Pt. I. General advice about writing and reading biology -- 1. Introduction and general rules -- 2. Locating useful sources -- 3. General advice on reading and note taking -- 4. Reading and writing about statistical analyses -- 5. Citing sources and listing references -- 6. Revising -- Pt. II. Guidelines for specific tasks -- 7. Writing summaries, critiques, essays, and review papers -- 8. Answering essay questions -- 9. Writing laboratory and other research reports -- 10. Writing research proposals -- 11. Presenting research findings : preparing talks and poster presentations -- 12. Writing letters of application.