Instructions to Authors 

Eukaryon Submission Guidelines

 

September 18, 2007

Dear Biology Students and Faculty,

This is to inform you that the deadline for all Eukaryon submissions for our upcoming issue of February 2008 is November 26, 2007. We accept nominations through these mechanisms: 

1. Faculty can directly nominate student work, as long as the student author(s) has agreed to be nominated.

2. Students are encouraged to self nominate their work, but must also get the approval of a faculty sponsor.  The sponsor does not have to be the instructor of the course from which work was derived.

2007 senior theses are automatically accepted without revision if they received distinction.  If they did not receive distinction, we will review them before acceptance.  2008 theses will be considered for the 2009 issue and must be submitted to Eukaryon by May 1 (2008).

Submitted work does not need to be formatted in any specific way.  We will format the reviewed work, if it is accepted for Eukaryon publication. All submissions must be sent to Eukaryon (eukaryon@lfc.edu) as an email attachment (word document).  However, if only a print copy is available with the instructor (for example, because a student has already graduated), then that will be acceptable for a faculty nominated student work.

Late fall submissions: All submissions received by November 26 will be reviewed swiftly and editorial decisions will be made before classes end this fall, in time for a 2008 publication (TBD). Accepted work will be published in the 2008 issue.

We understand that a significant amount of written work this fall will only be generated after November 26.  We will review those works as soon they are submitted.  If submissions are of superior quality that do not require revisions and only minimal copy-editing (less than 20% of last years acceptances fell in this category) they will be published in the 2008 issue. If they need revision before acceptance or extensive copy-editing, we will take this approach:

-If authors include graduating seniors, we will publish their work for the 2008 issue, but not in time for the public announcement  of the 2008 issue. They will be added to the online journal in both html and PDF forms only after 2008 inauguration and latest by April 1 2008, but will not be part of the 2008 print version.

-If the authors are not graduating seniors, we will publish their work in the 2008 issue.

Spring semester submissions: They will be considered for 2009 issue and we will review such work throughout spring semester and in fall 2008.

Please feel free to email me at poresa@lakeforest.edu or call me at #5711 if you have any questions. We are always keen to hear any concerns and recommendations from you and ready to discuss with you how we can connect better with your courses and how we can do a better job. Thank you. 

Sincerely,

Shruti Pore '08

Editor in Chief

Eukaryon

2008 Review Process

               1. Once a submission is received, we create a folder for that work and create and store a CD version of the manuscript. 

2. We inform authors and the nominator/sponsor by email that we have received the manuscript. We expect that the review will take no longer than one month from this date.

3. The author names are removed and the manuscript is assigned to two readers in the review board (after ensuring lack of conflict of interest, as best as that is possible).  If both reviewers have the same decision (they complete a written review sheet that is kept as permanent record), then we inform that decision to the authors (either accept, accept pending revision, or reject).  If the two reviewers disagree, a third reviewer becomes involves to break the tie. If accepted, it moves on to copy-editing. If accepted pending revision, then authors get two weeks to make revisions, after which we make a final decision.

4. From there on, copy-editing takes at least one week and then the work is sent to publication board, which format it for PDF and HTML versions, which can take 1-2 weeks.  This version of the paper will be sent to all authors for final proofing and must be returned within a week. The final PDF version is stored in the same CD that has the original manuscript in the manuscript folder.

5. We will completely and permanently archive all submissions.  All emails between Eukaryon and authors and faculty nominators/sponsors will be kept in this archive. This archive will be maintained under records manager.

 

General Formatting

Text Formatting:

  • Articles should be in Microsoft Word format with two columns and one-inch margins (refer to examples on Eukaryon).
  • Text should be single-spaced.
  • Please indicate the class/project for which they were written.
  • Title should be in app caps, 14pt Arial Bold
  • All section headings should be in 12pt Arial Bold (see specific headings below)
  • All other text should be in 12pt Arial

Image Formatting

  • Include figures in the text directly following reference to them in the results section. Do not place figures before you describe them in the text.
  • Please submit JPEG versions of all figures separately with “figure number” as the filename.
  • In addition, please submit all figures in one PowerPoint file (one figure per slide) with the legend (in Arial) included on each figure’s slide.
  • Each component of the figure must be grouped.

Please submit Word document, JPEG images, and PowerPoint file on one CD. In addition, please print out a hard copy of the Word document.

 

Primary Article/Senior Thesis Content

All primary articles must have the following section headings (in this order):

            Title and Professional Affiliation

            Abstract

            Introduction with proper referencing

            Results with proper figures

            Discussion

            Materials and Methods

            Acknowledgements and References

Title

            Concise and in active voice

Affiliation

            Your name(s), department affiliation, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL 60045

Abstract

            No more than 250 words

            A sentence or two of background

State hypothesis

            Three to five sentences about what was done and results

            A concluding sentence

Introduction

            Include background information (properly referenced); explain why you conducted this study

            Why is this study relevant to society?

