The purpose of the paper is to have you investigate a topic of interest and gain experience writing in a scientific framework and incorporating primary literature into your writing. The papers must be typed, 10 pages (double-spaced), and 10 font times new roman Together with your paper, you should send me the pdfs of five research publications (no older than 2015) that were used as references for your paper. After your topic is approved, find more information on your topic and read the material carefully. More will be said in lecture about how to locate appropriate literature, but you should use the library and/or other library periodical (Journal) search sources.   Important points to consider when writing your paper: – Prepare an outline of your paper before you write it. – The topic should be introduced in the form of a question. – You are not writing a book report, an English paper (e.g. review of a play), or History paper. – Don’t simply report what you have read; be critical about what you read. That does not necessarily mean to be negative, rather, compare and discuss the data, interpretations, and conclusions. – Papers will be graded for biological content, grammar, spelling, quality of communication of ideas, and extent and use of appropriate references (rubric will be provided). – Cite references within the text of your paper at the appropriate place by author and date (e.g. Smith 2018). These citations should never float between sentences; periods should come after the citation. – Give complete citation at the end of your paper in a section entitled Literature cited. In is section, citations should be listed by alphabetical order of the first author’s last name. – You must use standard scientific format for literature cited. See any issue of a journal such as the Journal of Human Evolution, Human Genetics, Evolution, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Nature Genetics, Trends in Genetics, etc. Do not use the abbreviated style of Science or Nature papers. – Your paper must include primary, i.e. original sources. Textbooks, encyclopedias, and websites will not be accepted as valid sources. Primary literature includes journal papers and books such as symposia volumes and topical volumes such as Annual Review of Genetics.