English

 Evaluation of Sources

Although you have performed preliminary research, it’s time to take the next step into academic credibility and evaluation. 

If someone came up to you and told you aliens had secretly landed their spaceship in Washington, D.C., and were requesting interviews with the President, your immediate response would probably be laughter followed by questions regarding how the individual came to have this incredible information. By this time in your life, your natural tendency is to completely discredit anything told to you that is this far-fetched. However, if you are like so many of us, you might not be so ready to push the “discredit button” if something almost as bizarre or implausible appeared in a book you were reading or in written form on an Internet site. Because of this inclination to believe things when they are in print, we must be extremely cautious as we search for information on any topic that is to provide data we need for writing and/or making informed decisions.

Imagine yourself in the position of needing medical advice. Would you trust your life and future to just anyone who might claim to be a doctor or a medical practitioner? The answer is most likely a resounding “no.” Just as you should check out anyone who is going to treat you for a life-threatening malady, you should also learn to check out and/or evaluate the credibility of any information you plan to accept and/or utilize. This kind of evaluation of sources is necessary when you attempt to find relevant data for any of the many home projects and work assignments you may have, as well as when you are doing research in an academic setting. We live in an age when the so-called “information highway” is littered with some rather sloppily constructed pieces of writing that do not adhere to any rules for authenticity. Thus, you must be wary and critical as you search for information. With so much available information, it is absolutely imperative to evaluate all sources carefully if you wish to find reliable data.

 Evaluating Authority

As you continue your search, take a few moments to ask yourself what type of information you are looking for. Are you looking for facts, opinions that are authoritative, statistics, narratives, eyewitness statements, or possibly reasoned arguments? What do you want to do with the information once you find it? How important is total accuracy to what you plan to do with the data? Once you have narrowed down the reasons for wanting the information, it is much easier to determine which sources can be quickly scanned, which must be evaluated in depth, and which can be tossed aside because they are not worth the time a careful perusal requires. You want credible sources that are fair, objective, and lacking in hidden agendas. You want sources that were produced with some stringent quality controls in place if you are looking for material that is to be useful for accurate reporting.

There are many sources available to you. Therefore, you must examine the material you find carefully. To do this evaluation of print sources, utilize the following criteria.

Authority

· Who is the author, and what are the author’s credentials for writing on this topic?

· Is the author working and/or writing under the auspices of a particular organization or agency? If so, is the organization or agency credible?

· Is there any proof that an expert in the field has reviewed this information and found it acceptable? Do you find anything to let you know about the author’s reputation or standing among peers?

· What is the author’s job function or title?

Information Covered

· What is the purpose of the information within the source? How extensive is the information? (If you are evaluating a book, check the preface since this is where the author frequently tells you what the purpose of the text is.)

· According to the table of contents or the index, how much information on your topic is included?

· Are there obvious things like key places, people, important ideas, and important events that seem to be left out?

· Does the author acknowledge a need to present all points of view and to give them equal coverage?

· Is the work appropriate for only a particular audience or level of expertise?

· Does the source rely on very specialized language, or is it easily understood by those not familiar with the particular jargon that may be a part of the topic?

 Evaluating Accuracy

Accuracy

· Has the information presented in the source been taken from a larger piece written by the author or someone else?

· Is this the most recent version of the data being presented?

· If there are statistics, are the source, scope, and date clearly labeled?

· If there are charts, tables, graphs, etc., are they clearly identified and attributed to a particular source?

· Is the language within the piece geared to inform or to create an emotional reaction?

· Can you find verification information in case you want to check the facts? Are citations and bibliographies appropriately presented?

· Does the author acknowledge that he/she is taking a particular point of view, or is the work apparently free of bias?

· Does an examination of the information leave you with the feeling that you are reading facts, opinions, or, possibly, a fallacious argument?

· If the source contains advertising, are the ads clearly distinguishable from the content?

· Can you detect a particular bias or perspective that would taint the accuracy of the information? Does the author acknowledge that the bias exists?

Timeliness

· What is the date for the creation, publication, and/or compilation of the information?

· Because of the nature of your topic, do you need more current information?

· If the source is a journal, is information regarding the topic updated frequently?

Relevance

· Does the source present information useful for your current needs?

 Evaluating Electronic Sources

Evaluating Electronic Sources

In addition to print sources, there are hundreds of thousands of sites on the Internet you can seek out as sources of information. Unfortunately, unlike most of the traditional printed media that comes under some types of scrutiny before it is published, no one has to review the content of a Web site before it is available to the public. Therefore, you must think of what you find online as information that will exist on a continuum of reliability and quality. Some information will be completely reliable while other sites will offer you nothing but falseness and/or bias. With this type of information in particular, you must be wary and quick to doubt its authenticity until you apply appropriate evaluation criteria.

