This Science Assignment is a guided Evaluation of a Scholarly Article and is worth 15% of your course grade. Based on the provided article (see below), answer the following questions (work independently, this is not a group assignment). Be sure to address all the sub-questions for full marks. Total marks possible: 30 marks.
Song, JH, Murphy, RJ, Narayan, R, and Davies GBH. 2009. Biodegradable and compostable alternatives to conventional plastics. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 364: 2127-2139. doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0289
1. Who are the authors? Where are they each employed? (1 mark)
2. What year was the article published? (2 marks)· Is the article up-to-date, out-of-date or timeless? Give an explanation for your answer.
3. What journal was the article published in? What is the volume and issue number? (2 marks)
4. What is the purpose of the article? Is it to: (1 mark). Persuade the reader to do something? (eg.
Vote a certain way, purchase an item, etc.). inform the reader? (eg. Results of a study/experiment, what happened at an event) prove something? (eg. A behaviour is good/bad, a method works/doesn’t work)
Explain the reasoning for your answer.
5. What type of journal is it? Is it: (2 marks). Scholarly? If it is a scholarly article, find the impact
factor of the journal. What does the impact factor tell you? A trade magazine? (Scientific American, Popular Science, etc.)· Popular? (Times, Newsweek, etc.).
6. Is the material organized and focused? (1 mark) Does it follow a standard format (abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion) or does it have a different format? If the format is not standard, describe the format. Is it an effective format for conveying the message?
7. Is the reference list/bibliography sufficient and appropriate for the content? Look for if the bibliography is short or long, is selective or comprehensive, has references that are primary sources (eg. Journal articles) or only secondary sources (eg. Encyclopedias), has references that are both new and old, and has a clear citation style. Be detailed and specific in your assessment of the bibliography. (2 marks)