Infographic Assignment Guidelines
Purpose
This assignment will enhance your analytic, creative, and presentation skills through a
nontraditional final project that can be accessed for years to come: An infographic. By creating an
infographic, you will develop your own policy recommendations about an issue in Punishment &
Corrections. You may choose an issue that we have covered in the course or one that we did not
cover that interests you. (If you choose an issue we have not covered, please feel free to reach out
to me to check if it is appropriate.)
Tasks
Choose an issue related to Punishment & Corrections. Possible topics include solitary confinement,
prison nurseries, the death penalty, aging prisoners, juvenile punishment, transgender prisoners’
rights, prison privatization, prison gangs, prisons and COVID-19, etc. Imagine you are presenting
this topic to someone who has little to no background in criminal justice. You will then create an
infographic to 1) describe the issue (on page 1) and 2) provide policy recommendations for how
we should address the issue (on page 2). I recommend using Canva to create your infographic, but
you could also use platforms such as PowerPoint, Piktochart, or Venngage.
Your infographic must provide the following information:
The writing style should be professional and in the third person (no “I” statements).
2. Visual Appeal
3. Graphs, Charts, and Images
1. Content
A. A title
B. Background information (page 1)
● Define your topic/issue.
● Provide some relevant statistics/figures related to the topic.
● Give some context on the topic in the United States.
C. Importance of the issue (page 1)
● Explain why this issue is important.
Discuss the effect your topic has on correctional practices, victims, the public and/or
system-involved persons themselves.
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● Present arguments for or against the issue.
D. Solutions or recommendations (page 2)
● Provide your proposed solutions to the issue and/or your specific recommendation.
● Cohesive colors and font should be used.
● Font should be legible and easy to read.
● Headings should have larger bold font.
The infographic should have clearly delineated sections based upon the major content
areas. The flow should be easy to follow.
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● At least one graph, chart, or visual must be used with data to show the extent of the issue.
h h b d b h d
4. Reputable Sources
5. Citations
6. Format
Criteria for success: The best infographics will fully address all six components.
These charts can be preexisting, or created by the student.
Graphs, charts, and images must be directly relevant to the issue and must be cited in the
references under “image sources” or underneath the image.
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Images accessed from the infographic platform (e.g.—Canva) or downloaded from a stock
photo website (e.g.—Pexels) do not need to be cited.
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What makes an infographic is the information. The infographic must contain information
gathered from reputable sources: Peer-reviewed journal articles, credible news outlets and
research advocacy resources (e.g., The Sentencing Project, Vera Institute of Justice, Prison
Policy Initiative. Urban Institute).
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● At least 4 academic sources (peer-reviewed articles or books) must be used.
All statements that are not common knowledge or your own thoughts must be cited in APA
format. All in-text citations must be linked to a full-text citation in the references at the end
of the infographic at the bottom of the last page.
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There is no word-length on the infographic, but there must be enough information to
inform the public with little-to-no background in criminal justice. Typically, infographics
are vertical: 600 wide X 2000 pixels long or about 4.5 inches wide by 11 inches long.
Infographics should be 2 pages long.
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