Students
NSCI7910 – Advanced Scientific Writing
2025 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde
General Information
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| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Ken Cheng
|
|---|---|
| Credit points |
Credit points
10
|
| Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Admission to GradDipRes or GradCertRes
|
| Corequisites |
Corequisites
|
| Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
|
| Unit description |
Unit description
This foundation unit focuses on developing key scientific writing skills in (i) critical review and synthesis of literature, (ii) scientific writing style, clarity and succinctness, (iii) bibliography management, (iv) peer review, and (v) grant writing. Students will explore an area of research that they may be unfamiliar with at the outset to produce a short opinion piece, and they will develop a grant proposal. 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: Identify a relevant potential source of research funding and develop a grant proposal to a professional standard
- ULO2: Demonstrate advanced skills in scientific writing
- ULO3: Perform background research and synthesise existing scientific literature
- ULO4: Construct and critique scientific arguments
- ULO5: Critically review the work of your peers
General Assessment Information
To pass this unit, you must achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%.
Late Assessment Submission Penalty
Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period will be provided to students who experience a technical concern. For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, please apply for Special Consideration
Late penalties apply to all assessments in this unit.
Special Consideration
The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & Views - peer review | 10% | No | 06/04/2025 |
| News & Views | 40% | No | 13/04/2025 |
| Grant | 40% | No | 01/06/2025 |
| Time on task dairy | 10% | No | 08/06/2025 |
News & Views - peer review
Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 7 hours
Due: 06/04/2025
Weighting: 10%
You will provide constructive peer review on another student's news & views draft.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Construct and critique scientific arguments
- Critically review the work of your peers
News & Views
Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 21 hours
Due: 13/04/2025
Weighting: 40%
You will write a News & Views style professional writing piece on a current topic in your discipline area. This assessment builds on the annotated bibliography, outline and peer review.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Identify a relevant potential source of research funding and develop a grant proposal to a professional standard
- Demonstrate advanced skills in scientific writing
- Perform background research and synthesise existing scientific literature
- Construct and critique scientific arguments
Grant
Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 21 hours
Due: 01/06/2025
Weighting: 40%
You will write a grant proposal to a professional standard.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Identify a relevant potential source of research funding and develop a grant proposal to a professional standard
- Demonstrate advanced skills in scientific writing
- Perform background research and synthesise existing scientific literature
- Construct and critique scientific arguments
Time on task dairy
Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 7 hours
Due: 08/06/2025
Weighting: 10%
Through the session, you will keep a time on task diary. At the end of the session, you will reflect on the time required to perform various tasks, your time management, and identify ways to improve your time management, research planning, and ways to be more efficient in your work.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate advanced skills in scientific writing
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
This class will meet weekly on Tuesdays 10:00-12:00 starting in Week 1.
Methods of Communication
We will communicate with you via your university email and through announcements on iLearn. Queries to the convenor can be sent to the unit convenor via the contact email on iLearn.
COVID Information
For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.
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:
- Academic Appeals Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progression Policy
- Assessment Policy
- Fitness to Practice Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Complaints Resolution Procedure for Students and Members of the Public
- Special Consideration Policy
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/
The Writing Centre
The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.
- Workshops
- Chat with a WriteWISE peer writing leader
- Access StudyWISE
- Upload an assignment to Studiosity
- Complete the Academic Integrity Module
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:
- IT Support
- Accessibility and disability support with study
- Mental health support
- Safety support to respond to bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and sexual assault
- Social support including information about finances, tenancy and legal issues
- Student Advocacy provides independent advice on MQ policies, procedures, and processes
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
Many changes are in place for 2025. Policies on assessments are changing at the Uni, in the direction of fewer assessments. Only 4 assessments are to be submitted. The two major assessments, the grant proposal and the News & Views, will still feature a number of scaffolded steps, steps that are not graded. Weekly workshops will be modified in this light. Students should continue, however, to come to class engaged and ready to work. The term workshop will live up to its name, and students get to write, do exercises, comment, and discuss matters with one another.
We value student feedback to be able to continually improve the way we offer our units. As such, we encourage students to provide constructive feedback via student surveys, to the teaching staff directly, or via the FSE Student Experience & Feedback link in the iLearn page.
Unit information based on version 2025.03 of the Handbook