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STYLE
SUGGESTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR INDEPENDENT STUDY THESES
AND
OTHER WRITING IN THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY,
THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER
Assembled
by the Faculty of the Department of Geology
(Mark Wilson, editor)
May 2008
Introduction
This online document is designed to acquaint you with the style requirements
for an Independent Study thesis in the Department of Geology and to provide
some recommendations to help you construct a clear, concise, informative,
and interesting composition. It is also a style guide for all
formal writing in the department, including course research papers, depending
on your professor's requirements. Our philosophy is minimalist -- earlier
incarnations of this “instruction manual” have been so long
and convoluted that few students paid attention to them. Most seniors
simply found a previous I.S. thesis and followed its format, even to the
point of copying critical errors. We want this version of the rules to
be short enough so that you will read every word, yet long enough to cover
the essential formatting information. By placing this manual online, we
can also link you to important resources and ensure that this text is
always available to you when you have questions.
The format requirements for a senior I.S. thesis in the Department of
Geology mimic those applied to Master’s theses and doctoral dissertations
in graduate schools. These requirements are designed to standardize the
documents so that they all follow a similar pattern of providing information
to the reader. Your readers will clearly include your I.S. advisor and
the dreaded “second reader”, but they will also include future
generations of students and faculty, as well as colleagues at other institutions.
Your own students may someday read your thesis! A consistent format makes
certain that the writer has answered some basic questions common to all
scientific reports. You will see later that this writing style is that
required by the Geological
Society of America (GSA) in its professional publications. We expect
you to also learn the style of good scientific writing by reading scientific
articles closely. For example, your advisor should not have to explain
how a “location” description is written if you have read other
such descriptions in published articles. Indeed, by the end of your project
you should be able to criticize the shortcomings (and praise the strengths)
of writing in the scientific literature. Your Independent Study experience
is your first entry into the world of scientific communication, so we
take the form almost as seriously as the content. Note that these concepts
also apply to the Junior I.S. thesis, but to a degree which will be determined
by your advisor. (We have an example of a Junior I.S. thesis online. Erica
Clites wrote an excellent paper introducing her 2005-2006 I.S. topic on
Jurassic stromatolites. You can download it as a very large Microsoft
Word file or a smaller
pdf. All theses are different; we want you to see a real one to use
as a model and inspiration. We have also posted a pdf of a course
research paper by Meredith Sharpe and another by Dan Buckler to serve the same purpose. Please
note that format is sometimes disrupted by the conversion of text and
images to pdf documents.)
Writing rules can become problems if they constrain the writing itself.
Every I.S. project is different, and each merits a different writing style.
Please feel free to experiment with format within the simple rules outlined
in this document.
The
Required Writing Format
The Department
of Geology has adopted the writing requirements established for the journal
Geology by the GSA. Please bookmark the Geology
writing style webpage on your computers so that you can easily refer
to it. We will use all their style requirements except for those items
which are specifically intended for publications in Geology only,
such as the number of pages ("manuscript sizing") and the style
of the title page. Use the Geology style for referencing, figure
captions, headings and subheadings, tables, appendices and so on. The
format notes below are designed to assist you in constructing your thesis
within these guidelines. Here is an example of a typical paper in Geology to show you the format in action, and to cover any other formatting items not mentioned here.
1. Fonts.--There are hundreds of fonts available for
any word-processing system. Fortunately you only need to choose from a
few standards. Always pick a font that is compatible with the printer
you are using. “Times”, the font you are reading now, is an
excellent one, but there are several others. The font you select should
look clear whether in plain text, italics, or bold. Remember that various
font utilities can show you what combinations of keys make fancy symbols
like ü, é, ø, î, å, æ, ÷,
¿, 8°, and so on. Use the underlining, boldfacing and italics
options sparingly but effectively. Generic and specific names of organisms
(like Homo sapiens) should always be italicized. Subtitles sometimes
are clearer if they are boldface, as in this document. Be careful with
underlines -- sometimes the line interferes with the descending portions
of some letters. For example, when glacier is underlined the letter g
is obscured.
2. Justification.--The text should be justified on the
left margin, but justifying the right margin as well gives it a professional
look. “Fill justified” is a term sometimes applied to text
that is justified on the right and the left. Whatever method you use,
follow it consistently throughout the text. You may also use a two-column format (like many journals) for your final thesis copy.
3. Line spacing.--The final text of your thesis may be
double-spaced or single-spaced. You choose what line spacing
you think will be most readable and attractive.
