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Subverting the Processes of Peer Review

By this time, you have done most of the research required for your final project. The shape of your paper should be emerging, and your own "take" on the story of a scientific fraud should be something you've thought about. The only piece of your final paper that remains to be completed is a description of how Hwang Woo Suk managed to keep his own collaborators -- both in the laboratory and in the world of publication -- from catching on to what he was doing. In short, what practical steps did he take to keep from getting caught?

Note that this assignment shifts responsibility to you. You have to ask the guiding questions that will shape the paper, and you will have to decide how to share an important source with others in the class. Thus, you should review the previous assignments to see how they have been structured.

Requirements
  1. The opening page of your paper should be a list of "guiding questions" similar to the ones provided for assignments 1-4. By creating this list, you will focus your writing. Title this page "Guiding Questions."

  2. On the next page of your paper, provide a list of the writing problems that you most frequently encountered on your previous papers. Be highly specific; you will probably want to use my comments on these previous papers to help assemble this list.

  3. Refer to the list of requirements for previous papers to help you make a reasonable judgment about the length and qualities of this paper. Remember that it is one component of a larger paper made of all the separate assignments done this term.

    NEW DUE DATE: August 5
    Points: 150


English 321


Assignments
  1. Peer Review: an overview

  2. Science: an example of the peer review process

  3. The Content and Internal Context of a Scientific Claim

  4. Social Contexts for a Scientific Claim

  5. Subverting the Processes of Peer Review

  6. The Power and Limitation of Peer Review


Research Tools
  1. FLITE Databases

  2. scholar.google.com


Writing Resources
  1. Tools, links, etc.


Expectations
  1. Writing Skills

  2. Critical Thinking Skills


Online Help
  1. Instructor Email hugh@culik.com

  2. Peer Assistance [list serve]