Authority

· Is the author of the page clearly identified? What are his/her credentials for writing on this topic? (Often Web resources do not list authors, so be especially careful in looking for these as proof of the authenticity of the information.)

· Does the author provide contact information such as e-mail, address, phone number, etc.?

· Who is the sponsor? Is the organizational authorship from a known and respected organization?

· Is there a link back to the organization’s page or some other way to contact the organization and/or verify its credibility?

· What is the author’s position or job title?

· If there is neither an author nor sponsor listed, is there any other way to determine the origin in the page?

Information Covered

· Are the purpose and objectives of the page clear?

· If the page is interactive, does it effectively present the information in a usable format?

· Is the information presented aimed at a particular audience or level of expertise?

· What is the primary purpose of the page? Is it trying to provide information, sell you something, make a political statement, or convince you of something?

· What is the focus of the site? Will it provide you with comprehensive information or information on a very narrow aspect of your topic?

· Is there any evidence that particular pertinent facts, consequences of actions, and/or alternative ideas have been deliberately left out?

· If there is a database available to you, are the dates of coverage clear and appropriate to your needs? Can you search it easily and find information that is easy to use?

· What does this page offer that is not found elsewhere?

 Electronic Source Accuracy

Accuracy

· Is the page part of an edited or peer-reviewed publication?

· Is the content offered in depth so that there is significance in the level of the evidence being presented?

· Are efforts made to verify factual information through citations and appropriate bibliographies?

· Has the site been evaluated by one of the Web subject indexes? If so, what criteria were used to make the evaluation?

· What search engine did you use to find the source? Often these search engines do not select the best sites nor filter out the ones that are questionable. Therefore, you must be ready to evaluate carefully.

· Does the information presented seem credible based on your prior knowledge and what you have found in other sources?

· Is there evidence of any bias? Are inflammatory and/or other types of emotionally charged language used?

· Throughout the page, are there signs of sloppiness such as misspelled words, incorrect grammatical forms, etc.?

· Does the page rely on photographic images to make a point? Keep in mind that digital images can be manipulated rather easily.

· If there are statistics presented, is their source, scope, and date clearly labeled?

· If the page is sponsored, can you detect any conflict of interest that could arise between the sponsored content and reliable information?

Timeliness

· When was the information published?

· What was the last update for the page?

· Are you sure you are looking at the most recent version?

· What information is provided to let you know an attempt is made to keep the pages current?

· Are there current links to other Web pages?

Regardless of what type of source you are evaluating, you need to examine it critically and apply the evaluation criteria described above. In addition, be ready to become actively involved in the reading and critical thinking needed to utilize a source correctly. Whether you are looking at a source as something to provide information for a college paper or as something to give you insights into fixing the plumbing in your house, take the time to question the source’s credibility and accuracy and look at the reasonableness with which the information is presented. In this way, you should be able to determine that what you have found really meets your research needs.

 Evaluating Electronic Sources

Evaluating Electronic Sources

In addition to print sources, there are hundreds of thousands of sites on the Internet you can seek out as sources of information. Unfortunately, unlike most of the traditional printed media that comes under some types of scrutiny before it is published, no one has to review the content of a Web site before it is available to the public. Therefore, you must think of what you find online as information that will exist on a continuum of reliability and quality. Some information will be completely reliable while other sites will offer you nothing but falseness and/or bias. With this type of information in particular, you must be wary and quick to doubt its authenticity until you apply appropriate evaluation criteria.

Authority

· Is the author of the page clearly identified? What are his/her credentials for writing on this topic? (Often Web resources do not list authors, so be especially careful in looking for these as proof of the authenticity of the information.)

· Does the author provide contact information such as e-mail, address, phone number, etc.?

· Who is the sponsor? Is the organizational authorship from a known and respected organization?

· Is there a link back to the organization’s page or some other way to contact the organization and/or verify its credibility?

· What is the author’s position or job title?

· If there is neither an author nor sponsor listed, is there any other way to determine the origin in the page?

Information Covered

· Are the purpose and objectives of the page clear?

· If the page is interactive, does it effectively present the information in a usable format?

· Is the information presented aimed at a particular audience or level of expertise?

· What is the primary purpose of the page? Is it trying to provide information, sell you something, make a political statement, or convince you of something?

· What is the focus of the site? Will it provide you with comprehensive information or information on a very narrow aspect of your topic?

· Is there any evidence that particular pertinent facts, consequences of actions, and/or alternative ideas have been deliberately left out?

· If there is a database available to you, are the dates of coverage clear and appropriate to your needs? Can you search it easily and find information that is easy to use?

· What does this page offer that is not found elsewhere?

 Electronic Source Accuracy

Accuracy

· Is the page part of an edited or peer-reviewed publication?

· Is the content offered in depth so that there is significance in the level of the evidence being presented?

· Are efforts made to verify factual information through citations and appropriate bibliographies?

