for ENGL318/JAMM328, SP18

1. Project 4, Scientific Issues in
Communities
[Detailed Assignment Sheet: Report and
Communication Action Plan]
In this report, you’ll be writing as a science communicator: someone
experienced in communicating complex information about scientific issues to
non-expert audiences. Your audience for the report will be professionals who
have some stake in the issue and an ability to take action on it: they could
be public health administrators, government employees with some
jurisdiction over the community in relation to the issue you’re analyzing, or
something similar. So you’ll need to draw on the skills you used for our
previous assignments in order to present the scientific issues in a way that’s
appropriate to the understanding of your audience.
Your report should include the following sections:
1. A title page. This should include the title and the date (you do not
need to include your name.
2. An executive summary that provides a very condensed form (150
words max) of the substance of the report, including your conclusions
and communication plan.
3. An introduction that explains the purpose of the report and
introduces the scientific issue.
4. A report body that thoroughly but concisely explains the scientific
issue and its impacts on the community (note that “community” may
consist of several different, potentially conflicting groups of
stakeholders). You can break this up into subtitled sections for better
readability. See the excerpts of Carman et al’s ZIKV report and the
Ebola white paper for a model for how to do this. You can use
graphics, but be sure that they add to the substance of the paper, are
appropriately captioned, and are understandable to your audience. You
should cite sources using whatever citation format you prefer, as long
as it adheres to the guidelines of that style (see the Purdue OWL for
guidelines on different citation formats).
5. A communication action plan that provides a detailed outline and
justification of what communicative actions you recommend should be
taken in order to address the issue to the community and its various
stakeholders. “Communicative actions” are things designed to
communicate with various community stakeholders, including the
media, about the issue. Their purpose could be to inform stakeholders

2. about ways that the issues affects them, or to move them to take a
particular form of action on the issue. Communicative actions include
things like explanatory videos, infographics, fact sheets, brochures,
podcasts, PSAs, posters, infographics, etc.
Grading Chart, Report & Communication Plan
Attention to audience. The report and communication
plan is written in such a way
that its audience of professionals
(though not necessarily experts
in the science) will be able to
easily understand and act upon
the information. Jargon is
eliminated or explained well
where necessary.
25
Substance, content,
and documentation.
The report contains excellent
explanations of the issue, the
science, the effects of the issue
on various community
stakeholders. There is sufficient
detail, and sources are
documented according to the
standards of the chosen citation
format.
50
Organization. The report is easy to read and
navigate. Information is divided
appropriately into sections, the
purpose and the main point of
paragraphs and sections is
readily identifiable. At the
sentence, paragraph, and
section level, the writing is
cohesive and coherent.
25
Thoughtfulness of
communication plan.
The communication plan is well-
conceived, and contains
excellent justification of the
communicative actions that are
deemed appropriate for various
stakeholders in the community.
25

3. Quality of execution. The writing is mechanically and
stylistically sound, and the visual
format is polished and
professional.
25
TOTAL 150