AUGUST
Within barely a month, each student has to produce a mini-review on his or her chosen topic. Many will have already had comments back from their tutors on their outline plan, whilst others will be receiving them soon. Inevitably, some students will find that they have been over ambitious and have tried to tackle to large a topic, whilst a few may have planned too shallow a review, more reminiscent of an undergraduate project.

There is, however, still time for changes to be made, and tutors are more than happy to provide supplementary guidance if students feel they want it. 'Feel' is definitely the word to use, since those students who have already done a similar mini-review for a different course are naturally more confident than those attempting one for the first time. For many students it will be the first time they have had to handle such a large amount of published literature, and it can present problems. Yet again extreme positions occur, with a few students proposing to include too many un-referenced claims, and others finding themselves with more than 250 literature citations! Seeking advice is again the best solution.