Organize your paper into sections with headings.
Building upon the themes developed over the course of the semester, the students will write an 8-10 page final research paper. Using class materials, as well as at least 7-8 peer-reviewed journal articles, students will be required to analyze a contemporary policing issue.
The instructor must approve all paper topics.
Content
Organize your paper into sections with headings.For a term paper the sections might be:
Introduction
This should include the problem or question and a brief overview of what will be discussed in the paper.
Body
Argument #1
Argument #2
Argument #3
Conclusion
References
Make sure that when you turn in your paper, you have read through it in its final form.This may prove difficult to do after the many editing sessions that you have already enjoyed with it.It is often very helpful to have a friend read it through as well as this lends a fresh perspective.
Format
Please double-space all your text.That way it is much easier for the instructor to annotate your work.
Use 1” margins all round.Use 12 pt font. Times New Roman. Number your pages.
Send your papers on a Word document
Expensive binding and finishing is unnecessary and will not earn you extra points.The final copy should be clean and neat.
Style
Try to write in the third person whenever possible.For the most part you will be presenting facts.Although, for debate papers you will be arguing a certain point of view and it may therefore be appropriate to use “I” now and then, avoid repeated use of the first person.
Avoid clichés.(“the bottom line”, “at the end of the day”, “all in all” etc.)
Avoid slang and informal terms of expression.(“Well, …”, “It was like, we went…”)
Avoid rhetoric.(“How should I interpret these results?”, “I asked myself – What do people think about global warming?”)
Do not use direct quotations in your text unless absolutely necessary.In general it is better to paraphrase or explain the ideas in your own words and simply refer to the original work.
If you use equations in your paper, make sure that every symbol in the equation is explained.Number equations sequentially for easy referencing.
Grammar and spelling
Don’t rely on the spelling checker to find all your spelling errors.You must also read through you document to check that “their”, “there” and “they’re”, for example, are correctly used.
Read and re-read your manuscript.Edit it more than once or twice.Avoid the repetitious use of the same word in a sentence or a paragraph.Edit away all redundancies.I do not want to read the same information over and over again, simply expressed in a slightly different way each time.Remove unnecessary words.Be clear and succinct.DO NOT RAMBLE – I will not be impressed by length.
References
Cite articles by author(s) and year within your text.If there is a single author, the last name and year will suffice – e.g. (Hutchinson, 1995).If there are two authors, include both names and the year of the publication – e.g. (Hutchinson and Osborne, 1978).For more than two authors, use the first author with et al. – e.g. (Hutchinson et al., 1984).
Include the list of references at the end of your paper.Do not include references you have read but not cited.List the references alphabetically by the first author’s last name.
If you’re going to use sources they need to be peer reviewed scholarly articles.
one more thing… can you put (intro, argument 1, 2, 3, and conclusion) on the top left margin, please.
Image preview for organize your paper into sections with headings.
APA
2633 words