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Assessment Guidance
Background
For thepractical sessions you willdevelopfirst‐handexperiencein microdissection of small ovarian follicles,
preparation of basic culture media and setting up a system to maintain these follicles in vitro. Aside from this
practical experience, you will appreciate that these follicles can grow in an artificial environment in the absence of a
blood supply, albeit with minimal supplementation. This culture system therefore lends itself as a useful model to
understand how growth factors or hormones (or anything added exogenously to the culture medium) can potentially
influence preantral follicle development. For this particular experiment we are interested in understanding how
preantral follicles respond to androgens (dihydrotestosterone; DHT); both in terms of their growth and regulation of
genes essential for further development and differentiation.
Thus, your write-upfor this work willfocusonasimpleaim:
Aim: To examine the effect of DHT on preantral follicle development
Your assignment is to write this experiment up in a format that is commonly used by scientists when preparing
research for publication in a journal. Typically, this consists of the following components:
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
Scientific publications often reflect the combined efforts and experience of many individuals who have gathered and
analysed data from months or years of work. Obviously due to time constraints the quality and quantity of data you
have is rather more limited. You will notice in the literature the amount of information in research articles varies
considerably depending on the journal, but also the format of the paper. Although the general format above is often
used, every journal comes with its own detailed set of guidelines, which almost always includesa(rather restrictive)
word-count. This means yearsof researchoften has to be written very succinctly in order to encapsulate all of the
important information in only a few thousand words. Scientists must therefore consider these criteria and be
prepared write in a style that suits the journal, or the type of article being presented.
Course HMCT02 Reproductive and Developmental Medicine
Module MED6111 Gametes
Component Assessment: Assignment
Weighting 70% of module
Academic Year 2023-2024
MSc Reproductive &
Developmental
Medicine
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Guidance on the report
For this write-upyou willpreparea“brief report”, restrictedto2100 words (excluding the abstract and figure legends).
Results should mainly focus on two aspects:
(i) Analysisoffolliclegrowth –‐ instructions will beprovidedon Blackboard for measuring and analysing your
follicle images.
(ii) Relative expression of your gene –‐ guidance will be given in a tutorial and also an Excel example provided on
Blackboard.
However, there may be other aspects that you might want to include. You should construct your report according the
following guidance and instructions, it is essential to adhere to the word limits where stated:
Title Page
Include a full title of the report, student number, word count for each of the five main sections (Abstract,
Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion). Please also provide a total word count for the
Intro/Methods/Results/Discussion – which together should not exceed 2,100 words.
Abstract (max 250 words – note this does not count towards the 2100 word limit)
Briefly describe the purpose of the study, the methods used, the results obtained and the main conclusions.
Most abstracts indexed in PubMed are restricted to 250 words, so use these as examples. This section is often
the last to be written and can be quite challenging to write because it requires you to write succinctly enough to
include all the relevant details.
Introduction (max 400 words)
Give a brief background into study, citing any relevant literature. It may help to write this as though you were
justifying your study to someone who already has a good knowledge of how the ovary works, so you should not
allocate too much text towards describing the general process of follicle development. You have been given an aim
(above), but you need to think about constructing a hypothesis based on what has been done – what do you expect
will be the outcome? Clearly state the aim and hypothesis toward the end of the introduction, but this should be
incorporated into the text (i.e. not separate standalone statements). Try and convincingly build an argument that
justifies your study by identifying areas in the literature that haven’t been explored or would warrant further work.
Remember, this is a bit of a marketing exercise; you are trying to convince the reader that it is worth reading on.
Structure and logic are key.
Materials and Methods
The methods used in this study are based on a recent publication1
and most information can be found either
here1, in your lab protocols, through online links, or in your own notes. Methods should be divided into several
subheadings, for example the following are suggestions:
(i) Animals and follicle isolation
(ii) Preantral follicle culture and imaging
(iii) RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis and PCR
(iv) Quantitative PCR
(v) Statistical analysis
You should also include any primer sequences used; for the purposes of this report you will be presenting data
provided from a single gene. The sequences of primers used are available to download from Blackboard.
You will also need to provide sequences for the reference gene (housekeeping gene) Hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase 1 (Hprt1; 105bp) …and don’t forget Growth differentiation factor 9 (Gdf9). The
source of any chemicals, reagents or hormones should also be stated.
You are not expected to go into considerable detail with the methods, but it is important your description
demonstrates that you clearly understand what was done.
1
Hardy et al., Endocrinology (2017) 158 (1): 134-147
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Results
This section is limited to a maximum of 4 display panels (e.g. figures/tables) and should at the very least
include graphical data of follicle growth and qPCR data. These results may also be supplemented with other
elements such as follicle images, gel images etc. Importantly, when deciding what data to present, ask yourself if
it is relevant to your stated aim, if not, maybe it should be omitted.
Results should also include a narrative of the findings and every figure should be referred in the text. Think
about what you can describe; for instance, what did the follicles look like – were they spherical, what cell types
could you see? Was follicle ‘growth’ due to expansion of the granulosa layer, the oocyte or both, how can you
tell? Were you able to measure oocyte diameters? If you make a point of stating that some follicles were atretic,
can you give an example to justify this? What does the graph indicate? What was the mean fold change in gene
expression? Was the difference statistically significant?
