
• Presentation – Have you followed the formatting instructions (see below)?
Tips:
1. The best possible source of information will come from scientific articles (printed in scientific
journals). If you want full marks for “quality” of the references, then please ensure that at least 4
of your sources are from scientific journals. These articles have been peer-reviewed so we know
that the science is good, and the facts are valid. What is peer-review? To have a scientific study
published it first has to be read and critiqued by other scientists who are experts in the same field
(this are your peers). This process is meant to eliminate the publication of bad science.
2. Information on the internet is not always reliable. If you are going to use web-sites for
information, chose those that:
a. Have reliable authors (e.g., sites of government science agencies like NASA, Canada
Space Agency, USGS, NOAA and Environment Canada)
b. Have cited the source of their information (e.g., Wikipedia articles often have a long list
of references at the bottom – if they don’t, then be wary).
3. Avoid highly personalized, subjective opinions (like blogs) that do not quote scientific
investigations (i.e., the stuff that’s ‘off-the-wall’).
4. Be skeptical when you read news articles as journalists can sometimes report incorrect
information if they don’t understand the subject. Often news articles will cite an original study
and it is always best if you can go find and use that source.
5. Avoid using material from the course notes! The final report is a test of your writing and
research skills so it is important to hunt for your own information.
Tips for finding resources:
1. If you are on-campus, you can access any electronic journals in the library system; if you are offcampus, you can do the same by logging in to the library system using your UWO ID and
password. You can also access the UWO library system through the EZ-Proxy link on our OWL
site. It is worth taking a quick cruise through the journals ‘Science’ and ‘Nature’ this way.
These are high profile science journals that offer “short” (2-3 pages) article on cutting edge
science.
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2. Use an academic database to search for scientific journal articles
a. Go to the Western Libraries site (sign in using EZ-proxy if you are off-campus)
b. Choose Research Tools along the top menus
c. Choose Databases
d. The databases are listed alphabetically. A good data base that covers most topics in the
natural sciences is “Web of Science”.
e. Start searching using key words
3. If you find a paper you like and want to see who else might have written similar information, you
can do a “cited reference search”. For example, look up that paper in Web of Science and when
viewing the abstract go to the bottom of the page and click on “Times cited”. This will show you
all the papers that have cited that paper since it was written.
A word on using references for writing your report
I expect that your report will compile information from at least 12 references. I have given you
these numbers because students often ask what the bare minimum is they need to do and I think
that you can write a decent paper by choosing the best 12 sources you have read/skimmed/seen.
But please be aware, that there is no magic number because it depends on the subject and quality
of each source. You should read/use as many references as it takes you to understand the subject
matter and write about it using your own words. For example, if you only read one source about
a particular detail (e.g., is there water on the Moon?) it will be very hard to put that in your own
words. But if you read 3-4 articles/web sites about this subject, then you will begin to see what
themes/facts are common among all the articles (a fact found in more than one source is more
likely to be true), what key points are important to the subject (a point made by several different
authors is likely an important point), and whether or not there is any controversy (you can’t
identify any controversy or weak science if you only read one author’s opinion).
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REPORT PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS
A significant portion of you mark is for correct formatting. Follow these instructions closely if
you want those marks.
The requirements for a good scientific report are always very rigorous. What I’ve defined below is
roughly what an editor of a scientific journal might ask of you. There are a few notable differences
between a scientific report and an essay:
1) Scientific reports use headings for different sections of the report
2) Nothing is ever written in the first person (do not use “I”).
3) We only report facts. We do not include personal opinions except on rare occasions. Those
opinions must be backed up by facts from a cited reference.
4) We use figures to demonstrate complex ideas (maps, graphs with data, diagrams) that would be
complicated to explain in words.
There are many details in the following sections that you must remember; please print them out and
keep it handy as you construct your report. I am not trying to torture you with super long
instructions. I am trying to tell you exactly what you need to do to get a good mark. Follow the
instructions!
File Format
Please, save your file with your last name in the file name
Please submit your report as both a Microsoft WORD document and a PDF file.
