BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Scientific Report Instructions
(BIOL1X08)
Submission details
This assessment is worth 25% of total unit marks.
Due date: Week 8, Thursday 20th April 2023, 11:59:00 pm Sydney time
File format: Save your scientific report as a pdf. This is to prevent you from losing elements
from the figures you generate during the upload.
Include your student ID number in your file name e.g. BIOL1008 report_123456789.pdf
For the purposes of anonymous marking, you should avoid including your name in your report
and in the file name.
Late submissions: As per University policy, a deduction of 5% of the maximum mark is applied
for each calendar day after the due date up to 10 days. If the submission is over 10 days late,
the assignment will receive a mark of zero.
What is the context of the assignment?
Earlier in the semester, data was submitted voluntarily and anonymously from Human Biology
students, their family and friends. This unique data set describes some morphometrics and
physiological parameters of a group of people, providing us with a great opportunity to look at
a data set to challenge some of the ideas around health and the various parameters used to
determine if someone is “normal”.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Why have we set this assignment for you?
We are living in a world increasingly reliant on large sets of data and through this assessment you
will be engaging with some of the most highly sought-after skills in big data - quantitative analysis,
data visualisation and interpretation. In addition, this assessment will build your experience creating
research questions, engaging with the scientific literature and communicating science to biologists.
For most of you, this will be your first engagement with writing a scientific report in your degree.
Through this task you will develop graduate qualities around information and digital literacy,
critical thinking and problem solving, written communication and depth of disciplinary expertise.
What are the detailed instructions for this assessment?
Due to the involved nature of this assessment, there are two main resources that you will need to
refer to in completing this scientific report – this instructions document (which tells you what you
need to do, and the Scientific Report Module on Canvas (which shows you how to do it).
This instructions document will cover the following:
• How to get started with your scientific report
• Report structure
• Formatting requirements including what is counted in the page limit
• What to include in each section of your scientific report
• Academic dishonesty and plagiarism
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
How do I get started with my Scientific Report?
Before writing the report, you will need to download the Excel data spreadsheet from Canvas,
look at the data and decide on what you want to investigate. The data that was collected earlier
in the semester included:
• Continuous data which is data that can take on a large number of possible values across
a numerical scale
o Age
o Resting heart rate
o Height
o Weight
o Body Mass Index (BMI)
o Wrist circumference
o Waist circumference
• Categorial data which is data that can be divided into groups
o Gender
o Country
o State/province
o Local Government Area (LGA)
Your job is to ask a research question that is interesting to you and meets the following criteria:
• investigates 3 continuous variables e.g. Is the correlation between BMI and wrist
circumference stronger than that between BMI and waist circumference?
OR
• investigates 2 continuous variables and 1 categorial variable e.g. How does the
relationship between age and resting heart rate differ between genders?
Please do not investigate the relationship between BMI and height or BMI and weight. This
is analogous to investigating whether shoe size is correlated with foot size. Just as shoes are
deliberately designed by people to correlate with foot size, BMI is a number that has also
been deliberately designed (by way of a formula) to correlate with both height and weight.
We encourage you to explore more novel questions!
Once you have decided on your research question, you can then generate a hypothesis and
graph your data.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Report structure
There are many ways of writing a scientific report depending on the discipline you are in,
and what scientific journal you are submitting your report to. Below we have outlined the
sections that you would typically find in a scientific report and indicated those that are
required for this assessment.
Section Required for the BIOL1X08 scientific report
Title Yes
Abstract No
Introduction Yes
Methods No
Results Yes
Discussion Yes
Figures
Yes. When submitting manuscripts to scientific journals, it is
often a requirement that figures that form the part of the
Results section are presented on their own separate page
for ease of editing purposes. We will be taking the same
approach for this assessment.
References Yes
Appendix No
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Formatting requirements
A small portion of the marking rubric of the Scientific Report will assess how well you adhere to
formatting requirements specified below. This is similar to when submitting scientific manuscripts
or grants, there are strict formatting guidelines to adhere to. The formatting requirements are as
follows:
• Font type: Calibri
• Font size: 12 point
• Line spacing: 1.5 spaced
• Margins: 2.5 cm on all sides
Page limit
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
What is required in each section?
Here we detail what we expect to see in each of your sections of the scientific report.
Title (recommended 1 line)
The title should be informative while being concise. The best titles cover all the important details
of the study including:
• the variables and correlations investigated
• the study group or demographic
Introduction (recommended 1 page)
The Introduction is a brief review of the scientific literature and should be structured with multiple
paragraphs. There should be enough context provided to the reader so they understand why you
did the investigation. This means:
• highlighting the main findings from past scientific studies so the reader has a good idea of
the current state of knowledge in the field
• providing relevant biological information so that the reader can understand how you
justified the hypothesis that will be presented towards the end of the Introduction.
You will also need to integrate your hypothesis, usually in the last paragraph.