· Has the site been evaluated by one of the Web subject indexes? If so, what criteria were used to make the evaluation?

· What search engine did you use to find the source? Often these search engines do not select the best sites nor filter out the ones that are questionable. Therefore, you must be ready to evaluate carefully.

· Does the information presented seem credible based on your prior knowledge and what you have found in other sources?

· Is there evidence of any bias? Are inflammatory and/or other types of emotionally charged language used?

· Throughout the page, are there signs of sloppiness such as misspelled words, incorrect grammatical forms, etc.?

· Does the page rely on photographic images to make a point? Keep in mind that digital images can be manipulated rather easily.

· If there are statistics presented, is their source, scope, and date clearly labeled?

· If the page is sponsored, can you detect any conflict of interest that could arise between the sponsored content and reliable information?

Timeliness

· When was the information published?

· What was the last update for the page?

· Are you sure you are looking at the most recent version?

· What information is provided to let you know an attempt is made to keep the pages current?

· Are there current links to other Web pages?

Regardless of what type of source you are evaluating, you need to examine it critically and apply the evaluation criteria described above. In addition, be ready to become actively involved in the reading and critical thinking needed to utilize a source correctly. Whether you are looking at a source as something to provide information for a college paper or as something to give you insights into fixing the plumbing in your house, take the time to question the source’s credibility and accuracy and look at the reasonableness with which the information is presented. In this way, you should be able to determine that what you have found really meets your research needs.

 Taking Notes for Research

Regardless of why you are conducting research—whether it is because you have to write a college paper or perhaps because you want to find out what kind of shingles you should put on your new house—if that research is to prove useful, you must consider the necessity of taking notes. This is especially true if you locate and utilize various types of sources to supply you with pertinent information. These notes are essential, since very few of us can remember all the minutiae we find in either print or electronic sources, all the points made during an interview, or even the key points on a brochure. Taking notes is an integral part of research, and it must be done effectively.

The first step in the process of taking effective notes is locating sources and analyzing them to determine whether or not they contain information of value for your purposes. If you find material you decide will be useful, there are some specific things that you need to do regarding that data.

· Make a citation for the material you have decided to use. In addition to this bibliographic information, you should also write down the call number of a book if you found it in the library, the Web site address for something you found online, or possibly what you used as the search terms you entered into the database. In short, record everything that will help you re-access information if you need it. Although you may not need all of this information for your paper since some of it may come under the heading of works consulted rather than warrant inclusion on your References page, you are better off having the information available. Also, give that source a number so you will be able to connect any notes with that number to that particular source. When you actually write your paper, you will need to cite any sources you use; thus, it is best to get that information in place early on.  Many are the horror stories of reference pages accidentally erased, of sources forgotten. Why not make note of it?

· Decide what you want your notes to look like. Is it easier for you to take notes on notebook paper, on index cards, or on the computer? Whatever you choose should be right for you. It is generally conceded that writing on only one side of the card or paper is advantageous.

· Before you actually start taking notes, try to develop a list of major areas you think your paper will encompass. If you can come up with these topics, use them as headings for your notes. For example, if you decide one of your major topics for a paper on the American flag would be “The Early Flag,” then anything you find pertaining to Betsy Ross should be placed under this major heading. If you do not have such a list of topics, then decide what general subject heading your information might fit under and print that topic, using something you can erase, on the top of the card. Later, when you have decided on a topic outline, if you need to change any of those subject headings, you can do so easily.

 Taking Notes

· Remember that note taking involves writing. You may highlight the material you are reading in the sources, but to really make the information yours, you need to write it down in your own words that represent abbreviated and compressed representations of the data in the source. Highlighting while you read is too passive and gives a false sense of security that tells you, “I will remember what is on this page.” Chances are you can’t because you have so many other pages to think about.

· As you plan to take notes, they should be taken from more than one or two key sources. If you use a variety of sources, this will lend weight to your argument and provide you with the possibility of finding various points of view that you can present in the paper.

· Think about whether you want to take notes as complete sentences or as major points. Again, this is a matter of personal preference. The biggest problem with using complete sentences is the fact that you may be tempted to put down too much information—information that is too much like what is in the source itself.

· Are you a one note per page person, or do you think you can have a number of points about the topic on the same page? Again, you must decide what suits your needs the most.

· Decide whether you want to paraphrase, summarize, or offer quotations for a particular area in a source. If you decide to quote something, consider putting the quote in either a different color print, or highlighting it, once you have written it. This will help you avoid putting down a quote as though the information came directly from you instead of having been written by someone else.

 Taking Notes Continued

· Consider the inherent dangers in photocopying too much of your information. Often, students are lulled into thinking that if they photocopy information, they will have it right at hand, and somehow they never get around to actually reading it and analyzing whether or not the information is useful. If you do decide to photocopy, be sure you have the page numbers needed to properly cite the source.

