Assignment

You are required to write a review paper on a subject related to any of the topics covered in the course. The assignment will consist of writing a Critical Publication Review paper, i.e., a paper in which you critically review (critique) two (2) articles published in scientific or technical journals, as if the articles had been submitted for publication to you as the editor of a journal.

Contents of Your Review Paper

Although the format is relatively free, the review paper shall include an introduction to the main subject covered in the articles, a brief summary of the article content (including the experimental part if any) and especially a critical evaluation of the articles, including a detailed examination of the procedure (both theoretical and experimental) used by the authors, and a review of the validity of the results obtained (or claimed).

You are expected to outline the positive and negative aspects of the articles and justify whatever conclusions you may reach. The paper should contain not only qualitative, but especially quantitative information concerning the topic examined. In the end I expect that youtell me whether the articles should be "accepted for publication" or not, and, in either case, why.

As stated before, the review paper is expected to include a very brief summary of the articles: however, the key element of the review paper is the critique component, NOT the summary of the articles. In other words, you should ask yourself questions such as: "What are these articles about? What is their focus? What is their novel contribution? What did I learn from them? Was the material presented in a clear fashion? Was the technical merit of the articles sufficient to justify their publication? Were there any errors? Did the authors include theappropriate references?", "Which article is better", and so on. Your critique should address these and similar questions.

The review paper should be an original contribution. No previous work, such as someone else'spaper, will be accepted. Plagiarism and/or cheating will automatically imply a grade of zero on the paper. Articles on unrelated subjects (for example, validation, drug discovery, etc.) will notbe accepted. Furthermore, no thesis or parts of thesis work will be accepted. Unless impractical, copies of the two articles should be attached to the paper.

The review paper is expected to be about three double-spaced, typewritten pages, but can be shorter or longer, if appropriate. In any case, the paper cannot exceed five pages.

Articles:

1. Evidence for alteration of the vitamin D-endocrine system in obese subjects by N H Bell, ... , M J Oexmann, S Shaw.

2. Decreased bioavailability of vitamin D in obesity by Jacobo Wortsman, Lois Y Matsuoka, Tai C Chen, Zhiren Lu, and Michael F Holick.