Note that the information should be presented in such a way that as the reader progresses
through the Introduction, it becomes more specific to your investigation.
For detailed guidance on how to complete each of the sections, please refer to Scientific
Report Module on Canvas. The module has a variety of guides on processing and graphing
your data, how to analyse your results, tips on writing scientifically and written exemplars.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Results (recommended 1/3 page)
In this section, you will need to provide a written description of your results. It's important to
keep in mind that the focus here is describing findings at the population level, and not describe
particular individuals. Any studies on populations will inherently have some variation and
regardless of whether the results were expected or unexpected, your job here is to objectively
describe what was observed. When describing your results, you will need to include:
• the range for each of your variables (minimum and maximum) used in your correlations
• the type and strength of each correlation observed based on the r values (e.g. weak
negative, moderately positive)
• the r values for each correlation (not r2)
• the sample size (the number of replicates) for each correlation. It is scientific convention in
scientific writing to abbreviate sample size as ‘n’. Bear in mind here that in a correlation,
only individuals that have data for both variables in a correlation can be counted as part
of the sample size. For example, an individual who has an age value but no height value
cannot be counted as part of the sample size for a correlation between age and height.
• reference to your figure(s). For this assessment, we want you to present your figure(s) on
their own page after the Discussion so don't include them within the Results section.
However, any figure presented in the report must be referred to in the written description
of the results - this is normally done in scientific papers. A reference to a figure should be
included in the sentence when key information presented in the figure is first described.
Refer to Scientific Report Module on Canvas for guides on processing and analysing your
data using the desktop version of Microsoft Excel. It is not a requirement to use Excel to
process your data and you are welcome to use other software such as R.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Discussion (recommended 1.5 pages)
The Discussion should be structured with multiple paragraphs.
Your interpretation of your findings should be presented first in the Discussion. An interpretation
does not mean repeating (or providing a variation) of what has already been stated in the
Results section – this is not the best use of your space and does not add value to your report.
Rather, state whether your data appears to provide evidence to support or reject your
hypothesis.
The next few paragraphs of the Discussion should be dedicated to drawing biological
implications from the current study based on evidence in the scientific literature. This means:
• discussing the biology to explain the patterns observed in your study
• discussing the underlying biology to explain similarities and differences between the
findings from studies that have been done.
In the latter half of the Discussion, you will need to provide 2 evidence-based suggests for future
research directions. You will need to justify the ideas using biological explanations drawn from
evidence in the scientific literature.
The last paragraph of the Discussion is dedicated to your conclusion. Here you need to highlight:
• the major findings of your investigation and
• link back to the broader context. This could be emphasising the significance of your study
(e.g. how the findings contributed to furthering our understanding of the topic) and/or
briefly summarising directions for future research.
Figures (1/2 – 1 page)
You will need to present the data you have chosen to analyse only as scatterplots. Do not present
any data in a table. Please note presenting the same data in both a figure and a table is
unnecessary and is considered double presenting of results.
Present your figures on a new page after the Discussion so they do not count towards the page
limit. The style and number of graphs you create for your scientific report will be dependent on
the types of variables your research question is investigating.
If you examined 3 continuous variables, your will be required to generate 2 scatterplots. The
graphs should be numbered sequentially as they appear in the report - the first graph presented
would be labelled as 'Figure 1' and the second graph, as 'Figure 2'.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
For example, if you looked to see if BMI was better correlated with wrist or waist circumference,
then you would create one graph plotting BMI against wrist circumference, and another graph
plotting BMI against waist circumference.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
If your research question investigated the relationship between 2 continuous variables compared
and 1 categorical variable, you will be required to present all the relevant data in one scatterplot.
The graph should be labelled as ‘Figure 1’.
For example, if the question was addressing whether the correlation between blood glucose level
and systolic blood pressure is different between women and men, then you could plot blood
glucose level against systolic blood pressure, and compare patterns between the two groups,
(please note that blood glucose and blood pressure are not part of your dataset, this is just an
example).
Figure 1. Blood glucose and systolic blood pressure in women (orange, n=177) and men (purple,
n=104) first-year university students.
Refer to Scientific Report Module on Canvas for guides on creating your graphs using Excel. If
you are comfortable using other programs to graph your data (e.g. R, Prism), you are welcome
to do so.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Note that the graphs are labelled as figures. This is scientific convention. Each figure should be
about 1/2 A4 page in size and any text within them should be clearly legible.
All figures need to be accompanied by a figure legend (also known as a figure caption) that
sits immediately under the figure. The figure legend includes the figure label and a description of
the data being presented. The description needs to be informative enough so that the reader
can understand the content presented in the figure and make their own interpretation of the data
without needing to referring to the written description of the results. Different disciplines within life
sciences have their own set of conventions for what constitutes appropriate information for figure
legends but for this report, we expect that you integrate information on:
• what variables are being presented (with units)
• demographical information (brief description of who the data was collected from)
• the sample size for each correlation. This helps the reader make sense of the data.
