STRUCTURE: A paper should have: 1. Title page, 2. Introduction, 3. Body, 4. Analytical conclusion and 5. Reference list.
Title page: All papers are to have a page that specifies the title of the paper, student name, course name/number, section, and instructor’s See the example below.
Introduction: The introduction states the thesis and gives an overview of the paper.
Body: Presentation of the main points of the paper, documents evidence, presents data, and/or details argument.
Analytical Conclusion: Presents a summary of the main points of argument and critique. Do not neglect this section as it is very important to give your ideas and to finalize the thesis argument.
References: A paper must have references from books, journals, Internet and other sources. At least 3 references for each page. This is a total count on average. (One page may have one citation and another 5 citations.) Other’s ideas and words must be referenced. Only list sources actually used in the paper (This is not a bibliography). At least 2-3 references should be cited per page. Avoid repeated citations of the same reference; find parallel references. This is a major grade issue; as the quality/quantity of your references documents your evidence. It is your “proof”. Two-thirds of your references should be from scholarly sources. Do not list references not cited or used. NB: remember the number of references is a total (for a meta-analytical paper) and would be references actually used in the paper. This does not mean that all of the references would be on your specific narrowed topic. In fact probably only one third would be on the narrowed topic. The remainder would be in the general topic or comparisons with other related topics. References/citations are used as evidence as well as to help narrow your topic. There will be a number of references/citations at the beginning of the paper to define key words, refine theory, or focus attention. For example, if your paper were on the use of Ritalin for attention deficit-hyperactivity in children under the age of three, this is your narrowed topic. Definitions of ADHD, diagnosis, rate, prevalence, causes, and treatment would be outside your narrowed interest. References/citations allow you to efficiently and briefly summarize these topics so that you can focus your analysis on children under three. Likewise, comparisons with children/persons of different ages may be used and cited as part of the analytical process. If a different method (experimental, case study, observation, etc.) is used, then the number of references would be proportionately adjusted. If ¼ of your paper is empiricial method, then references/citations would be reduced ¼ from the 30+ requirement.
