-Plagarism/ AI detection is used.

-use more than one source per paragraph/support towards point. Sources must be peer-reviewed. Use APA citation

-must include figure in article.

I have attached an example below and my outline for this paper. Feel free to change it if you see fit. If you feel the topic is too broad, consider focusing on one of the dietary factors that I mentioned is involved in acne development.

Instructions:

Length of final project: 2000+ words (most are 2500+)

Audience: Scholarly/Academic or Professional

Number of Sources Required: A minimum of 8, with 6 being scholarly (see below for more info)

Overview

With the Discourse Community Analysis assignments you have already begun to practice the skills you will use here. You have focused closely on particular forms of communication and have thought carefully about how the structure and form meet the needs of particular users/readers. For this project you will continue to closely examine the conventions of researched writing in your field. You will produce a document working with a specific model of researched writing in mind, which explores a research topic of your choosing. You will develop your skills as a researcher, both locating and evaluating the validity and relevance of sources. And you will stake out your own ground as a writer in the ongoing academic and professional conversation in your field.

What “counts” as scholarly researched writing can vary based on your own particular discipline. For many of you the model for this assignment will be a researched argument or literature review, the kind of analysis published in a Scholarly Journal in your field, and which you examined in the DCA. This type of researched writing works with a comprehensive review of the current scholarship in the field focused on a particular research question, and makes an argument or recommendation based on that research.

Such arguments often are made to forward a discussion in the field surrounding a particular issue, such as the development of drug therapies for orphan diseases, or the decision to surgically treat an injury in Physical Therapy. In others they may be offered to argue for the efficacy of a particular approach or technique, say the proper intake procedures for homeless youth at a mobile clinic, or the use of a newly refined diagnostic protocol in psychology, or the role of the pharmacist in Veterinary care. We will explore these types of arguments and the conventions for presenting them in the first assignments for this project.

For some of you, researched writing may take a different form than that of a traditional scholarly article. One common form of peer to peer research exchange in the field other than a scholarly article is through the professional articles and reports (white papers etc.) published through professional organizations like those some of you analyzed in the DCA project. There are also sites where there is peer to peer exchange through articles that do not necessarily fit the traditional mode of the scholarly article, but still rely on careful layering of research to support their claims. See, for instance: “Why are we so afraid of vaccines” at http://blogs.plos.org/speakingofmedicine/2013/06/11/why-are-we-so-afraid-of-vaccines/ (Links to an external site.) or some of the other PLOS articles there. Or perhaps “Managing Recurrent C difficile Infections: Past, Present, and Future” (January 2024) at https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/managing-recurrent-c-difficile-infections-past-present-and-futureLinks to an external site. or some of the articles you might find at http://www.medscape.com/nurses (Links to an external site.) or http://www.medscape.com/emergencymedicine (Links to an external site.) or one of the many other specialties addressed in that forum. These vary in depth, with the Medscape article being a bit more “newsy,” but I include them here to suggest that there are other types of researched writing in your fields. These articles may be less formally structured than a journal article, but still layer in links to research, effectively ‘citing’ a broad range of sources. And there are other genres and types of researched writing relevant to your fields that you may have encountered in your studies or on co-op that I have not listed here and that you may choose to explore, such as grants, detailed proposals, or lab protocols.

For this project you will write a researched writing project that follows a format and approach used widely in your field, and you will have some time to explore your options. Be sure to ask questions and suggest possibilities as they occur to you. It is important that you think openly throughout the process about what “counts” as researched writing in your field. If you are working at the business end of the sciences for instance, would it make more sense to write a sector or market analysis than it would to write a literature review? If you are interested in legal issues related to health care delivery – would you like to explore an issue related to that?

Important: You will choose a ‘model’ article/text to help guide your readers in understanding the particular genre in which you have chosen to write. You will likely choose an article or text that you are using in your own research, but it may be an outside source. This model is really important because it will establish the “genre”/type of article you are creating for your peers and myself as we work through the review process.

You’ll Explore:

Research. What does it mean to conduct research? In the health sciences, the answers to this may vary widely. Research may be completed as field work conducting interviews, or in a lab measuring reactions, or more abstractly it may involve applying a particular model to a problem, or conducting entirely secondary (“library”) research to further a particular conversation and/or pose a new question. For our purposes and given our time frame, it would be challenging (though not impossible!) to conduct field work. So most of you will work with secondary research.

Argument. Students often think of a research paper as an essay that presents information collected from massive amounts of reading. You’ll do a lot of reading here, to be sure; you’ll also cite sources carefully and showcase your reading in a deliberate fashion. But you are not developing this project solely to provide information; you will draw conclusions to make an argument, to stake your own ground.

The centrality of argument in professional and academic writing can be hard to recognize. Even the most seemingly neutral academic papers, such as a literature review, make evaluative arguments all the time simply by highlighting some texts and downplaying others; by their very existence, such texts argue for the importance of the questions they ask and the conclusions they draw. However, argumentative/combative elements tend to be toned down in academic and technical writing, and most often in professional researched reports as well. A tone of reasoned discourse usually prevails. Even if there are strong feelings on all sides, it’s the reasoned argument and evidence that must carry the day.

Audience. These projects will address different audiences. Many will address a scholarly audience, while some may address a professional audience, but in all cases, you will need to carefully assess the particular needs and knowledge base of your audience. It is especially important that you consider if your audience is very narrow in terms of area of specialization, or if you are addressing a community that is perhaps more interdisciplinary or made up of decision makers with varied backgrounds. You can best get a sense of this by carefully evaluating the research material you gather and modeling your approach with a similar audience in mind.

Keep in mind – all this happens in stages as you follow your curiosity and explore! You’ll first define a topic, then complete an Annotated Bibliography, and then draft this project.

Specific Project Goals

1. Identify and understand the conventions of a genre of researched writing used in your discipline.
2. Develop a well focused and current assessment of the research in your topic area.
3. Work with evidence based in comprehensive research on the subject in your field, relying primarily on the kinds of research materials used in the models you have chosen. Evaluate these sources for currency, relevance, and credibility. If you are writing a scholarly piece this will mean scholarly articles that are current and relevant. In other genres, other types of sources and data may be relevant. You will want to work with a minimum of 8 relevant sources, 6 of which should be scholarly.
4. Clearly express a valid argument or recommendation, staking out a position on the issue(s) you are addressing.
5. Model your project on the accepted standards for the type of document you are composing. To accomplish this you should:

• Adopt an appropriate tone for your discussion.
• Work with the kinds of evidence valued in your particular field, whether they be quantitative, qualitative, narrative, or a combination.
• Work with the commonly accepted structures and elements of the type of researched article you have chosen to write
• Incorporate images, tables, charts, etc, if they are commonly used in your discourse community and if they add meaningfully to your argument.
• Adopt the formatting elements common to your field and appropriate to your particular citation system (headings, subheadings, etc.)
• Work effectively with the research you have gathered by accurately and ethically quoting directly, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Maintain your own voice as the central voice of your project.
• Understand and use the proper citation and formatting system for your discipline.