Figure presentation checklist
For 3 continuous variables
For 2 continuous and 1 categorical
variable
Generate 2 scatterplots with no
gridlines.
Generate 1 scatterplot with multiple
data series with no gridlines.
Each scatterplot has one trendline and
its respective R2 value presented.
The scatterplot has two trendlines and
their respective R2 values presented.
A key (also known as Chart Legend on
Excel) is present on the scatterplot.
Each scatterplot has clear x- and y-
axis labels with units.
The scatterplot has clear x- and y- axis
labels with units.
Each scatterplot is accompanied by an
informative figure legend/caption that
is positioned under the scatterplot.
There should be no chart title present at
the top of the scatterplot.
The scatterplot is accompanied by an
informative figure legend/caption that
is positioned under the scatterplot.
There should be no chart title present at
the top of the scatterplot.
Each scatterplot and its accompanying
figure legend/caption combined takes
~1/2 A4 page
The scatterplot and its accompanying
figure legend/caption combined takes
~1/2 A4 page
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
References
Including references in your scientific report is important because it helps to show how your work
fits into the work done by other researchers and provides some context to help the reader
evaluate how your investigation has changed the state of our current knowledge on the topic. You
should only use literature that you have read yourself, rather than merely citing literature that
other papers have cited. The reason for this is that you cannot rely on the interpretation of others,
and must draw your own conclusions.
The majority of the sentences in the Introduction and Discussion will need to be supported by in-
text citations. Statements that generally do not require in-text citations are:
• the hypothesis
• the interpretation of your results in relation to the hypothesis
• the conclusion
You should avoid citing only at the end of a paragraph as it does not show the reader where you
sourced information for a particular statement within the paragraph.
All sources that you cite throughout the scientific report must be included in the reference list which
appears at the end of your scientific report. Any sources that are presented in the reference list
also must be appear as an in-text citation.
For directions on how to format in-text citations and the reference list for your scientific report,
please follow the guidelines outlined in the Scientific Report Module on Canvas.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism
While the University is aware that most students and staff act ethically and honestly, it is
opposed to and will not tolerate academic dishonesty or plagiarism whether it is done
intentionally or not. Students are expected to be familiar with, and act in compliance with,
the relevant University policies and procedures:
• Academic Integrity Policy 2022
• Academic Integrity Procedures 2022
All students are expected to commit to a culture of academic integrity as outlined in the
Student Charter 2020.
Common behaviours that are reported
You should familiarise yourself with what the University considers academic dishonesty and
plagiarism here: https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/academic-dishonesty.html
Here we list some common behaviours we encounter in first-year biology assessments that students
may not be aware of that are considered a breach in academic integrity.
Plagiarism
We often see places in student work where entire sentences or paragraphs were copied
from the original source. This is not acceptable even if the source is attributed via an in-text
citation.
It is important that you properly paraphrase the information from your sources. This means
understanding the meaning of the phrase from the source and putting it into your own
words. It is not enough to change a few words in a sentence and consider it paraphrased
as the overall sentence structure is similar to how the information was presented in the
source.
We recommend that you close your sources as you write your scientific report. This encourages you
to write in your own words and avoid unintentional plagiarism.
BIOL1X08 Human Biology
Semester 1, 2023
Recycling/resubmitting your own work
Any work that you produced that has already been submitted in a previous semester cannot be
resubmitted again whether in whole or in part. It does not matter if the work was submitted
previously to the same unit/course or a different institution.
Collusion
Cases of collusion are reported because of substantial similarity between work submitted by
students for the same assessment. Copying someone else’s work, whether in whole or in part,
constitutes academic dishonesty for both the person who does the copying and the person whose
work is copied (whether intentional or not). Therefore, you should be careful of what you are
sharing through emails, social media platforms, file sharing sites or private discussion groups (e.g.
WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook, Instagram, Discord).
Contract cheating
You should never use study-, or assessment-sharing sites (e.g. Chegg, StuDocu, thinkswap etc.) and
should be extremely cautious of using online “tutor” services. Having someone completing part or
all of the work for you with or without payment is considered contract cheating.
Please also note that the University considers the use of AI tools such as chat GPT to generate the
work you submit in whole or in part, as contract cheating.
Use of similarity detection software
All written assignments submitted in this unit of study will be checked by the similarity detecting
software program known as Turnitin. Turnitin searches for matches between text in your written
assessment task and text sourced from the Internet, published works and assignments that have
previously been submitted to Turnitin for analysis.
There will always be some degree of text-matching when using Turnitin. There is no ‘magic’
percentage that distinguishes potential academic dishonesty from academic honesty. These values
are determined by the length of the assignment, sections of the assignment that would have
common overlap between students (e.g. Results section) and consideration of commonly used
phrases and technical terms.
For this reason, all Turnitin reports for submissions in this unit are looked over by a unit coordinator
before a submitted work is considered a case to be reported to Faculty for further investigation.