Department of Microbiology | NC State University

There is no specific topic for Microbiology Journal Club - the emphasis will be on choosing interesting, high-quality papers, whatever the subject area. Presenters are encouraged to choose hypothesis-driven papers, but exceptional descriptive papers are also acceptable.

Presentations should be based on a paper from the recent primary research literature. Presentations should not be a description of the exact contents of the paper; everyone should have already read the paper. Rather, the presenter should provide background context, objectives, methods, key results, discussion, and implications of the papers. Some basic things to go over in a typical experimental paper are:

• What kind of paper is this? A monogram? A review? Is it hypothesis-driven, or exploratory?
• What is the point (question, hypothesis, or observation) of the paper? Where does this come from?
• From what perspective do the authors approach this point?
• How do the experiments address this point? How do the methods work? Describe the meaningful results.
• Does the data convincing "nail down" the point? Are the loopholes closed? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the data?
• What are the conclusions the authors, and you, draw from the data?
• What are the larger implications of these results?
• Where do you think the authors (or others) are going on this project in the future?

The presentor should plan to draw the audience into the discussion. A good way to do this is to bring a list of 8-12 open-ended questions to ask the audience.

As a member of the audience, you will find that you are very familiar with some topics in the presented papers, generally familiar with others, and completely clueless on some. Welcome to the club! If you're very familiar with the topic, perhaps you can help out the presenter with some questions; if you're completely lost, try to figure out what you're missing and ask about it. Don't be shy!

I (Jim Brown) will usually give the first presentation of the year, so that students aren't asked to do so on short notice. The other speakers are from the list of students taking Microbiology Journal Club for credit, and "volunteer" graduate students conscripted from those of us in participating labs. Dates have been assigned arbitrarily with senior graduate students before first-year students. Feel free to swap dates with each other, as long as you let me know about any changes. I will be happy to facilitate exchanges as well.

The student assigned for each journal club date will choose the paper for discussion, and will be the primary leader of the days discussion. This person can, if they wish, identify some aspect of the paper with which they are not particularly well-versed (a method, analysis, historical context, potential use, whatever), and recruit another person to explain or lead the discussion on this particular subtopic.

At least one week before each journal club date, I will need the citation information (title, authors, journal, &c) and PubMed ID for the paper to be presented. I will post and pass this around via email so that others can download a copy of the paper to read in advance and bring to the presentation.

The presentors should meet with me a few minutes before the presentation date for set-up. Bring your presentation in Powerpoint or Keynote format on a USB memory stick or CD. Be sure any external files your presentation needs (e.g. video clips) are included. I will have a Mac laptop and a projector each week - if you need anything else, please let me know a few days in advance so I can get it organized.

Everyone is welcome to participate - faculty, postdocs, techs, graduate students, undergraduates, adjuncts, &c. However, active participation is expected from all, and it's essential to read the paper in advance.

I am happy to provide as much or as little help to student presentors as is desired. Junior students especially may want help choosing a paper, and guidance in the preparation of their presentation. Catch me in my office, lab, or the hallway to chat, or send an email to set a time to meet. Here are some other sources of good information:

• Eric Miller: How to give a good seminar or journal club.
• Little and Parker: How to Read a Scientific Paper
• Ashwin Ram's "How to Present a Paper"
• Bob Spillman's "How to Present a Paper: A Speaker's Guide"