Requirements
Topics
Structure
Structure for Genocide
Sources
Footnotes
Plagiarism
Paper Grading
Requirements:
You are to select a single topic that is interesting to you and discuss it in the form of a research paper that has a body of 1500-2000 words.
Topics:
You may select any topic that you like so long as a) it is relevant to the class, and b) it is approved by me. I do not require a Thesis Statement. Instead, all you need to do is let me know what you want to write about. Additionally, you are not locked into your topic. If you change your mind, feel free – but you must let me know of your intentions to change immediately.
Topics MUST be submitted to me by the date found within the Important Dates section of my first post of the term. You shall submit your topic via email. Please be sure to identify in which class you are enrolled in your message.
NOTE: Papers without approved topics will not be graded upon submission.
Structure for all Classes:
The paper must be college level work. It must have a title page, an introduction, a body, a conclusion, and a bibliography. The body of the paper must be 1500-2000 words in length (not including the cover, introduction, conclusion, citations, bibliography, etc.). It must be double-spaced and justified (re: block paragraphs). The margins must be set at 1”. The font must be Times New Roman and it should be no larger than 12 point. When quoting a source, there should be either footnotes or end-notes. There should be few, if any grammatical or typographical errors and there should be no spelling mistakes. Finally, the file format of your paper must be either .doc or .docx.
If you are having problems with structuring your paper, I suggest that you pick up a copy of Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. It is an excellent source for students in the fine art of drafting papers. The seventh edition (© 2007) is available at Amazon.com for less than $5.
It is also available free online here – Turabian Manual For Writers.
Sources:
I would like to see a minimum of five sources cited for your paper. These can include books, journals, and newspaper or m agazine articles. You shall not use personal web sites or Wikipedia as a source, simply because the validity of many web sites, including Wiki, are questionable at best. The exception to this preference would be if the web site contains the actual text of the source that you have selected.
For example, the National Archives and Records Administration’s web site has the actual text of the Declaration of Independence posted. In cases such as this, you would cite the Declaration as your source and the url where it can be found. If you are unsure, send me an email. I am an expert in the field of knowing what Limanek is looking for.
An excellent place to look for sources is Google Books. It is like having little a virtual library at your finger tips.
Footnotes:
Remember: anything, anything, anything that is not your original work must be cited. This is true whether you directly quote or paraphrase for a source. Every sentence that contains information that is common knowledge (ex: the Sun is yellow) must be cited. You should never be afraid of citing your sources. After all, you ARE NOT AN EXPERT on the subject matter on which you are researching. As a general rule, it is always better to have too many citations than not enough. FYI: a 6-8 page research paper should have on average between 25-40 footnotes. Anything less means either a) you are making things up, or b) you are committing acts of plagiarism.
You must use the Chicago Method of citation for this assignment, which is the preferred method of citation for Academia.
The basic template for the Chicago Method is designed to allow the read to directly identify exact location of your source. At its based, proper citation with the Chicago Methods involves identifying the following: author, title, edition, publisher, publisher’s location, year the work was printed, and the specific page within the work where the cited information can be found.
Proper use of the Chicago Method has two key parts: a properly structured footnote and a reference of the source within the bibliography.
Here is an example of how to use the Chicago method of citation with a paraphrased statement containing information that is not common knowledge:
While the primary author of the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson, he original draft was subject to revisions and editing by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams prior to submission to the full Continental Congress for consideration.
At the end of the statement, a superscript numeral should be inserted. For example:
While the primary author of the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson, he original draft was subject to revisions and editing by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams prior to submission to the full Continental Congress for consideration.18
The exact same numeral should be inserted identify the footnote at the bottom of the page. For example:
18. J. Wilson and J. Dilulio, American Government, the Essentials, 9th ed, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004), p. 22.
NOTE: You only have to list the full citation in the footnote the first time you use the source. Future citations from the same source should be abbreviated. For example, the most common abbreviations within Chicago/Turabian are: Ibid (used when the next citation sequentially is repeated from the exact same source and location), Ibid plus page number, (used when the next citation sequentially repeated from the exact same source but different location within), or shorted note (used when an already fully cited source is revisited later in the paper).
Then, the source should be referenced within within the bibliography. For example:
Wilson, James Q. and Dilulio, John J., American Government, the Essentials, Ninth Edition, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, © 2004
For more information, please visit the Turabian’s Manual For Writers Notes and Bibliography Quick Chicago Citation Guide.
Plagiarism
Academic honesty is an integral part of your college experience. Every college at which I teach has some variation of an academic honesty policy contained within its student handbook. Please take serious note that any and all suspected incidents of plagiarism will result in a zero for this assignment. Additionally, it will be reported to the Dean of Students in the manner proscribed within the academic honesty policy. Do not let a moment of laziness result in the most serious of consequences.
Paper Grading:
The following is a list of what I consider when I grade your paper. Each point value is
deducted from the starting grade of a 100 possible points. Obviously, the more technical
errors that I find in your work, the more points you lose. NOTE: This list is not exhaustive, and you may receive other penalties depending on what you actually include within your paper.
-1 per missing source
Incorrect font size = -3
Not justified = -3
Incorrect margins = -3
Not double-spaced = -3
Lacking sufficient citations = -5
No title page = -5
No bibliography = -5
Lacking a clear introduction = -5
Lacking a clear conclusion = -5
Weak writing style (not college-level) = -5
Too much redundancy = -5
Too much opinion = -5
Failure to use the Chicago style of citations = -5
10-20 writing mistakes/grammatical errors/spelling errors = -5
Run-on Paragraphs = -5
Failure to send as .doc or .docx = -5
No citations = -10
Ineffective writing style (difficult for reading to follow thought process) = -10
Ineffective discussion of topic (25% or more of paper does not relate to topic) = -10
20-40 writing mistakes/grammatical errors/spelling errors = -10
Lacking discernible paragraphs = -10
No Bibliography & no citations = -15
40+ writing mistakes/grammatical errors/spelling errors= -15
If assigned paper is based on word count:
0-50 words short = -5
51-100 = -10
101-150 = -15
151-200 = -20
201-300 = -30
301-400 = -40
401-600 = -50
601+ = -100%
1-23 hours late, unless pre-approved = -5
24-47 hours late, unless pre-approved = -10
48-71 hours late, unless pre-approved = -20
72-95 hours late, unless pre-approved = -30
96-119 hours late, unless pre-approved = -40
120+ hours late, unless pre-approved = -100%