Remember that figure legends should be brief and primarily focus on describing the figure, rather than re-stating
results. For example, if you are presenting a bar graph, state what data has been plotted (mean+/- S.D. etc). Avoid
interpreting the graph.
Discussion (max 800 words)
This section is about interpretation of results (not re-stating results). If you read any well written papers, you will
notice that the discussion should almost read like an independent body of work. Importantly, it lacks technical
detail, but emphasises the main findings in context with the literature. Are there similar studies and how do your
findings compare with these? What are the wider implications of this study? Normally in journal articles you
cannot speculate about the meaning of your findings unless you can back up your comments with appropriate
references; however, we will allow a certain level of speculation i n th is in st a nc e if it demonstrates rational
and innovative thinking.
References
Although not essential, it is advisable to use a referencing programme such as RefWorks, Mendeley or EndNote
(https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/it-services/software/available ). Either way, it is important that you follow the Harvard
format described in the course handbook when citing references in the text and preparing the reference list.
Your report should include a minimum of 12 references and there is no maximum. A maximum of 2 review
articles are allowed. Please avoid citing text books.
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Practical considerations
The report should be prepared using 1.5 spacing and 12-point standard font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial, etc.).
Figure legends and footnotes may be 1 or 2 font sizes smaller than the main text or boxed so it is clear they are
separate. The word count is from the beginning of the Introduction to the end of the Discussion (i.e. includes all
of the Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, with the exception of figure legends and
footnotes). Please ensure you use a spell checker throughout.
Figures should be clear and well constructed and annotated if necessary. Image/photo-based figures and graphs
can easily be constructed using Powerpoint and Excel respectively. Colour or black and white is acceptable but
avoid using unnecessary features such as 3-D histograms etc. Statistical differences in any quantitative data
should be indicated using symbols such as asterisks.
Submission
Draft submission and formative feedback
You will have the opportunity to submit one draft of your assignment to the module lead for some general feedback
prior to your final submission. This should be submitted online via Blackboard by the specified date in the timetable.
Late submissions will not be looked at. ‘General’ feedback will be provided to allow sufficient time to make
amendments prior to final submission. It is not expected that final, polished versions are submitted at this stage, but
the state of the assignment will determine how focused the feedback will be. Note that since it is a formative
process to help you improve your work, marks will not be provided at this stage.
Final submission
An electronic version of your final report should be submitted through Turnitin by the date in your timetable and
indicated on Blackboard. Remember, Turnitin will detect any form of unfair means including collusion (sharing of
information) so it is important your report reflects your own work and no one else’s. Late submission will incur
penalties as indicated in the course handbook.
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APPENDIX I: Assessment schedule
The final mark given will be out of 100. Marks will be agreed by a second, independent examiner following
moderation.
Criteria Weight
Abstract
This should accurately summarise the study. It should include a brief introduction (justifying why the study was
done), the methods used, the key results and the main conclusions. The information in the abstract should
concur with what is presented in the report. Limited to 250 words.
10%
Introduction
This section should provide a logically organised overview that provides sufficient background information to
justify the study. It should be apparent that the student understands the biology of early follicle development,
with higher marks awarded to those who manage to identify aspects that are not well understood (gaps in the
literature). References should be included that are relevant and used in the correct context. The introduction
should lead to an aim(s) and an appropriate hypothesis. It should be written succinctly and clearly with higher
marks awarded to those who can provide a convincing argument. Limited to 400 words.
20%
Materials and Methods
The procedures used for the entire study should be clearly presented under relevant subheadings. All lab
protocols and details of why they were used and the theory behind these were provided to students using a
range of sources. Methods should be presented in as much detail to allow study repetition and should also be
technically correct. It is not imperative they delve into considerable detail, but it should be made clear in the text
why certain procedures were carried out. No word limit.
20%
Results
Results should include a clear description of the findings with reference to appropriate use of tables and figures
(max of 4 in total). Data should be logically presented and relevant and not simply repeating information
presented in another format (e.g. a table and a graph of same values). Quantitative data should be correctly
analysed, for instance, the follicle growth data and the qPCR data –instructions have been provided for
performing these analyses. Evidence of statistics to compare groups (t-tests are sufficient) should be correctly
applied. Other descriptive/observational information should be presented. Marks will be lost if it is evident that a
great deal more could have been done with the data. No word limit.
20%
Discussion
Results should be interpreted (and not simply re-stated) in context with any other published studies. There should
be evidence of a wider analysis – some speculation is acceptable on this occasion if it demonstrates rational
and original thinking. Although it is acceptable to discuss the study from a broad perspective, the discussion
should be focussed and not include irrelevant information. As with the introduction, it should be written succinctly
and clearly, and finish with a summary statement. Limited to 800 words.
20%
Presentation
The overall presentation, including writing (style, grammar), should be easy to follow. The report should be
presented in accordance with the ‘practical considerations’ provided with the guidance (for example, font, word
limits, spelling, annotations etc). References (a minimum of 12) should be correctly formatted. Word limit for the
Introduction, Methods, Results (excl fig legends) and Discussion should be 2100 words.
10%