Government Briefing: Literature Quality Assessment
Use of Artificial Intelligence: Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to brainstorm ideas, summarise reading material or to edit your submission is permitted. The content of your final submission must be your original work within this context of using AI as outlined in the rubric. Be aware that the output from generative AI tools may be incorrect, incomplete or biased. Working with another person or technology in order to gain an unfair advantage in assessment or improperly obtaining answers from a third party including generative AI to questions in an examination or other form of assessment may lead to sanctions under the Student Misconduct Rule. Use of generative AI tools may be detected. More information is available on the Library web page.
Instructions:
Students are to prepare a report to a government agency or minister summarizing an emerging microbiology problem and how a current technique can be used to address this problem. This task will be based in scientific literature but will be written in a style which can communicate to an educated but non-specialist audience. Ethical use of AI will be encouraged to define a topic, find literature and generate the briefing. Assessments will incorporate prompt engineering and commentary on how students asses the quality of AI output. The report is expected to be written to a high standard of English. If poor coherence, grammar, punctuation or spelling interferes with the reader’s understanding of the work, marks will be deducted for each section that is impacted.
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Choose a current analytical microbiology topic relevant to Australia
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Design AI prompts to search for peer-reviewed literature (Q1/Q2 journals from last 5 years)
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Verify all AI-generated references are real and from reputable journals
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Write commentary explaining the logic behind literature search and prompt refinement
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Create government briefing document (up to 1000 words) for educated non-expert audience
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Design and include a graphical abstract/conceptual diagram
Ethical AI Integration
The assignment is designed to integrate generative AI ethically, reflecting how AI is used in industry and research. Students must use AI as a tool but explain how they used it - not for cheating, but as a research tool. The assessment evaluates both the scientific content and how AI was used in the process.
What is a Government Briefing
A common document type in industry and academia where microbiologists communicate complex scientific information in accessible form for policymakers. Written for educated but non-expert audiences (e.g., NSW Minister for Health, Water, or Science). Must be succinct, well-structured, punchy, and avoid jargon.
AI Tools and Considerations
Ethical uses: Overcoming writer's block, summarizing literature, finding papers, designing figures, and coding assistance. Must fact-check all outputs using expert knowledge.
Pitfalls: Hallucinations (fabricated information), poor writing quality, incorrect references. Different models have varying quality - free versions are often inadequate while premium versions are better.
Recommended tools: Perplexity (academic mode), Microsoft Copilot, Gemini. Avoid tools with ethical concerns or those used for misinformation.
Additional considerations: Environmental impact, cost inequity, and what time saved is used for instead.
Writing Effective AI Prompts
Give clear context and role (e.g., "You are an analytical microbiology expert")
Define topic with specific boundaries (location, timeframe, journal quality)
Specify output format and task requirements
Use Boolean terms (AND, OR) for precision
Iterate and refine based on outputs
Set to academic/peer-reviewed mode where possible
Request only Q1/Q2 journals from last 5 years
Literature Quality Assessment
Journal rankings: Use Web of Science Journal Citations Reports to check quartiles. Only use Q1 (top 25%) or Q2 (top 50%) journals in the field.
Impact factor: Average citations per paper divided by total citable items over two years. Top multidisciplinary journals (Nature, Science, Cell) have impact factors around 40; good discipline-specific journals range from 5-14.
Watch for predatory journals: Some open-access journals exploit pay-to-publish models (e.g., MDPI). While still peer-reviewed, they're lower quality than top journals.
Author reputation: Check H-index and M-index (H-index divided by years publishing) via Google Scholar.
Assessment Components
Topic selection: Define focused, current Australian microbiology problem with national relevance, articulate scope, affected populations, urgency, aims, and key questions.
Literature search prompts: Design precise, structured prompts with keywords and Boolean operators targeting peer-reviewed literature. Must iterate and refine based on responses.
Literature search commentary: Write paragraph(s) explaining search logic, how literature accuracy was verified, and how prompts were refined. Cannot be AI-written.
Briefing document prompt: Construct detailed prompts defining audience (Minister/executives), word limit, structure, evidence requirements, and in-text citations.
Graphical abstract: Create conceptual diagram representing the problem and solution. Can use AI to design but may need to recreate in PowerPoint or BioRender.
Topic Selection Guidelines
Must be a current problem causing concern in Australia (can also be global). Something the government would invest in solving - could be disease outbreak, agricultural issue, environmental contamination, blooms, or microbiome-related. Must involve analytical microbiology tools for monitoring. Example: Algal blooms in Sydney Harbour or South Australia. Students can discuss potential topics during pracs for feedback.
Document Writing Tips
SUCCESS model for making ideas stick: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete (use similes), Credible (references), Emotional (highlight impact), Stories (narrative structure).
Structure approach: What is the problem? So what (why care)? What are solutions? What are benefits? End with positives so decision-makers remember the solution.
Formatting: Use colors, subheadings, boxes, dot points - make it visually appealing and easy to scan. Decision-makers may only spend 2-5 minutes reading.
Highlight impact: Quantify costs, deaths, affected populations - explain why people should care.
Avoid jargon: Write for educated non-scientists. Define technical terms on first use.
Recommended Reading
The Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari - explores information theory from ancient Persia through AI, discussing uses and misuses from historical/philosophical perspective.
Made to Stick and Writing Science by Schimel - resources on making ideas memorable and effective science communication.