• We need the WORD document so that we can add comments and edits to your report.
• We need the PDF so that original formatting will be preserved (and figures won’t be displaced)
Most word processing software converts files readily to MSWord. It’s usually done in the ‘Save As…’
option. Please understand that I cannot accept reports submitted in any other formats because
markers will not have other software. We do not want to mark a PDF file because it is difficult to
insert comments and tedious to calculate the word count. A PDF file can be marked, but may not
receive many comments.
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Report Structure
1. Report length
Word count should be 1500 ± 200 (double spaced). Do the word-count as follows:
• Place the cursor at the beginning of the word “Introduction” and select straight through to the last
word in “Conclusions”. The count of that block should be 1500 ± 200 words; that is the method of
counting the marker will use. DO NOT selectively add/subtract any components (headings, figure
captions, etc.) within that block. However, if your software for ‘word count’ shows a checked box for
“Include textboxes, footnotes and endnotes”, then uncheck that box.
• Reports with word counts between 1100 and 1299 words or between 1701 and 1900 words will be
penalized 5 marks.
• Reports less than 1100 words or greater than 1900 words will be penalized 10 marks.
2. Title Page
o The title page must include
▪ report title
▪ author’s name
▪ student number
▪ date submitted
▪ name/number of this course.
▪ Generative AI Statement
o The title page must not have a page number (the easiest thing is to assign it ‘0’ but not have page
number printing start appearing until page 1; see the options under ‘Insert’ and ’Page
Numbering’).
o Do not put a picture on the title page
3. Table of Contents
o This page must be numbered 1.
o All the headings/subheadings within the report must appear here exactly as they do inside the
report, in order, and with the page number (align all numbers in a column on the right side) at
which that heading appears in the report. Do not give a range of pages for content of topics
included under headings – only the page number at which the heading appears.
o The heading following ‘Conclusions’ should be ‘References’ (not ‘Bibliography’).
o It is best to choose some numbering sequence for headings so their hierarchy is obvious to the
reader/marker.
o In the table of contents after ‘References’ must be a list of ‘Figures’ and then ‘Tables’ (we’re still
in the Table of Contents- this is the location for your list of figures, but the figures do not follow
the references in the actual report). Every assignment will require some illustration or table.
▪ Each illustration must be listed as:
Figure 1 Title or Caption (keep it short) page #.
▪ Tables must have similar format.
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4. Content Sections from ‘Introduction’ to ‘Conclusions’
o Headings: I have provided suggestions within the ‘Outline’ for the assignment for the main
sections you should include. You are welcome to use sub-headings within these main sections;
however, avoid having too many short sections that will make your report choppy.
o The report text should always begin with ‘Introduction’ and end with ‘Conclusions’.
o The content of ‘Introduction’ should set the scene for what follows by introducing the topic and
noting why the report is being done (this latter is called the statement of aim and it is a clear, short
statement of what aspects of the topic you will be presenting in the report).
o The section ‘Conclusions’ should contain no new data, only your appraisal of the topic together
with a summary of the very most significant facts learned.
5. Figures/Tables Within the Report
o Your report will require illustrations! All illustrations inside the report must be documented with a
caption (preferably below the illustration):
Figure xx. Title or caption (citation).
The citation is the source for the figure (Reference formatting is described below).
o Every illustration you include must be relevant to the story you are telling (do not include a
picture just because ‘it’s nice’), and must be mentioned within the text, as follows: “Jupiter’s
Great Red Spot (Fig.1) is produced by…..” or “Figure 1 demonstrates that…”
o Please insert illustrations into the text where they are relevant and not grouped together at the end.
o Don’t make your illustrations too small. You are welcome and encouraged to have a figure take
up a whole page width. Ensure that the figure is large enough that your marker (including the
instructor who has terrible eye-sight) can read the text on the figure without having to zoom in.
o Most illustrations won’t insert properly if you grab them from a website and drop them directly
into your report (and you’ll lose marks if we can’t view your illustrations). Here’s how to do it
correctly:
• Right click on an illustration you want (from the source) and save it to your computer.
