The Phase II writing requirement for Biology majors is in effect for students in the Class of 2004 (and previous classes). Students in the Class of 2005 and subsequent classes are required to satisfy the MIT undergraduate communications requirement rather than Phase II, by taking Communication Intensive (CI) subjects.

The purpose of the Phase II writing requirement is to demonstrate professional competence and scholarship in communicating research findings or other scholarly material. The Biology Department expects that all undergraduate majors will be able to write a manuscript suitable for publication in a scientific journal. Such an undertaking requires planning in terms of intellectual content, organization, and attention to detail. Consequently, the Biology Department requires each undergraduate to submit a Phase II paper following the same procedures that a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, and faculty member must follow when submitting a research paper. The paper will be sent out for review and a decision letter stating whether the paper is accepted or rejected will be sent to the author. If the paper is rejected, the letter will outline specific procedures for revision. An accepted Phase II paper will be published in the MIT Biology Undergraduate (BUG) Journal.

The Writing Coordinators for the Biology Department are Prof. Vernon Ingram (email: vingram@mit.edu) and Prof. Paul Matsudaira (email matsudaira@wi.mit.edu). Prof. Ingram is responsible for students whose last names begin with A-L, Prof. Matsudaira for M-Z. See the Biology Education Office for any further questions concerning Phase II.

• DEADLINES
• PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING PHASE II PAPERS
• GRADING
• TRANSFER STUDENTS
• RESOURCES
• VERY FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

DEADLINES

The dates below are critical deadlines:

Submission of paper:	September 15, 2003
Acceptance of paper:	REG DAY, Spring term, February 2, 2004

To avoid any problems in a student's senior year, the Department of Biology's policy is to have all students submit their phase II papers by the start of their senior year. All students must have completed the Phase II requirement before registration day in the term in which they want to graduate. THE DEADLINE IS ABSOLUTE AND NOT NEGOTIABLE.

Students who have not met this deadline can graduate that term only by enrolling in one of these writing courses: 21W.780, 21W.783, 21F.226, or 21F.228 and receiving a grade of B or better in that subject.

This Writing Guide contains Instructions to Authors which describes the format under which the paper is submitted. Guidelines to the General Institute Requirement are described at http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/academics/gir.shtml.

PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING PHASE II PAPERS

Passing Phase II is a two-step process.

Step One: By September 15, 2003, the student submits the Phase II paper (and one copy) with a formal letter of submission and a cover sheet checklist to the Biology Education Office. In the letter the author should describe briefly the contents of the manuscript. The instructor of the course or the UROP supervisor will sign the cover sheet to certify that he/she has worked with the student in preparing the Phase II paper. The paper must have the signature of one of the Writing Tutors.

The manuscript will then be reviewed by a faculty reviewer. The reviewer will write a critique of the paper, its strengths and weakness, the quality of the writing and the technical content and recommend the disposition of the paper. Papers will not be evaluated on the success of a research project but instead on the conceptualization of the problem, the planning of the experiments, the detailed description of results, and the level of understanding and the quality of the interpretation discussed in the discussion section. Based on these criteria, the paper will be accepted or rejected. Acceptance for publication is an automatic pass of the Phase II writing requirement.

Step Two: Rejected papers will be revised according to the reviewers' comments and resubmitted for publication. The revised manuscript must be accepted by the Phase II deadline, Reg Day of the last term.

Options for completion:

Course 7 majors may use a Project Lab or UROP paper. Alternatively, a student may submit a review paper or a research proposal. In some cases a paper for a Biology, Toxicology, or Bioengineering subject may also satisfy the requirement. It is prudent to discuss your paper with Prof. Matsudaira or Prof. Ingram, who must approve the specific topic at the beginning of the project.

7.02 or chemistry laboratory reports are not suitable as a Phase II paper. Papers written for non-MIT courses will not be accepted.

GRADING

A Phase II paper is either accepted, conditionally accepted, or rejected.

