Below you will find:
 Guidelines for writing the essay including the marking criteria, and the rubric attached at the
end.
 A list of previous essay topics for inspiration. You can write on exactly the same topic as any
listed here if you wish, or on any other of your choosing within the broad remit of primate
behaviour and ecology.
 Advice on what makes a good essay. Please read this, and, as mentioned, incorporate the
feedback from your first essay.
Length
Maximum 1500 words, which corresponds to roughly 5 double-spaced pages plus an additional page
of references. The bibliography does not count towards word length; quotes used in the main text of
the work do count. Your essay can be shorter, but you cannot exceed the maximum word count!
Topic
You can write on any subject related to primate socio-ecology. The simplest way is to extend your
special-topic handout into an essay. Alternative suggestions are found below, but you may well
choose another topic. If you write about an independently researched topic that has not been
intensively discussed in lectures and / or tutorials, your essay will be marked less strictly.
Formalities
– All pages must be double-spaced (not single or 1.5-spaced) and use font size 12.
– Special characters such as ü, ä, é, ë, ø must be honoured. Science is an international affair and
spelling names from different cultural backgrounds correctly reflects appreciation of that fact.
– et al. (et alii; Latin, and others ). [Note: there is a full stop after the “al.”!] “et al.” is only used in
the text to refer to publications with >2 authors, e.g. “Küster, Paul & Arnemann 1989” is cited as
“Küster et al. 1989”. However, all authors should be spelled out in the bibliography.
– e.g. (exempli gratia ; Latin, for example). [not: “eg.” or “eg”]
– ibid. (ibidem; Latin, in the same place [not: “ibid”]; used if referring to the same paper
consecutively – Footnotes should NOT be used.
References
You are expected to provide at least 8 but not more than 15 references in the bibliography.
References have to be primary literature. Online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia and websites are
not recognized as a valid bibliographical entry, as they do not represent scientific output that
underwent a peer-review process.