4. Page numbering.--All pages except the title page are
numbered. Page number 1 is always the Abstract, page number 2 the Acknowledgements,
page number 3 the Table of Contents. (See "Order of the Thesis"
below.) Page numbers at the bottom of the pages in the center look best with back-to-back printing and copying.
5. Margins.--With the exception of page numbers, all
text, all figures, all photographs must fit within margins set at 1.5
inches from the left edge of the page (for binding) and 1 inch from top,
bottom and right edges. Page numbers may be centered at the bottom of
the page at least 0.5 inches from the edge, or in the top right or lower
right corners at least 0.5 inches from the page edges. These dimensions
are known as “thesis margins”. If you must use a foldout (and
try to avoid them), it must still fit within the margins when it is folded.
You should have no problems fitting illustrative material within the margins.
(By all means, though, do not reduce illustrations to illegibility!)
6. Order of the Thesis.--The typical order of materials
in an I.S. thesis is listed below. The asterisks (*) refer to those items
that are required in all theses, but please note that the specific order
may differ depending on your project and advisor. We have linked you to
several MicroSoft Word documents from the Senior I.S. thesis of Erica
Clites (Class of 2006) as examples. Because the process of placing
Word files online modifies the original format (especially with figures
and page numbers), we also have Erica's entire thesis linked here as a
large pdf and the
complete document. Seeing
an original I.S. document is always preferable, but at least these files
are always available.
Title
Page*
Abstract* (Tricky to create.
Here's an abstract-writing
guide found by Kristen Sorek.)
Acknowledgments*
Table of Contents*
Introduction*
Location
Stratigraphy
Methods of Investigation
Results
Discussion
Conclusions*
Appendices
References Cited*
There are
many options in thesis organization. You may title the chapters in a variety
of ways. It is possible, for example, to have additional introductory
chapters like Erica did with "Microbial
Carbonates" and "Thrombolitic Facies". Katherine
Nicholson (Class of 2003) gives us an example of an expanded discussion
chapter with her “The Cryptic
Community”. Some theses will require extended text on stratigraphic
or geochemical problems, others will delve into historical issues in detail.
We want you to construct your thesis in the way professional scientists
write papers, so look carefully at the articles published on topics similar
to your own.
A Junior I.S.
thesis will necessarily be shorter and more exploratory. Here is a pdf
file of the 2005
Junior I.S. thesis written again by Erica Clites.
7. Illustrations.--There are three basic types of illustrations
that you will likely use in your I.S. thesis. All must be clear and fit
within the thesis margins. They are:
(a) Figures from
other sources.--Every thesis includes stratigraphic columns, location
maps, graphs or charts from other published papers and books. There
is no problem with this as long as a few requirements are met. First,
the figure must be thoroughly referenced. If you borrowed a location
map from Johnson’s 1989 paper on basalt zeolites, you must cite
the paper and the author’s figure number in your caption. For
example, at the end of your caption you may write, “Map from Johnson
(1989, fig. 23).” If you modified the figure, simply write something
like “after Johnson (1989, fig. 23)”. Second, make certain
that the figure does not contain any internal references that you do
not explain. For example, if Johnson’s map has an outcrop identified
as “Location of Vermier (1944)” and you do not cite Vermier,
then remove this reference from the figure. Third, always use your own
caption and your own figure numbering system. The captions must fit
on the same page as the figure and still remain within thesis margins.
Fourth, make certain that the figure is completely readable after photocopying.
Fifth, do not tape or glue photocopied material into the final copies
of your thesis. The diagrams should be photocopied onto the paper you
will use in the thesis itself or scanned into the text file.
(b) Figures you draft or draw.--Figures you create should be
scanned into your document, created within it (using the drawing program
of your word processor), or photocopied onto the paper of the thesis
itself.
(c) Photographs.--By far the easiest way to include photographs
in your thesis is to scan them in with a good color scanner, rephotograph
them with a digital camera and incorporate the picture file in your
text document, or use digital photographs in the first place. Photographs
may also be mounted on white paper and then duplicated for the thesis
with a high-quality color copier. The emphasis is on the quality of
the final print -- it must match or nearly match that of an original
photograph.
All illustrations must be given a numbered caption and referred to in
the text. These figures must be referred to in numerical order. Do not,
for example, discuss Figure 5 before you have discussed Figures 1, 2,
3 and 4. Figures must also follow in the text their first mention. The
style of caption and the manner in which you refer to figures follows
the Geology writing format. Here's an example --
Figure 1.