Accepted: A passing paper meets all the requirements set by the Committee on the Writing Requirement. It is virtually free of errors in syntax, word choice, grammar, spelling and punctuation. The experiments are described well and the figures and tables are professionally produced.

Conditionally accepted: In some cases a paper may be accepted with revisions. This is a marginal pass condition in which the paper has minor problems which should be easily corrected.

Rejected:These papers indicate that a student is not adequately proficient in organization, logic, word choice, grammar or punctuation. The papers lack a sound organizational and logical structure, excessive numbers of errors in syntax, word choice, grammar, spelling or punctuation. Students whose manuscripts are rejected should seek assistance from their faculty research supervisor, course instructor, faculty advisor, the biology writing tutor, or the MIT Writing and Communication Center.

TRANSFER STUDENTS

Transfer students who would like to substitute a course taken in another institute for one of the writing courses offered at MIT should see Prof. James Paradis (email: jparadis@mit.edu), 14E-303, 3-7894.

RESOURCES

The Biology Department provides Writing Tutors to help students prepare their papers for submission to the journal. For further information, contact the Biology Education office, 68-120.

MIT provides many resources for students who wish or need to improve their writing skills. Chief among them are the Writing Program, the Writing and Communication Center, and the English as a Second Language Program. You are urged to visit program offices for more detailed information. In addition, the Guide to the Writing Requirement is on the Web at the Writing Requirement Office site.

The Writing Requirement is administered by the Writing Requirement Office, located in 7-103. If you have any questions on the Requirement, please call Madeline Brown, Assistant to the Director of the Writing Requirement or the Director of the Writing Requirement, Associate Dean Leslie C. Perelman, at (617) 253-3039.

VERY FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS I want to graduate in June 2004. When should I submit my paper? Your paper should be submitted by September 15, 2003. When must I pass Phase II? You must pass by Reg Day of the term that you intend to graduate. In some cases the Writing Coordinators will grant an extension, but you must petition the Writing Requirement Committee for a waiver. I want to graduate in February. When must I pass Phase II? The deadline is Reg Day of Fall term. What's the difference between the Phase II Requirement and Project Lab credit? This question is also asked by faculty. Phase II is an Institute writing requirement that must be satisfied by Reg Day. Project Lab is a restricted elective for Course 7 majors that must be satisfied by the last day of the final term. I want to use my UROP report for Phase II. Will this be acceptable? Yes, make sure that you finish the report during the summer. A later deadline can be negotiated, but only by prior permission from the Writing Coordinator. Under no circumstances will a senior be allowed to start a UROP in the fall term with the intention of using the paper for the Phase II deadline in the Spring Term. I only have a couple of experiments to finish my project. Can I submit my paper late? You must discuss this option with the Writing Coordinator before Reg Day of Fall Term. It's March and I wanted to finish my UROP before I write my paper. Can I still submit it? No, take a writing course or see Dean Perelman. You are at great risk of not graduating, especially after the add-date deadline for the writing courses. I want to take Project Lab in the Fall and use the report for Phase II. This option is permissible because the Writing Tutors work with Project Lab students in the course. The risk is that you don't have much time to revise your papers in time for the Reg Day deadline. I don't want to submit my paper to the BUG Journal. Not an option. The mechanism for passing the Phase II requirement is to have your paper go through a critical review process and acceptance into the Journal. You have the option of limiting access to your paper, however, to MIT eyes only, or it can be available to the entire WWW. Can I write my paper on Athena? Yes, but you are responsible for converting your text, image, and graphics files to MS Word. I need help with writing. Who do I contact? Contact the Biology Education Office by emailing undergradbio@mit.edu and you will b e assigned a tutor. Are there other ways of passing the Phase II Requirement? Yes, you can enroll in a writing course and pass with a grade of B or better. The writing tutor read my paper and recommended that I take a writing class. Can I still use my paper to pass the Phase II requirement? You can use the paper in the Writing Course, but the paper won't be accepted for publication in the BUG Journal.