Annotated Bibliography and Outline

6.3 Annotated Bibliography and Outline

In preparation for the research paper final submission, you will develop an annotated bibliography and an outline of your paper. Developing an APA-formatted annotated bibliography helps you prepare for your research project as you critically read your sources and gain a fuller understanding of what has been presented on your topic. An outline will help you organize your thoughts and your paper.

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography contains two parts: (1) the citation, which is what appears in a standard bibliography or reference section, and (2) the annotation, which is a brief paragraph describing the source contents and your personal reasoning about how the source is applicable to your paper. It allows you, the researcher, to identify the main issues, evaluate the effectiveness of the topics in relation to others, and determine the validity of the conclusions presented by the author. 

Material for your paper must employ a minimum of six scholarly references. These sources must come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, books, book chapters, reports/studies of governments, and other published sources you expect to use in your paper. Some restrictions to keep in mind are:

· For your final paper, no more than two of the six references can come from the brief introductory web pages that many organizations use to introduce programs or subject areas.

· Statements extracted from magazines, newspapers, broadcast media outlets, and blogs are permitted but do not count toward the six reference minimum requirement.

For this activity, use the  Hunt Library (Links to an external site.)  or any other research database to locate your six sources related to the research topic and write an annotated bibliography for each source. Each reference must be written in current APA format. Follow each reference with a short paragraph (8-10 sentences) identifying the qualifications of the author, the purpose of the reference, the intended audience, conclusions (if available), and applicability to your research project. For example, if the reference is about a study, an annotated bibliography would include whether or not the study was peer-reviewed, its limitations, and the usefulness of the results.

Outline

Provide an outline of the major parts of your paper. Make sure to include sections for comparative research, cost estimation, risk assessment, and regulatory/legal considerations. Each section should have 1-2 sentences that give the general idea of what that section is about. Complete sentences are not required. 

Comments provided by the Prof. on the Problem statement/introduction:

It looks like you are off to a good start. I am seeing some of the items from 1.6 included here, so it looks like you can safely proceed. Those items will be my checklist when grading the final paper. I do recommend picking a specific type of DJI drone, your intro is currently too general. In addition please be careful of too much repetition. Modifications and upgrades for power line inspection you are proposing sound promising. I recommend to try and include plenty of your own thoughts and analysis. Good start.

All of the following topics must be covered in your paper:

· Description and purpose of your unmanned system - Identify the need for the system (political, economic, social issues), the problem being solved, and the unmanned system's impact.

· Explanation of the unmanned system's design that contributes to the mission, including:

· Type of power source and power storage capability

· The choice of the propulsion system

· How the system maneuvers

· The environment in which the system operates

· Operational environment considerations that have factored into the design.

· The outcome and lasting impact of the unmanned system

Research Paper Requirements

· 10-12 double-spaced pages of content (not including title page, references, etc.). There are no bonus points for going past 12 pages; part of the learning exercise is to be able to say what needs to be said in the prescribed length.

· Current APA Manual format - See this Sample APA Paper (PDF)/Purdue. (Links to an external site.)

· Must include:

·

· Title page

· Abstract

· Introduction/Problem statement or research question

· Comparative research

· Cost estimation

· Risk assessment

· Regulatory/legal considerations

· Analysis, Conclusions, and Recommendations (2-3 pages)

· References Page

· Pictures, figures, diagrams, and tables as required – add as an appendix if needed (not counted toward page count requirement).