Capstone Report Author Guidelines

Guidelines for graduate students enrolled in the Masters of Science Modern Human Anatomy program writing their Capstone report.

Overview

The Capstone Report is the final write-up of your Capstone Project. This written report is similar to writing a manuscript for publication in a scientific journal (except on a smaller scale). As such, you should write the report as if the Capstone Project is completely finished. That way you can manifest its completion.

Don't mention any Specific Aims in the Capstone Report. Specific aims are objectives, and by the time that you have completed your written report, your objectives should have (or have not) been met.

Required sections for the Capstone Report:

Cover Page

Title: Be descriptive

Name: Your Name

Committee Members: The names, emails, and department/organization of the members of your committee. (list their role in parenthesis, e.g., advisor/mentor/external reviewer)

Report Sections

Abstract

One paragraph. 250 words or less.

A succinct but complete summary of your Capstone Project.

Abstracts typically follow this structure:

An overall objective of the Project
A brief summary of pertinent background information
The Rationale (and/or motivation) for the project
The Hypothesis of the Project
A brief overview of the methods
A summary of the findings (your results)
Conclusion / Implication of findings.

Remember your abstract should be a compelling narrative written in active voice and devoid of jargon. Review the Rutgers article on "How To Write an Abstract" as you compose yours.

Write the Abstract last

Since it incorporates information from the other sections of the report, it is usually easier to write the abstract last.

Background and Rationale

Your Background and Rationale should largely follow the structure of the Significance from your Capstone Proposal (excluding the Specific Aims). Remember to switch tense for your results. In the written report, things that are known should be in present tense. Things that you did should be in past tense.

One to two pages

Pressing Questions for the B&R

Your background and rationale should answer the following questions:

What is the current state of knowledge for the anatomy in question?
What is the missing gap or controversy or problem to solve?
What was your hypothesis?
How did you test your hypothesis?
What were your findings?
What is the outlook? The payout? Why should we care?

Anatomy of a B&R

The Background and Rationale should start broad and then focus down to your findings. Accordingly, you should organize the Background and Rationale as indicated below. Note, you do not need to include subheaders in the B&R.

First Sentence

The very first (or second) word in the first sentence should encapsulate what the entire capstone project is about. For example, if you characterized the volumes of meningiomas across males and females, then your project is about Meningiomas and your first sentence should start something like "Meningiomas are typically benign tumors arising from the meningeal tissue of the brain." Don't start with the method ("We used Slicer to measure meningiomas in the Brains of Males and Females"). If you start by discussing the method, then this becomes a method paper about using Slicer, which is typically not what you are doing. So, start with the clinical or anatomical relevance of your project. And don't even mention Slicer (or whatever specific method you used) until the Methods Section.

Background

The background details what is known. Remember to only include information directly relevant to your project. Be sure to include a description of the anatomy involved and any clinical relevance, such as incidence rates or prognosis. If your project was a methods paper or an educational project, then you want to discuss the current technology or educational resource being employed, and the extent to which it is available. Be sure to include a clarifying figure to explain the anatomy in question and how your project relates to that anatomy. Include citations as appropriate when discussing the work of others.

Two to four paragraphs.

Rationale

The rationale serves as the transition from what is known (the background) to what is unknown — the missing gap. What remains to be understood. The rationale helps establish why you did what you did and informs the hypothesis. If your project was a methods paper or an educational project, you discuss the inadequacies of the current technology / educational resource.

One to two paragraphs

Hypothesis, Methods Summary, and Implications

After the rationale, clearly state the central hypothesis of your project. A simple way to do this is to use the following stem: "This study was designed to test the hypothesis that..." Remember, your hypothesis should stated as a testable statement, not a question.

After the hypothesis, you summarize your methods in a few sentences: "We tested this hypothesis by doing THIS and THAT..." Keep this methods summary a simple and straightforward overview. Any pertinent details should be provided in the Methods section.

After summarizing the methods, discuss the implications of your results in one or two sentences: "Our results indicate that..."

Finish with an outlook sentence: "These findings can be used for THIS or THAT awesome thing."

One paragraph

Be sure to include a clarifying figures, images, and/or 3D models.

Methods

Three or more paragraphs

Describe the methods or project approach that you used to answer your hypothesis or big question.

Methods should include:

Sources
Samples
Study Participants
Study Design
Procedures (But not detailed, step-by-step protocols)
Statistical Analyses
Any specialized software used
etc.

Methods Organization

Organize by sub-section header.

Different methods should be organized in different paragraphs and should include subheadings to clearly identify the different methods.

Methods Figures

Clarifying images, figures, and tables are strongly recommended.

Citations

Include citations as appropriate when discussing the work of others. This is often a very useful shortcut: "Methods were performed as in CITATION ET AL" Then in your methods, you just state what you did differently: "Briefly, we did this specific thing and that specific thing..."

Results

Three or more paragraphs.

Clearly present your results in a manner that addresses the hypothesis or objective of the Capstone Project.

Subheadings

Use subheadings to delineate different result subsections. Each section in the results should include at least one figure that clarifies and highlight the result. The title of the subheading should summarize the result you are describing

Anatomy of a Result

For your results, do not just state the results or jump into the statistical analysis. TELL THE STORY! For example, never start your results as follows: "An ANOVA showed no difference between the experiment and control". This forces the reader to go back to the methods section and figure out what the experiment and the control were in the first place. You want to hold your reader's hand as you walk them through the results. The Who, What, When, and Where. Set the stage first. Explain the control and experiment. Talk about the rationale for the experiment that led to the result. For example, if you are presenting the average volume of a given bone segmented across a series of DICOM datasets, state WHY you were measuring the volume in the first place and what you might have expected to find based on previous results. Then, state the results. This may sound like you are rewriting the methods, but you are not including as much detail as you would in the methods. And you are interspersing the results into the mix. And it just makes things easier to follow.