            State your hypothesis and specific aims

            Make sure the language is cohesive and flowing (throughout the paper as well)

Results

            Use subheadings to describe major findings

            Describe results, DO NOT interpret

            Organize in a chronological fashion—tell a story

            Reference figures as you describe

            Figures and tables should have effective titles, labels, and legends

Discussion

            Begin with a statement about general findings and significance of study

            DO NOT restate results; interpret them and compare results to what was expected

            Address results in chronological order

            Address if hypothesis was supported or not; if not, state why

            Suggestions for future research

            Highlight overall significance of study’s findings in a concluding paragraph

Methods and Materials

            Proper referencing

            Use subsections, each titled with the method’s name

            Address all techniques used

            Show sample calculations

Acknowledgements and References

            Thank all who helped with data generation, analysis and lab report writing.

            Use MLA format for all cited references (use MLA in-text citation as well).

            Include articles, reviews, books, and textbooks consulted for your article.

Ten references are sufficient.

Disease Review Article Content

A disease review article discusses recent findings pertaining to a specific disease or disorder that could change the way we investigate the disease. The review should identify and synthesize all relevant information to formulate the best approach to a diagnosis, treatment, and/or model for the disease. The review should answer a focused question using the analysis of existing review and research articles; use of conclusions from these studies is necessary. This information should prompt a change in some aspect of the disease diagnosis/treatment.

 

Article Content:

Title and Affiliation

Abstract

Introduction

           Define topic,purpose, and relevancy

           Things to consider including epidemiology, infection rate or percentage, known information

           from the past, what prompted new hypothesis, etc.

Main Text

           Discuss physiology by use of recent clinical/experimental studies, conclusions and data,

           connect different aspects of the disease

           Tell a biological story

           Use of sections and subsections is ABSOLUTELY necessary

Discussion

           Present a model/possible therapies/suggestions for future research, and provide a short

           summary of the conclusion you formed from you research

References

           Should be current research that supports key statements in the paper, 20 references is a

           solid amount

 

News and Views Article Content

Title

           Should be creative and interesting, draw the reader in, can include a strapline or short

           explanatory sentence

 

Body

           "News" should be introduced in first paragraph of paper with refrence to those who are not

           familiar in the field

           Background research on topic should follow the "news" so the breakthrough is understood

           Include why the breakthrough is important, what does it implicate?

           Content should tell or give hints as to what are the author's "views"

           No headings, only smooth transitions in between paragraphs

           Paper should not read like a textbook; readers will have general scientific knowledge

           Specialized jargon should be avoided as much as possible but definition of necessary

           difficult terms is acceptable

           Articles should be 600-900 words in length

           Should include at least one figure that aids in explanation of findings

 

References

           6-10 references is acceptable (includes the newsworthy paper)

           No acknowledgements should be made

 

Research Proposal Content

Title

           Concisely states the issue to be investigated or conveys significant aspect of proposal

 

Introduction

           States background and importance of project (details, justification, and relevance)

           Discusses/summarizes pertinent previous studies (cite material)

           How will the research help fix the problem?

           Touches upon major goals for project

 

Specific Aims

           Includes why, what, and how (this is more along the lines of specific experiments)

 

Experimental/Research Methods

           Builds on previous experiments

           Has realistic number of feasible experiments

           Outlines experiments with enough detail for reader to get a firm grasp

           Provides explanation of why using described approach

           Considers successes and pitfalls

           Makes predictions or alternate interpretation

 

Conclusion

           Summarizes how research will advance understanding of subject area

           Notes urgency, potential payoff, and implementation

 

Book/Film Review Content

A book/movie review is a less formal kind of scientific writing geared at responding to other works. The point this type of review is not to “bash” another’s work but to inform others so that they can make a decision for themselves whether to read/view the work. It should say whether the book/movie is interesting, based on or relevant to scientific findings, clear and comprehensive among other things.

 

Style

           Introduction is creative drawing the reader in

           Briefly summarizes plot

           Language creates interest

           Reviewer's position is clear but not outright stated

 

Theme

           Has stated theme

           Thematic arguments

           Selected key moments to support theme

 

Scientific Content

           Describes some scientific content for lay person

           Describes some scientific content for other scientists

           (Look for scenes, dialog, and anecdotes whie reading)

 

Conclusion

           Offers reviewer's feelings

           (the best reviews tie the conclusion back to the introductory part of the paper)

 

Note:  Book Reviews can be written in two ways.  The first way is to write a straight book review that says this is what is in the book and this is what I think of it.  The second way is go off on a creative tangent that pulls in elements of the book and hints at how the reviewer feels at the book.