SSCI final paper

Final Paper Guideline

Due date:

From 4/19/2021 to 5/14/2021

Length 7 to 20 pages (Cannot be shorter than 7 pages, and no more than 20 pages, please)

Articles you need 6 to 15 articles

Please read this carefully. This is the guide to your final paper. If you have any questions, please read this

document again. If your question was not answered, then email me your question as soon as possible so

I can help with it. My email is [email protected].

At this point, all you have to do to get an A in this class is to write a final paper and get feedback on it. I

will give you as much feedback as I can so you can use it to be better writers. Normally (non-pandemic

era), you had to write 4 or 5 pieces of 10 to 12 pages, get feedback on those, implement the feedbacks,

write new pieces with feedbacks applied, then produce a final paper, and only then you’d get a grade.

Pre-pandemic classes were the place to learn and interact with the subject. We did not have that and

making YOU work by giving you assignment after assignment, without the ability to TEACH you anything

seemed unfair. That is why I tried to keep the work you have to do up to this point to minimum possible.

Because of all that has happened, and is happening, I waived all other requirements and this las project is

the only one you truly have to finish to get the full grade.

Again, all your assignments and blogs are waived and you will get credit for them. This is very unusual,

even for me! However, given that you have survived the last year and still are resilient enough to continue

your education even in times like these, this is the least I can do to tell you “Congratulations, You made

it! You survived one of the most unusual years in recent memory.”

See if these tips help.

1- Pick a topic.

a. I prefer it to be about war and conflict. However, if you do not want to do that, that is

fine. If you want to write about something else, I am okay with that. If you want to write

about children in war, that is fine. If you want to write about the Housewives of

Hollywood, that is also fine. I hope this makes it clear. Write about any topic you want.

YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT ANYTHING THAT INTERESTS YOU.

2- Research it.

a. Go to the library of our university found in this address https://www.csusb.edu/library.

b. You can use data bases to find articles.

c. Watch this video on how to find articles in a database.

d. Make sure articles you pick are peer-reviewed and are related to the topic you picked.

Articles in this part of process, and from our Pfau Library, should be the largest source of

information for your paper. It is okay to use other sources, but I would want you to get

the most amount of information from peer-reviewed articles.

e. You need between 6 to 15 articles. Yes, that means you can have as low as 6 and as much

as 15 articles for your final paper. That should give you a good range.

f. After the minimum number of sources (peer-reviewed articles) is met, then you can use

any other source of information. That means if you want to use new websites, or social

media, or any other source, you can do that, but you must have at least 6 articles, and

then you can use other sources.

g. When you get the articles, read them, take a few points that are relevant to your topic

and use those points to inform your reader about the issue you are writing about.

h. Think of it as: there is a problem somewhere, I want to educate someone about it!

3- Cite your sources.

a. Make sure you understand them. Take notes, if you can, and write them down or copy

and paste them into a word document. Make sure you record the page numbers from

which you take your material. It will be very handy when it comes to citation.

b. Use in-text citation. Meaning, the ideas in your paper that are not yours must be cited

twice, once in the body of the text and once at the end in the form of a bibliography.

Quotes must be cited in the text.

c. It does not matter what citation style you use. You can use any citation style you want.

You can use APA, Chicago, MLA, or any other style. The only requirement is to have the

same style from the beginning to the end of your paper. If you do not know how to cite,

use these websites and if you still have any questions, let me know. I would be more than

happy to help you:

i. APA

(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting

_and_style_guide/general_format.html)

ii. MLA

(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting

_and_style_guide/mla_general_format.html)

iii. Chicago

(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edi

tion/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html)

iv. Anything else

(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html)

4- Write it. (This is an important one!)

At this point you want to start writing your paper. It may look overwhelming but I promise you it

is easy and it can be done if you do one thing and one thing only “Read your own paper TWICE”.

You will be surprised how many problems will be solved if you read your own paper, out loud,

back to yourself at least once. Please do that.

How to write it:

a. Introduction

i. Start by stating the problem, or asking the question you want to answer, or an

issue people should pay more attention to. This is the part you have to tell your

reader what is it they are going to read about.

ii. You can state the problem: “The conflict in Syria has been devastating.” or “the

issue of […] has effected the region/globe/humans/whatever.”.

iii. You can ask questions about the problem: “How can we lower police incidents?”

or “How should we address the problem of […]?”

iv. You can start by the history of the topic you are studying. “Since 1979 the

problem of […] has plagued […]” or “recently growing number of …”.

v. Overall it is up to you how to start. A story, an example, a brief history, or any

kind of opening that helps your reader in understanding of the issue.

b. Literature review

i. Because you are trying to talk like a scientist in this paper and solve a problem

from a scientific point of view, you need evidence.

ii. Most of the evidence you will use in your paper comes from the articles you found

on Pfau Library.

iii. After you read those articles, you must select the information you want to use in

your paper. Select some of the data in those articles and use them to make an

argument. The more articles you have, the stronger your argument becomes.

iv. You want to bring the information you find in articles into your paper.

1. Examples: “Although it is commonly believed terrorism is a problem in

Muslim countries Jackson argues that the problem of terrorism is a global

problem (Jackson 245) and not limited to one country or continent” for

example. Here I tried to show what do I mean by in-text citation. That

(Jackson 245) is an example of in-text citation by MLA format. MLA is

Author-page in-text. You may choose APA. Then follow APA rules!

c. Discussion

i. After lit review comes the discussion. This is the part that you use your own logic

to make a case. If you are explaining a problem, then use your own words and

your own logic to convince your reader of your opinion. This is a very important

part of your work.

ii. This is the part that you use the information you gathered from literature review

and mix it with your own opinion to create a coherent argument for your reader.

d. Conclusion

i. Conclusion is where the entire piece comes together. Meaning, you start by

presenting the problem in introduction. Then you tell your reader what has been

discovered, or proposed by other researchers, in your literature review. After you

presented the evidence to your reader, then you discuss your point further in

your discussion.

ii. The conclusion is almost a repetition of what was told throughout the entire

piece. You must repeat what you said to your reader. Do not copy and paste

things into the conclusion. It must be written from ground up, but it is the

repetition of your work.

5- Submit your work.

a. I will create a Final Paper tab on your Blackboard. You will have to click on it and submit

your work through Turnitin. You have until May 15 to submit your work. You can submit

your work anytime between now (when you read this) until the end of the semester to

submit your work. The only point I want you to pay attention is this:

i. The sooner you submit your work, the sooner you will get a feedback, and the

sooner you will get your grade.

ii. It is better to know your grade early so if there is anything you want to discuss

you have the option to talk to me about it.

b. Important:

i. After May 22, grades cannot be changed. So, if you do not like your grade, you

must talk to me before then.

I cannot make it more clear than this. Is this how it is always done? NO, this is not how it is always done.

Is this how this class always is? NO, it is not. This is because of the pandemic. It is not possible to do what

is done in a normal year and in a normal setting in this new environment. So, let’s do the best.

If something is not clear, you must ask me beforehand. I cannot fix things after the grades are submitted

or after the deadlines have passed. So, please plan accordingly and let me know if there is anything you

need.