Inferred predator drillholes in the colonial metazoan Hederella
thedfordensis Bassler, NHM D30066, Middle Devonian (Givetian),
Hamilton Group, Arkona, Ontario. A, group of zooids containing numerous
patched drillholes. B, patched drillhole crossing the boundary (arrows)
between two zooids. C, beveled drillhole positioned slightly off the
midline of the zooid. D, patched drillhole showing sloping edges. E,
scoop-like incomplete drillholes (arrowed) in two zooids. E, zooids
with apertures sealed by diaphragms, that on the right containing a
patched drillhole (arrow). Scale bars: A = 1 mm; B-D = 100 µm;
E = 200 µm; F = 500 µm.
8.
Reference style.--In this department we use the standard scientific
referencing style, which is also the Geology format. Thoughts,
concepts and information not our own or “common knowledge”
are referenced with direct or parenthetical citations of author and year
of publication. Direct quotations are followed by a parenthetical citation
which includes the page number in the original work. For example:
In 1889,
Howard Cleary demonstrated for the first time that water not only seeks
its own level, it tries to go even lower than that. Madison (1897) made
the observation that ice is a form of water that does not apparently
seek its own level, although it does upon melting. Chalmers (1899, p.
53) replied, “There is little I can do to stop this nonsense.”
The controversy continues to this day, even in places as remote as Australia,
Newfoundland and western Pennsylvania (Hackett, 1978).
Each author
referred to above (Cleary, Madison, Chalmers and Hackett) should be listed
in the References Cited section with the appropriate paper or book. Every
citation in the text must be included in the References Cited, and every
citation listed there must be referred to in the text. Three or more authors
are cited in the text as "et al." following the senior author
(for example, Taylor et al., 2003), but all of the authors are listed
in the references. The style must follow that of Geology, which
is carefully outlined on their style
webpage. Here are some examples taken from that page:
Abstracts --
Baker, V.R., 1991, Ancient oceans on Mars: American
Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Sciences, 23rd Annual Meeting,
Palo Alto, California, Abstracts, p. 99.
Fitzgerald, P.G., 1989, Uplift and formation of the Transantarctic
Mountains: Applications of apatite fission track analysis to tectonic
problems: International Geological Congress, 28th, Washington, D.C.,
Abstracts, v. 1, p. 491.
LeMasurier, W.E., and Landis, C.A., 1991, Plume related uplift measured
by fault displacement of the West Antarctic erosion surface, Marie
Byrd Land [abs.]: Eos (Transactions, American Geophysical Union),
v. 72, p. 501.
Sammis, C.G., 1993, Relating fault stability to fault zone structure:
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 25, no.
6, p. A115–A116.
Paper in a Government or University Serial
Publication --
Hay, R.L., 1963, Stratigraphy and zeolitic diagenesis
of the John Day Formation of Oregon: University of California Publications
in Geological Sciences, v. 42, p. 199–262.
Smith, D.C., Fox, C., Craig, B., and Bridges, A.E., 1989, A contribution
to the earthquake history of Maine, in Anderson, W.A., and
Borns, H.W., Jr., eds., Neotectonics of Maine: Maine Geological Survey
Bulletin 40, p. 139–148.
Yager, R.M., 1993, Estimation of hydraulic conductivity of a riverbed
and aquifer system on the Susquehanna River in Broome County, New
York: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2387, 49 p.
Paper in a Multiauthor Volume --
Carpenter, F.M., 1992, Superclass Hexapoda, in
Kaesler, R.L., ed., Treatise on invertebrate paleontology, Part R,
Arthropoda 4, Volume 3: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America
(and University of Kansas Press), 277 p.
Kane, J.S., and Neuzil, S.G., 1993, Geochemical and analytical implications
of extensive sulfur retention in ash from Indonesian peats, in
Cobb, J.C., and Cecil, C.B., eds., Modern and ancient coal-forming
environments: Geological Society of America Special Paper 286, p.
97–106.
Keller, G., 1992, Paleoecologic response of Tethyan benthic foraminifera
to the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition, in Takayanagi, Y.,
and Saito, T., eds., Studies in benthic Foraminifera: Tokyo, Tokai
University Press, p. 77–91.
Sawyer, D.S., Buffler, R.T., and Pilger, R.H., 1991, The crust under
the Gulf of Mexico basin, in Salvador, A., ed., The Gulf
of Mexico Basin: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America,
Geology of North America, v. J, p. 53–72.
Taylor, J.C.M., 1990, Upper Permian-Zechstein, in Glennie,
K.W., ed., Introduction to the petroleum geology of the North Sea
(third edition): Oxford, United Kingdom, Blackwell, p. 153–190.
Book --
Twiss, R.J., and Moores, E.M., 1992, Structural geology:
New York, W. H. Freeman and Company, 532 p.
Vogt, P., and Tucholke, B., editors, 1986, The western North Atlantic
region: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, Geology
of North America, v. M, 696 p.
