CRJ 345 Research Paper Requirements Fall 2021
The due date for papers is Wednesday, Dec 1 at 5:00pm
o Bonus (+5) for papers submitted by 5:00pm on Monday, Nov 29
o -10 per day for late papers (accrues at 5:00pm each day)
o Papers not received by Friday, Dec 3 scored as a zero
Required Features
• 7-9 pages (~2,100 – 2,500 words)
o Title page, bibliography, tables, images do NOT count toward page/word counts
o Double-spaced, 12-point font, standard margins
• APA format for all in-text citations and reference list
o APA guidelines here:https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
• Integrate at least 10 research sources (more usually signals a better paper)
o A mix of content from lecture, assigned readings, and your self-directed research
o At least three peer-reviewed sources not featured in lecture, Surette book, or
Blackboard readings
• Writing that is appropriately structured and largely error-free
o Use headings to organize the different sections of the paper
▪ See below for a suggested structure and section headings
o Edit to ensure flow from one section of the paper to the next
▪ Draw on lessons from the Research Paper Boot Camp for this
Suggested Structure and Headings (with approximate expected section length)
➢ Introduction (<1 page) o A clear and relatively brief introduction to the paper, should include key question(s) to be explored and brief overview of content to follow. ➢ Literature Review (~2-3 pages) o Explain what other research says about your topic, or how concepts and findings from lecture and readings inform the questions and/or analysis in your paper. ➢ Data and Methods (<1 page) o Explain what data you are using and how you sampled (and why), as well as what strategies you used to analyze that data. ➢ Analysis (~2-3 pages) o Lay out interesting things you observed and patterns you found in your data, and explain them (the explanation will probably draw upon some of the content of your literature review, so feel free to use some of that again here. ➢ Conclusion (~1 page) o Reinforce the key findings of your work and their implication for this area of study, and suggest some things for other researchers to consider going forward.