UNC School of Public Health

Department of Epidemiology

Fundamentals of Epidemiology (EPID 168)

Please write a succinct commentary on the overall topic for which you signed up for a presentation. Your commentary should:

1. Summarize the background and critically review the major epidemiologic findings on the topic;
2. Describe the key methodologic issues involved in studying the research question (i.e., study designs, problems of measurement, analytic questions, etc.);
3. Draw implications for policy and/or make recommendations for further research, where indicated.

Your commentary should have a title (the assigned topic), citations to the literature, and the following subheadings: Background, Methodologic Issues, Conclusion and Recommendations, and References.

NOTES:

• Please print your commentary with 12-point, Times Roman font, black print on white paper, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins (or greater) on all sides. Please identify the commentary by including the last five digits of your student ID number in the upper right-hand corner of every sheet (including the cover page). Please do not put your name, lab, or lab instructor's name anywhere except on the cover page, so that your identity can be masked from the graders.
• Please limit your commentary to 1,000-1,200 words and show the word count (not including title or references) at the end. This length is adequate to convey substance, but you have to be very succinct! Avoid lengthy introductory material or a paragraph telling the reader what you will tell her/him. We will take a dim view of longer commentaries so as not to give longer pieces an advantage in covering material. (The references do not count against the word limit.) We do not encourage inclusion of tables or figures, but if you very much want to include one or two, please put them in an appendix.
• Your commentary should cover the key aspects of the assigned topic and should stand alone without reference to the commentaries of other students on your team. The commentary is not meant to be co-extensive with your oral presentation, since the emphases in the latter will be designed to harmonize with the other presentations.
• This commentary comes under the jurisdiction of the Honor Code. Please include a cover page with the title, your name, and your signed pledge. Repeat the title on the first page of text, since the cover page will be removed before grading. (It is expected that you will work with other students on your topic to locate and review literature, discuss various issues, and prepare presentations and abstracts, and that the written commentary will reflect that collaboration; however, the commentary itself should be written without collaboration.)

Suggested reading: George D. Gopen and Judith A. Swan. The science of writing. American Scientist 1991; 78:550-558.

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EPID 168, Guidelines for written commentaries, rev. 12/13/1999, 11/7/2000