The research projects must be original papers prepared by the student based upon the questions supplied by the instructor. Students may not utilize any paper previously or concurrently submitted in another class.
The papers must be a minimum of ten (10) pages of text (excluding title page, if any, appendices if any, and works cited page, and the like. It is most important that students remember that the paper must have a clear thesis, and that it must not be a mere compilation of facts. Note that the 10 age requirement is a minimum, and wil probably not receive the highest grades.
Sufficient numbers of sources should be utilized to indicate satisfactory research. These sources must include some or all of the following: (a) primary source materials or government or other documents; (b) scholarly books; (c) scholarly journals, (d) general readership books and magazines, (e) newspapers, and the like. Interviews of persons authoritative with regard to the subject is also a research technique which may prove valuable.
For this paper it is required that a total of at least eight (8) sources from some or all of categories (a), (b), and (c) and interviews, be utilized and cited in the body of the paper. Be certain that you utilize sufficient contemporary sources to be certain that your research is current. Some material from category (a) must be utilized if the student wishes to compete for an A grade.
Materials may be researched via the internet. When these materials are listed in the works cited page, they must include author, title, source of original publication, date of publication, and any additional information establishing whether or not they are scholarly sources, government documents, or the like. The internet address must be shown. Unless they are books, articles, or dated documents, the access date should also be listed.
Nota bene: an extremely valuable website for both research information and format information
is: www.charleslivermore.com
Format: the format of this paper is to be based upon the American Political Science Association
style manual. This manual is the one utilized by the political science profession’s journal for the
submission of articles.
Nota bene: Papers which fail to utilize the A.P.S.A. style manual and its format rules will not be
Accepted with penalty applied when properly submitted.
Remember, footnotes and endnotes are prohibited. You must utilize only parenthetical citations. At the end of the paper, use a Works Cited list, which, as the name indicates, only lists you actually cited in the body of the paper. Do not utilize Bibliography, References, Sources, or the like.
Factors taken into consideration in the grading of this individual research paper include, but are
not limited to, such items as the depth and breadth of analysis (and keep in mind that student
analysis is extremely important in the preparation of papers), quantity and quality of source
materials, accuracy of findings, originality of research, and similar factors.
In addition to the content of the paper, students are also held responsible for spelling, grammatical
usage, neatness, and the like. Any paper with excessive misspellings, incorrect format, poor
grammar, or similar defects, will be returned ungraded and must be resubmitted.
When the paper is resubmitted because of rejection due to reasons listed in F above, a penalty
reduction of one grade will be applied. Remember, contractions must never be utilized.
Be certain to utilize a font size of twelve (12). Margins should be 1 ½” on the left and 1” on
the other three sides. Submission of papers with large print and wide margins is both insulting
to the student and to the instructor and is strictly forbidden. Such papers will be returned
ungraded for resubmission (with penalty applied). Left and right margins must be justified.
Students are reminded that all information other than that which is original with them or that
which is general knowledge must be cited. They are further reminded that failure to cite sources
for materials not original with them or general knowledge (or materials copied directly from
another source, no matter how brief) constitutes a violation of the rules governing submission of
this paper and will lead to a grade of F (Zero).
