Students

NSCI7920 – Advanced Literature Project

2025 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Ken Cheng
ken.cheng@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to GradDipResFSE or GradCertResFSE
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This foundation unit provides opportunities to search, read and critically review scientific literature in your sub-discipline at an advanced level. The topics are to be decided by the student in consultation with an approved mentor. All students undertake independent literature research, with regular mentoring from their topic mentor. Students will need to take responsibility for organising their workload throughout the session. This unit encourages students to directly interact with research active academic staff, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students and to explore the most current and controversial issues in the natural sciences. An oral seminar and written report are required on completion of this research.

Learning in this unit enhances student understanding of global challenges identified by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) Quality Education

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Evaluate and synthesise the current state of knowledge in an area of active research
  • ULO2: Identify a knowledge gap in the field, explain its importance and present a case for addressing it
  • ULO3: Demonstrate mastery of bibliographic database software
  • ULO4: Critically review the written work of others to a professional standard
  • ULO5: Work with a mentor to identify a relevant research topic, plan and conduct literature based research, and reflect on the implementation of the research plan
  • ULO6: Present ideas from your synthesis clearly with supporting evidence

General Assessment Information

Assessments should be submitted via turnitin and also emailed to the convenor and the student's supervisor.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Literature review - outline 30% No 24 August
Peer review of professional work 20% No 7 September
Literature review 50% No 2 November

Literature review - outline

Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 24 August
Weighting: 30%

 

You will prepare an outline for your literature review. Your outline should clearly present the structure of your proposed review including the key points you plan to make and references you plan to use in support. A detailed outline allows for more formative feedback from your supervisor and unit convenor on your planned literature review.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evaluate and synthesise the current state of knowledge in an area of active research
  • Identify a knowledge gap in the field, explain its importance and present a case for addressing it
  • Demonstrate mastery of bibliographic database software
  • Work with a mentor to identify a relevant research topic, plan and conduct literature based research, and reflect on the implementation of the research plan
  • Present ideas from your synthesis clearly with supporting evidence

Peer review of professional work

Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 7 September
Weighting: 20%

 

Your mentor will provide a relevant piece of scientific writing (approved by the unit convenor), and you will provide a detailed written peer review of the work.  The work should be a final draft / submission ready - grant, paper, PhD thesis chapter, or MRes thesis relevant to the student's area of research interest. The authors, mentor, and/or convenor must provide you with the evaluation criteria and any special focus area prior review.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evaluate and synthesise the current state of knowledge in an area of active research
  • Critically review the written work of others to a professional standard

Literature review

Assessment Type 1: Literature review
Indicative Time on Task 2: 40 hours
Due: 2 November
Weighting: 50%

 

You will complete a literature review based that identifies knowledge gaps that could be meaningfully addressed with the time and resources typical of a Master of Research project. You will need to engage with a mentor through regular meetings to explore the structure and content of the review. The literature review builds on the outline assessments.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evaluate and synthesise the current state of knowledge in an area of active research
  • Identify a knowledge gap in the field, explain its importance and present a case for addressing it
  • Demonstrate mastery of bibliographic database software
  • Work with a mentor to identify a relevant research topic, plan and conduct literature based research, and reflect on the implementation of the research plan
  • Present ideas from your synthesis clearly with supporting evidence

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

We meet some of the weeks in person on Mondays 16:00-18:00 at 25 Wally's Walk A211. The first meeting is in Week 1, 28 July at 16:00.

The textbook is Expository Scientific Writing: A Short Guide, by Ken Cheng. You can download it from his lab web site.

Methods of communication

For communication regarding this unit, students should email the unit convenor.

Covid-safe practices

  • If unwell, please do not come to campus. Join on zoom. If you are too unwell to join on zoom, email the convenor and apply for a Special Consideration. Staff have the discretion to request that students presenting COVID-19 like symptoms leave campus.
  • For more information, please see NSW Health.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Academic Success

Academic Success provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

This year, we will have full-on workshops on writing a review paper and writing a professional review, much expanded from past years. Come to class prepared to work.

The number of graded assessments has been reduced to 3 to comply with the University's current assessment principles. The major task of writing a literature review, however, will be well scaffolded with tasks along the way as before.

Last, but not least, we have a new theme song for the class.

Unit information based on version 2025.04 of the Handbook