In clinical transplantation an observed complication is that previous red blood cell (RBC) transfusions may reduce the risk of solid organ transplant rejection but increase the risk of bone marrow gra

The essay must show evidence of directly addressing the question set (as opposed to answering a question you wish had been set!). Therefore, the inclusion of relevant information, but failure to structure the essay to address the question set, cannot be expected to attract a high mark. Equally the candidate cannot expect to gain credit for the inclusion of irrelevant information, which although factually correct, has not been asked for.

An abstract should be included, at the start, summarizing your essay, and should be limited to 150 words (plus up to 10% ie. 15 words; equals 165 words maximum). There are penalties for exceeding the word limit; you will be penalized by 1 mark for 1-10 words in excess of 165 words, 2 marks for an 11-20 word excess, etc, up to a maximum penalty of 5 marks. You must include a word count at the end of the abstract.

The essay itself should not exceed 1500 words (plus up to 10% ie 150 words; equals 1650 words maximum). There are penalties for exceeding the word limit; you will be penalized by 1 mark for 1-100 words in excess of 1650 words, 2 marks for a 101-200 word excess, etc, up to a maximum penalty of 5 marks. You must include a word count at the end of the essay.

The essay should include an introduction and a conclusion (within the main 1650 word limit).

Diagrams and/or tables may be included, where they are thought appropriate, and labels, diagram/table headings and any legends, are extra to the word limit.

Appropriate references must be cited in the text and must be listed at the end. General references (without specific citation) are ineligible.References must, for the most part, come from the original literature ie refereed journals or review articles in similar journals. A high reliance on textbook citations, wikipedia and/or other un-refereed internet sources is inappropriate and will not attract high marks. References, both within the text and in the list at the end are extra to the word limit.Figures/tables may be taken from either textbooks or original articles/reviews – whichever is the most appropriate. In all instances the figure source must be fully referenced.

Mark scheme. Marks will be allocated as follows:
Abstract: 5 marks
Introduction: 10 marks
Main text: 65 marks
Conclusion: 10 marks
References: 10 marks

Diagrams/tables, etc, are not allocated individual marks, but their appropriateness/relevance to the essay will be assessed, and this will be included in the mark for the ‘main text’. General advice on writing your assignment

Planning your assignment: You could start by carrying out a literature review (using a literature database, such as PubMed) – this, however, presupposes that you are clear, at the outset, just what search terms to use. If, as is perhaps more likely, you are not sure, then it is suggested that you make an initial essay plan, listing points, or even general areas, you might cover, and this might then allow you to identify possible search terms more easily. A short document on using PubMed is posted on WebLearn (there are, of course, other databases such as Science Direct, Medscape, Web of Knowledge, etc., you can use as well as, or instead of, PubMed).

It is always advisable, when making notes from the literature, to note the details of the source reference at the same time. It is all too easy to note down phrases or whole sentences from source references, and later forgot they were directly copied, and lay yourself open to plagiarism.

The structure of your essay: Published review papers often provide good examples of how your assignment should be written. You are instructed above to include an abstract, introduction, a main body of text and a conclusion. You can head these sections with these section names if you wish. If you choose not to, then you should make it clear in your writing, which are the various sections. In some publications, for instance, the abstract is printed in bold.

Your introduction should lay out, for the reader, what is in store for them; it ‘sets the scene’, it ‘defines the task and indicates how you intend to tackle it.

The main body text should be a ‘rounded story’, and not read like a long list of individual facts. Try to connect the facts to the ideas you wish to get across. Remember that if you use figures/tables, you must refer to them in the text; they cannot just sit there in isolation in your essay. Giving then a number (eg Fig 1/Table 1, etc) will allow you to refer to them relatively easily.

The conclusion should ‘pull together’ everything in your essay, stating just how your essay addresses the assignment topic and what opinion/opinions you formed. No new information should be introduced in your conclusion.

Format of references:

You are required to use the Harvard referencing