TERM PAPER GUIDELINES
Adapted from Timothy Heaton’s Term
Paper Guidelines
SUBJECT
The topic of the paper will be of the
student's choosing with consent of the instructor. It must be relevant to the
content of the course, but it should be treated in greater depth than it is
covered in class. Focus is of the utmost importance. Too broad a topic will
either lead to superficial treatment or an unnecessarily long paper; too narrow
a topic will lead to a lack of source material and redundancy. Make sure the
subject focuses on one question or topic so that the paper has a definite
purpose.
AUDIENCE
Although the paper is intended for
the instructor, the
target audience is to be an intelligent but uninformed reader. Because
of this, fundamental concepts, like those taught in the course, do need to be
treated briefly (if applicable) before delving into the details of the subject of
the paper. A good test is to have a friend or roommate who is not in the class
read your paper to see if it's understandable.
ORGANIZATION
There are many creative ways to
organize a paper, so a rigid set of guidelines is not necessary. However,
organization is such a common problem with term papers that a simple and
effective scheme is outlined here as a suggestion. It involves partitioning the
paper into discrete parts to insure that the topic is properly introduced, that
relevant supporting material is treated in a logical fashion, and that the
paper ends with everything tied together into a satisfying conclusion.
Starting and ending a paper are always the hardest parts of
writing and can be done last. One good scheme for an introduction is to begin with
something colorful or meaningful about the subject to catch the reader's attention (e.g.,
a problem statement that sets the stage for the rest of the paper) and to end with a thesis statement. A thesis statement
explicitly tells what the paper will be about so that the reader isn't left
guessing. The introduction should be short: a page is too long.
Dividing the paper into sections with headings forces the
writer to group relevant facts into coherent units. Each section can have an
introductory and concluding paragraph.
The paper should end with a conclusion or summary that ties
together all the parts of the paper and leaves the reader with a feeling of
resolution. The conclusion is not a place to bring up new information or to
wander off the subject.
SOURCE MATERIAL AND REFERENCES
Presenting your own ideas in a
term paper is acceptable and even encouraged. However, the paper must be based
on facts and opinions from authoritative sources, and
these sources must be given proper credit. A minimum of three published sources
is required, and ten or more is typical. Direct quotes must be placed inside
quotation marks or in indented sections and should be used sparingly.
Paraphrasing is better in most cases.
There are two popular ways to cite references. One is to
place superscripted numbers in the text with corresponding footnotes at the
bottom of the page or endnotes at the end of the paper. More typical of
scientific papers is to place the author and year in parentheses (Heaton,
1984). In either case you need a bibliography of all cited sources at the end
of the paper with author(s), year, title, publication or publisher, volume, and
pages. These should be in alphabetical order by name of the primary author.
Be sure to find source materials that are specific to your
topic, either books or journal articles. Textbooks are usually too general and
should be avoided. The library has published and computerized indexes that can
be used to find relevant sources. See the instructor or a reference librarian
if you are unfamiliar with these resources.
Plagiarism is the presenting of someone else's wording or
ideas as one's own and is a violation of university policy. If you use someone
else's words or ideas, you must give them proper credit. You must also obtain
permission from the instructor before using your term paper for more than one
course.
LENGTH AND FORMAT
Length is not important; 8 to 10
pages of double-spaced text is a good target. The title, author, course, and
date should be typed onto a cover sheet. Please staple the paper in the upper
left-hand corner and submit without a binding. Illustrations are not required
but are often useful in explaining graphical concepts and in giving the paper
character. Maps, when incorporated, should follow general
cartographic guidelines to include elements such as a scale or a legend. The bibliography should be the last section of the paper.
GRADING
Grading is based
on both research content and presentation. Your paper should demonstrate that
you have gained a level of expertise in the subject by studying the relevant
literature. Your presentation should be clean and convincing with proper use of
paragraphs, complete sentences, and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Make your term paper look and sound professional.
Suggested outline of the term paper
1. Cover page
2. Abstract (not
exceeding 200 words + 5 keywords)
3. Introduction
(including a purpose and a problem statement, objectives, and overview of the
structure of the paper)
4. Background and
literature review
5. Methods, data,
and study area
6. Results and
discussion
7. Conclusions
8. References