• Return to your report, and place the cursor in the report where you want the picture to appear,
click ‘Insert’ on the top toolbar, choose ‘Picture’ then browse to the picture file you just
made, and double click on the picture you want to insert into the report.
• Chances are the inserted picture will occupy far too much space, so click on it, grab one
corner, and ‘push’ it to the size you want.
• If you have the figures on the same page as the text, it looks better if you wrap the text
around the pictures. To do that, click on the picture, on the top toolbar click on ‘Format’ >
‘Picture’ > ‘Layout’ > ‘Tight’, and it should be wrapped. You can now move it exactly
where you want it (as long it’s not far, or it will jump out of place totally).
• Captions will ‘float’ away from the pictures if you make any revisions (or format
conversions) to the report. There are several ways to tie them together, but a simple way is to
insert a text box (adjusted to the right size by pulling on a corner) that will hold both the
picture and its caption as a single unit. Make the text box first. Now, you can insert the
picture into the box, and type the caption below it. This is a bit awkward, no doubt about it,
but it works. If you are a pro and have photo editing software, you can normally type inside
the space assigned to the figure (and you can expand that if you need).
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6. Citing your Sources and Formatting your Reference list
You will find advice on where to look for information and determining suitable references in the
instructions for Choosing References (above). In any report, some of the content will be based upon
your personal general knowledge; for that, obviously, you don’t need references. For all other content, it
is essential, in any scientific report, that you note the source as a proper reference. In most cases you
will cite a reference for almost every sentence in the report.
Scientists write papers all the time and submit them to scientific journals for peer review. Different
research projects are submitted to different journals depending on the audience. Each journal has
different requirements for formatting references. The formatting styles are all very nit-picky and tedious
and if you don’t follow them your paper might get rejected before it reaches review. Yes, it is very
annoying. No, scientific journals do not use APA (American Psychological Association) formatting for
references because we are not in psychology. Your report will use the reference formatting style of a
famous geochemistry journal. I have put the pertinent instructions below, but if you are curious about
the journal’s instructions to authors, you can also look here:
https://www.elsevier.com/journals/geochimica-et-cosmochimica-acta/0016-7037/guide-for-authors. On
this web-page scroll down to “Reference Style”
• To cite a source: Within the text, at the end of a sentence put the authors last name and the year of
publication in parentheses (separated by a comma). For example:
o The moon is made of cheese (Smith, 2018)
o For sources with two authors, list both authors (Weston and Brown, 2003)
o For sources with more than two authors, list only the first author and “et al.” then the year
(Ragnarok et al., 2017)
o For reports with no author, use the name of organization that prepared the report (IPSS, 2015)
o If you are using reputable web sites you will likely find an author or organization and you can
cite using the examples above. If you can’t find an author you will have to use a short title or
name that allows us to find that source in your reference list (NASA, 2017).
o For a web site that does not list a date of publication, posting, or revision, use n.d. (for “no
date”) in place of the year and in the reference list you can include an access date (Columbia
University, n.d.).
o For sentences that require more than one citation, separate the citations with a semi-colon
(Ironman and Thor, 2016; Endgame 2019)
• Making your reference list: On a page headed References at the end of the report (do not use
footnotes or end notes), record the full citations for your references in alphabetical order by the first
authors last name.
• Here’s an example of what might appear in the text:
About 23% of incoming solar radiation is used to evaporate water (Abbot, 2002).
Then, on the References page at the end, you’d see:
Abbott, P.L. (2002) Natural Disasters, Third Edition. McGraw Hill.
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• If you wish to reference a website source, on the ‘References’ page, list the citation according to the
author (or organization) together with a very short title and the web site url so that a reader knows
what that site is about. Please list the date the material was written, but if a date is not available then
include the date that you accessed the site. For example:
NASA (n.d.) Details of the skyhooks: www.whateveritsays.html (accessed May 3, 2019).
