Popular Science Article

Writing Assignment
In science and medicine, you will often have to read and understand complex scientific articles and then
communicate the results to a wider audience. Ideally, you would like to be able to summarize key
findings from an article, while making the topic interesting. In fact, there are careers in science
journalism that utilize these skills by writing scientific articles for popular news outlets.

You much choose a recent scientific research article (within the last 3 years) related to biochemistry and
write a 500-word popular science article about the study.

Voice: This popular science article should be written from the perspective of a science journalist in a
newspaper style. Be as engaging as you can to draw the audience into your article. Introduce the
question the research addresses and highlight only critical methods. Summarize key points and relate
this information to the reader. Do not focus on any tiny details, but instead connect this research to the
broader world of science. Why is this research important? How do these findings impact the reader?
Also, give particular attention to the title you choose.

See examples here:

http://www.nytimes.com/section/sciencesc; http://esciencenews.com/topics/biology.nature

Format: Include the title and your name at the top of the page and a full reference for the research
article at the bottom of the page. Your popular science article should be roughly 500 words (+/- 50) not
including the title or research article reference.

Academic Integrity: If two students choose the same research article, the assignments should not share
any common writing. This assignment is to be completed independently. In addition, this popular
science article should be written entirely in your own words - no strings of words or text should be taken
directly from the source article.

Review: I will act as your editor, and review the written assignment draft prior to submission of a final
version. Please attach a PDF copy of the article being discussed when submitting your draft.

Evaluation:
50% of your grade will be based on content - Did you include the key findings from the article, while
ignoring the less important points? Is your summary of key findings correct? Have you broken down the
science in order for a lay audience to understand? Have you justified why this research is important?

50% of your grade will be based on style - Is your writing clear? Did you adopt the voice of a science
journalist? Would the target audience understand? Did you use active voice?

Dates: Draft Due – 11/21 @ midnight Final Due – 12/9 @ midnight

Content (50%): ________/50
Did you include the key findings from the article, while ignoring the less important points?

Is your summary of key findings correct?

Have you broken down the science in order for a lay audience to understand?

Have you justified why this research is important?

Style (50%): _______/50

Is your writing clear?

Did you adopt the voice of a science journalist?

Would the target audience understand?

Is your writing free from errors in grammar and spelling, while using appropriate sentence structure?