Weaver, C.E., 1989, Clays, muds and shales: Amsterdam, Elsevier, Developments
in Sedimentology, v. 44, 819 p.
Guidebook --
Barton, C.C., and Hsieh, P.A., 1989, Physical and
hydrologic-flow properties of fractures, in International
Geological Congress, 28th, Field Trip Guidebook T385: Washington,
D.C., American Geophysical Union, 36 p.
Blackstone, D.L., Jr., 1990, Rocky Mountain foreland exemplified by
the Owl Creek Mountains, Bridger Range and Casper Arch, central Wyoming,
in Specht, R., ed., Wyoming sedimentation and tectonics: Casper,
Wyoming Geological Association, 41st Annual Field Conference, Guidebook,
p. 151–166.
Proceedings from a Symposium or Conference
--
Baar, C., 1972, Creep measured in deep potash mines
vs. theoretical predictions, in Proceedings, Canadian Rock
Mechanics Symposium, 7th, Edmonton: Ottawa, Canada Department of Energy,
Mines and Resources, p. 23–77.
MacLeod, N.S., Walker, G.W., and McKee, E.H., 1976, Geothermal significance
of eastward increase in age of upper Cenozoic rhyolitic domes in southeastern
Oregon, in Proceedings, Second United Nations Symposium on
the Development and Use of Geothermal Resources, San Francisco, May
1975, Volume 1: Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office
(Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California), p. 465–474.
Journal --
Arias, O., and Denyer, P., 1991, Estructura geológica
de la región comprendida en las hojas topográficas Abras,
Caraigres, Candelaria y Río Grande, Costa Rica: Revista Geológica
de América Central, no. 12, p. 61–74.
Doglioni, C., 1994, Foredeeps versus subduction zones: Geology, v.
22, p. 271–274.
Leigh, D.S., 1994, Roxana Silt of the Upper Mississippi Valley: Lithology,
source, and paleoenvironment: Geological Society of America Bulletin,
v. 106, p. 430–442.
Walter, L.M., Bischof, S.A., Patterson, W.P., and Lyons, T.L., 1993,
Dissolution and recrystallization in modern shelf carbonates: Evidence
from pore water and solid phase chemistry: Royal Society of London
Philosophical Transactions, ser. A, v. 344, p. 27–36.
Thesis --
Wopat, M.A., 1990, Quaternary alkaline volcanism
and tectonics in the Mexican Volcanic Belt near Tequila, Jalisco,
southwestern Mexico [Ph.D. thesis]: Berkeley, University of California,
277 p.
Webpages
(our style; not from the Geology webpage) --
National Geophysical Data Center, 2005, NOAA's National
Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Homepage [WWW document]. URL: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/.
Accessed April 16, 2006.
Webpages
are awkward in a paper, so always use a printed source as an alternative
when possible. If the page has a clear author, list him or her instead
of the organization. The title of the page is usually that which
is printed at the top of the web document. The date after the author
is the year of the last update to the webpage or the year you accessed
it, whichever is earlier. Webpages are ephemeral sources, so most
journals do not accept them as references in a paper.
Conclusions
The thesis you create is your own. Your advisor’s role is to
help you shape that thesis and challenge you to do your best work, but
in the end the thesis is your own responsibility. Completion of this thesis
is a special requirement at Wooster, so you have the obligation of being
well informed about deadlines and other conditions related to your project.
The standard pattern in this department is for each student to meet weekly
with his or her advisor for at least an hour of discussion and common
work. Each advisor should periodically inform each student whether he
or she is making adequate progress toward completion of the project and
thesis. In almost every case that progress will be measured by the amount
and quality of writing produced. Your thesis should be an example of your
best work. It is the culmination of your Wooster education.
A Junior I.S.
thesis is similar to the Senior I.S. in format but not in scope. Your
advisor will help you establish the level of coverage. Here again is a
pdf of an example
Junior I.S. thesis. Please also note the research
paper written by Meredith Sharpe for the 2008 Sedimentology
& Stratigraphy course and the research
paper written by Andrea Freshwater for the 2006 Invertebrate
Paleontology course. These will show you the style and scope of research
papers we expect in our writing courses. (There are some format inconsistencies
due to the transfer process to an online document. Please also note that
no paper is ever perfect, so there may be minor errors in format.) Here is also a Geology paper I authored which is in the same required format, except for the columns and other aspects of publication.
For further information, please see the Handbook
for Independent Study (a portion of the Faculty Handbook). It covers
general policies, requirements, funding possibilities and grading procedures
common to all departments in the College.
Mark
Wilson (February 20, 2008)
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