• Some websites – such as ‘Wikipedia.com’- are so complex that you must be careful to make a
separate reference for every sub-site of those sites that you use material from. Keep an eye out for
changing authors or if authors aren’t available, be sure to use in-text citations that are unique for each
site so that we can find the specific site in your reference list at the end.
[A word about Wikipedia use: I’m well aware that some instructors caution you to stay away from
Wikipedia use for non-Science topics – and deservedly so. However, science articles are generally
well-done; if you see a site that contains abundant referencing, you can accept the content. You may
find that some sections bear ‘flags’ from the editorial advisors stating that more referencing is
needed; to me that speaks well for the cautionary care given by peer-scientists for Wikipedia]
• If you cite information from a scientific journal article that you found on the internet, be sure to cite
the article properly as a journal article (see example below) rather than listing it as a web-site source.
• Text, tables, and illustrations must all have references
• All of what you write should be in your own words – no matter what your source of information.
Sometimes you need to use direct quotations to demonstrate what another person has said. In that
case, be sure to set off the quotation with quotation marks (and follow it with a citation, of course).
But beware: It’s not acceptable to have more than 2% of the word count as direct quotation. [A
major reason for expressing things in your own words is simply that you will have to understand the
content to do that; cut-and-paste doesn’t do a thing for your knowledge.] Be aware that if you use a
cut-and-paste section that someone else has written (without quotation marks and a cited reference),
not only will markers not read that as part of your report, but you can be accused of plagiarism – and
we are pretty good at finding the sources (using Turnitin).
Examples of how to format your reference list:
Note that the references are single-spaced and that each reference is separated by a space. The authors’
last names and initials are followed by the date in parentheses. Pay attention to the punctuation. Journal
articles must have the volume number (in bold) and page number. Include the article title and the
journal title (in italics). Books must include the publisher’s name and location of printing. Web sites
should include a short title, the url site and the date written or accessed. Marks will be deducted for each
error in formatting (including forgotten commas, gasp!). Follow the formatting examples carefully. If
you are unsure about how to format a reference, then ask the instructor via email or in a Forum post.
Below, the references starting with Bell and Petrophilas are journal articles, Mittelholz is an online
journal (use a doi number instead of page numbers), Nixon is a book, Grush and NASA are web sites,
Butcher is a book chapter, Gibbs is an abstract and Harvard is an example of how to cite a thesis.
16
References
Bells J. D. and Whistles H. P. (1995) Asperity-limited tectonic lithofacies juxtaposition in the
northeastern South-Central Mountains, West Virginia. Nature 447, 7767-7776.
Butcher N. D., Baker R. B. and Taylor G. J. (1998) Sm-Nd systematics in pebbles from Oompa-Loompa
Creek, Glacier National Park. In Mesozoic Volcanic Activity in North America (eds. P. M.Thieux and F.
T. Frough). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. pp. 417-496.
Gibbs J. W. and Helmholtz H. L. (1997) Thermodynamic properties of triskadeka-biphenyl complexes
of Fe++ and Zn++ in aqueous solution from the ice in which ALH 84001 was recovered. Lunar Planet.
Sci. XXVIII. Lunar Planet. Inst., Houston. #7654 (abstr.).
Grush L. (2019) NASA is working on a partial power outage on the space station that’s delaying a
SpaceX launch. https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/30/18523864/nasa-international-space-stationspacex-power-channel.
Harvard J. (1787) Investigations on why the ground in New England is so rocky. Ph. D. thesis, Yale
Univ.
Mittelholz A., Johnson C.L. and Lillis R.J. (2017) Global-scale external magnetic fields at Mars
measured at satellite altitude. Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets 122,
doi:10.1002/2017JE005308.
NASA (n.d.) Details of the skyhooks. www.whateveritsays.html (accessed May 3, 2014).
Nixon R. M. (1975) I Am Not a Crook. Vantage Press, New York.
Petrophilas D. C. (1997) Rocks I have known and loved. Journal of Rocks 61, 123-321.
7. Spelling/Grammar
Most software has the capability of checking spelling; use it. As for grammar, if you have the reputation
of terrible grammar, get a friend to read the report before you submit or try a web site called Grammarly

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