Don't detail any discrepancies from your expectations in the results. Save that for the Discussion section. Just the facts, M'am.

Figures should stand on their own

Each figure should stand on their own and the results text should be understandable without the figure. In the text, always refer to a figure explicitly by its figure number and panel. Don't assume location (For example, don't say "As shown in the figure below," say "As shown in Figure 1A"). Also, when you refer to a figure, describe the figure so the user doesn't have to explicitly refer to the figure: "As you can see in Figure 1A, the data clearly shows a significant change in..." Similarly, you should be able to glean the critical points of the figure without reading the text in the results.

Discussion

Two or more paragraphs.

The first paragraph should summarize your results. In the following paragraph(s), you discuss the broader implications and any conclusions that can be derived from these results. Be sure to compare your conclusions with your initial hypothesis or objective. Finish this section by discussing the relevance of your conclusions in a wider context and expound on the broader impacts of your work.

So, in the discussion, you should:

Summarize results. The first paragraph should simply summarizes the results. Be sure to first restate the hypothesis. And the summarize the results that tested the hypothesis
In the next paragraph, compare your results to what others have found (reference literature on the topic)
Then, discuss what was unique about the study. What was great or strong? What made it different (or better) than other studies.
Then, list any limitations or weaknesses of your study.
Finally, discuss future directions

Literature Cited

Use any citation format you like.

Personal Reflection

One paragraph.

A brief description of your personal interest in this project and your expected personal outcomes after completing this project (i.e. what did you personally achieve with this project). Describe the overall scientific/academic value your project will have and how such a project pertains to your future goals. Do not include any personal narrative outside of this paragraph.

Appendix

Your appendix will vary depending on your project. At the very least, your appendix must include a link to the digital resources (such as the Education module or raw imaging data) that you generated. In the appendix include one or more of the following:

A Link to a website that contains your digital resource
A link to a ONEDrive folder that contains all of your digital.
Make sure to add Ernesto Salcedo and Jennifer Thurston as owners to this folder (Grant EDIT access to both of us). This will give us long-term access to the data
Be sure to organize the contents of the folder for clarity. For example, you could include subfolders with clarifying names as RAW DATA or Blender Files. Make sure all files or folder names clearly identify their contents.
Include any 3D models that you generated, images, tables, et

Note, for exceptionally large datasets, you can upload your data the MHA data server (ask Noah) and make a note in the appendix of what data was saved and where it can be found on that server.

Additional items to add to your appendix include material that didn't fit in the Report such as:

supplementary figures
a user manual
summary statistics (large tables)
step-by-step protocols
survey tools
screen shots of the deliverable.

Report Mechanics

On Time and Tense

For the written report, you should write in both Present and Past Tense:

Present tense: Things that are known (like your Background and Rationale) should be written in present tense. e.g. Meningiomas are common brain tumors.
Past tense: Things that you did (like your Methods and your Results) should be written in past tense. e.g. I did a bad, bad thing.

Formatting

Spacing: Typed, single-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
Total Recommended length: eight to ten pages, (not including title page, references, figures, tables, or appendices)
Font Size: 11- or 12-point.
Recommended Font: Arial, Helvetica, or Times.
Paragraph Length: The length of a paragraph should be less than one-half of a page.

Tables

Each table must have a self-explanatory title, be numbered in order of appearance with Arabic numerals and be cited at an appropriate point in the text. Tables should be constructed in the simplest format possible, in black and white with clear divisions between table cells. They are intended to show comparisons of data that are too cumbersome to describe in the text; they should not merely repeat text information. Every table column, including subcolumns should have a heading.

Figures

Figures need to be cited at an appropriate point in the text. Each figure must be accompanied by a brief descriptive legend.

Figures should be of Journal quality reproduction and at a resolution of 300 dpi or greater.

All letters, numbers, and symbols must be at least 2 mm high. Number figures in consecutive series. Panels in a given figure should be lettered (e.g. Figure 1A,)

Please make your figures informative: refer to the "10 simple Rules for better figures" document posted in the modules section

Figure Legends

Legends for each figure should not exceed 200 words. Abbreviations used in figures and legends must match exactly those used in the text.

Style

Style is equally as important as content. It is critical to write clearly and concisely and pay close attention to grammar and spelling. Avoid colloquialisms and slang. Avoid careless mistakes. The report should be well-written and proofread carefully. Poorly written reports will be returned for revision. Please refer to the article on the "Science of Scientific Writing" posted in the Modules section for further tips on good scientific writing.

In addition, several websites offer useful tips on grammar. For example, Strunk, ‘Elements of style’ or the Grammar Girl blog.

And then of course, there's Artificial Intelligence. AI tools, like ChatGPT, are allowable for proofreading your text, but should not be used as a primary source of information or citation. AI has been known to hallucinate fake citations and you will be held responsible for citing any fake citations.

Tone

The report should be written in a serious and matter-of-fact tone, such as you can find in a peer-reviewed journal article. Outside of the personal statement, refrain from stating personal opinions or any personal narrative.

Citing Literature and In-Text citations

Cite as you like.