GEO 43C1 Senior Colloquium Capstone: Research Project

• Ask a Question
• Find Your Librarian
• Make an Appointment
• Visit Us at Moody Library
• (254) 710-6702 (voice)
• (254) 831-4115 (text)

Sign up for Science Research Workshops on

• Creating Scientific Poster Presentations
• Data Management
• Patents
• Reading Scientific Papers
• Standards
• Systematic Reviews
• Writing Scientific Abstracts

and more!  Click here for full descriptions of the workshops.

We are happy to provide in-class instruction or online modules for your classes on a variety of topics or to work with you on designing assignments.  Please contact STEM Librarians or your liaison for more information.

For your research project you will need to select a topic and write an abstract, present a poster, present an oral paper, and write a term paper.  The paper should be at least 2500 words long and use at least 5 peer-reviewed research articles as the basis for your project. 

The paper should be a detailed and critical assessment of the topic, including (but not limited to): an introduction to the topic; a discussion of the data, methods used to develop the data, and hypotheses and interpretations generated from the data; and a discussion of your thoughts on the current interpretations and analyses of the topic. 

Your 250 word abstracts needs to be submitted electronically using the online URSA application

The databases below will help you find articles.  It is not an exhaustive list, but these are good places to start.

Review articles give general overviews of a topic and are good place to start when you are trying to decide on a topic.  However, the majority of your research should be based on your interpretation of individual research articles.

Some databases give you the option of clicking to find related articles.

Your 250 word abstract needs to be submitted electronically using the online URSA application.

• Poster Size
• Know what size poster is required
• Know what orientation (landscape or portrait) is expected
• Keep in mind that the paper comes in 36",42" or 60"
• Poster Format
• The title and author information can extend across the poster
• The content of your poster should be in columns making it easier to read.
• Poster Content:
• Do not use too much text
• Use bullets instead of paragraphs
• Use graphs rather than tables
• Use clear labels and fonts
• Label each section (abstract/background, methods, results/discussion, etc.)
• Label all figures (axes, headings, etc.)
• Highlight most important cells/rows/columns in tables
• Point out/highlight most important comparison in graphs
• Include a short description under each description
• Use at least  24 point font (larger for headings)
• Avoid using too many fonts (preferably only one serif and one sans serif)
• Poster Files:
• If using the University Copy Center
• Submit your poster at least 3 business days in advance
• Submit your file as pdf, jpg, tif or in InDesign or Photoshop formats