1 School of Food and Nutrition Palmerston North 151.331 Maternal and Child Nutrition Workshop Week 5, 2017 EVALUATION - RESEARCH AND REVIEW PAPERS This is a summative assignment and will contribute 10% towards your final mark for this paper. Name:__________________________________________________________ AIMS  To be able to summarise the important information from a research article.  To be able to systematically consider each section of a research paper identifying strengths and weaknesses that may be present.  To be able to critically appraise the overall value of a research paper and its significance. Provided:  Thomson et al. (2009) Maternal dietary patterns in pregnancy and the association with small-for gestational-age infants. British Journal of Nutrition 103, 1665-1673  Samman & Truswell (2001) A guide to critical reading: how to evaluate a nutrition research article. Australian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 58, 195-197 2  Bird et al. (2017) Maternal health in pregnancy and associations with adverse birth outcomes: Evidence from the Growing Up in New Zealand birth cohort study. Australian and NZ Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 57: 16-24 Introduction: In order to assess nutritional information, it is important to have skills in both finding relevant journal articles and in critically evaluating those scientific reports. Such evaluation requires ability to discriminate and reflect on reading as well as being aware of criteria traditionally used in various forms of research. The purpose of this assignment is to guide you how to critically evaluate a published scientific paper. Just because a paper has been "peer reviewed" and formally published does not mean that its finding should be accepted at face value. Scientists need to be sceptical about their results and those published by others. In this assignment students will critically evaluate a research paper using appropriate criteria. Note that each journal has its own “house-style” which may affect both the format of the paper and the information that is presented in it. Plan for workshop: Read the research articles by Thomson et al. (2010) and guide to critical reviewing by Samman & Truswell (2001). In small groups (3-4) consider the questions posed by Samman & Truswell (2001) and use them to review the article by Thomson et al. (2010). You will need to report back to the class on your groups answers to the Samman & Truswell (2001) questions. 3 ASSIGNMENT 1 – CRITICAL REVIEW OF A RESEARCH PAPER Read the research article by Bird et al. (2017) thoroughly. Write a brief critical review of the research paper based on the guidelines in the article by Samman & Truswell (2001) (word limit 1000 words). (a) Comment briefly on the source, authors, title and abstract. (b-e) For the other sections (introduction, methods, results and discussion/conclusion) summarise and critically evaluate each section based on the questions by Samman & Truswell and other relevant points you identify. Do not just answer the questions with bullet points; you need to write in paragraphs. (f) Briefly comment (one paragraph only) on the overall value and significance of the research paper within New Zealand and worldwide. The word limit for the critical review is 1000 words. Being able to write concisely is a very important skill in scientific writing. You will be penalised if you go over this word limit. The deadline for this assignment is 28th April 2017 You must submit an electronic version of your assignment to stream Failure to submit an electronic version by the deadlines will incur penalties. The electronic copy may be scanned to detect plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting the work of another as your own work and includes the copying or paraphrasing of the work of another person in an assessment without acknowledging it as the other person’s work through full and accurate referencing. Where you have obtained information from references, you should write this up in your own words and clearly acknowledge all sources with appropriate referencing. If you wish to use a short piece from a reference exactly as it is written, you must include this piece in quotation marks and provide correct details as to the source of the quote as well. Consult the Massey University Online Writing and Learning Link for further information regarding academic writing. http://owll.massey.ac.nz/index.htm Good text books regarding academic writing skills are: 4 Emerson L and Hampton (2005) Writing Guidelines for Science and Applied Science Students. 2nd Edition, Thompson Dunmore Press, Australia Penrose AM and Katz SB (2004) Writing in the Sciences: Exploring Conventions of Scientific Discourse. 2nd Edition, Pearson Education, USA ASSESSMENT Critical review of paper Marks Possible % a. Source, authors, title and abstract 10 b. Introduction 20 c. Methods 20 d. Results 20 e. Discussion/Conclusion 20 f. Overall value and significance 10 Total 100 This assignment contributes 10% towards your final mark for this paper.