Primary Literature

I. Find an original research study (not an opinion or review) published in the environmental biology primary literature. Examples of journals in which studies may be published include: Nature, Science, Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, Conservation Letters, Ecology, Ecological Applications, Global Change Biology, Journal of Environmental Management, Conservation Biology, PeerJ etc.

Guidelines

The critique should consist of three sections: i) Summary; ii) Critique; and iii) Future Work.

I. Summary: Summarize the research article briefly. Describe the background on why the study was done, what were the important questions being asked, and what were the hypotheses or predictions? Briefly describe the methods and the results and how they related to the questions being asked. Please note that your summary should not paraphrase or quote material from the research article.

II. Critique: You should include approximately 3 specific issues in the critique. Please provide specifics. How did the issues affect results? Why? Did the authors address the criticism at all? What results does it invalidate? Does it affect the authors’ conclusions? What should be done differently to address the issue? How can it be avoided? Were the research methods used appropriate for the study? Did they use appropriate controls? Did they successfully answer their research questions? Positive points in the research article can also be addressed. Please include specifics

III. Future Work: Include possible extensions of the research that could be completed. What new questions have emerged? What directions would you like to see the research move in next? How might you do the research differently? Please include specifics.