· Notes should be kept as legible as possible so they will be of value to you. Not only do you need to decide on a form or layout you wish your notes to have, you also need to use that form consistently so your notes will be clearer and more useful.

· Ask yourself if you want to use a series of shorthand symbols you have developed for yourself. Some people begin using such symbols and forget what some of them mean. Thus, their notes lose part of their value. If you decide to use your own shorthand symbols, you may want to make a list of what these abbreviations mean—just in case you forget.

· When you start to take notes, keep in mind the reason for the notes. You want information that will be helpful to you later. Therefore, if you find material that sounds impressive in a source, but you are not sure what it is saying, don’t take notes. The risk here is that you may end up misinterpreting what was said, and you could even weaken your position in the final paper by including something that is absolutely erroneous.

· Consider these points as you begin the preliminary aspects of taking those all-important notes. Decide which note-taking preferences presented in this lecture best suit your personal style so you can begin taking notes in earnest by the next module. By then, you should have found four or five sources and compiled bibliographic information. We will cover more about note taking in the next module.

 Primary Sources

During this course, you will seek and examine information to use in the creation of your final project. As you engage in this quest, it is important to understand that there are primary and secondary sources and that both types are of value to you as a researcher. You can find examples of both kinds of sources in your online course library and in the databases provided as part of your tuition.

Primary Sources

Primary sources make it possible for the researcher to get close to what actually happened during some historical event or a time period. They offer records of events as they are first described and reflect the individual viewpoint of a participant or observer without any interpretation or commentary by a second party.

Examples of Primary Sources

· Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, manuscripts, and other papers in which individuals describe events where they were participants or observers.

· Memoirs and autobiographies. These may not be as reliable as diaries since they are generally written long after an event has occurred, but sometimes they can be the only source for information relative to a particular topic.

· Records of information collected by government agencies.

· Records of organizations, including minutes of meetings, reports to members, and/or records of correspondence can provide an ongoing look at what the organization has done and the thinking behind its actions.

· Published materials such as books, magazines, journal articles, and newspaper articles written at the time a particular event occurred. When the material is written at the time of an event, it reflects the thinking of the time and is different from the historical analysis that occurs later. When the analysis is added, it can be considered an example of information coming from a secondary source.

· Photographs, television broadcasts, audio recordings, video recordings, and motion pictures document what happened during a particular event.

· Artifacts of all kinds, such as appliances, household items, original artwork, posters, clothing, and toys can be examined in light of the time and/or place in which they were or are used.

· Materials such as songs, popular fiction, poetry, opinion polls, and even textbooks used in elementary and secondary schools can be viewed as sources of information that document prevailing attitudes during a particular time period.

· Court records.

 Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources

A secondary source is a secondhand account about people, events, topics, or places that is based on what some other person has experienced; the information in a secondary source has been gathered for you. When you use first-hand, eyewitness accounts to help you write, you are creating a secondary source. The function of secondary sources is to interpret primary sources, and so can be described as at least one step removed from the event under review. Secondary source materials, then, interpret, assign value to, conjecture upon, and draw conclusions about the events reported in primary sources. Secondary sources are created after primary sources, and they often use or talk about or reference primary sources. Secondary sources can give additional opinions (sometimes called bias) on a past event or on a primary source.

Examples of Secondary Sources

· Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, pamphlets, and other materials in which information has been gathered for you

· A journal/magazine article which interprets or reviews previous findings 

· A history textbook 

· Biographies

· Published stories

· Movies of historical events

· Music recordings

· Radio or television documentaries

· Conference proceedings

Comparison

 Avoiding Convention Errors

When you are writing, leave proofing for grammar, punctuation, and spelling for the final draft, and then go over your paper carefully. Remember, it is not enough that you write so that you can be understood: You must write so that you cannot be misunderstood. You do not want errors, typos, or misspellings to distract your reader from your message.

Additionally, without a high level of correctness, you are setting yourself up to be dismissed by many of your readers. Whether this is fair or not, it is a fact of life. Often, those who read what you write see technical errors as signs of sloppiness or inattention to detail. When this occurs, your credibility as a writer is weakened. If what you offer as a finished product to a personnel manager or your college professor is not free of technical errors, you may actually harm your chances of achieving either your academic or career goals. Therefore, take seriously the editing checklists that accompany your writing assignments each week and make sure you understand all the types of errors listed within the checklists. As you receive your instructor’s comments, note whether or not you have a pattern of specific types of errors.

Help is available. Many resources are available to help you with the rules for standard grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Your textbook provides an online learning environment where you can brush up on any of the basic grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills that may be getting in the way of a truly excellent act of persuasion. Additionally, many students find that reading a paper out loud or listening to another person read it out loud helps with editing for basic errors. Finally, most writers find that a short break offers the distance needed to successfully proofread for errors. Be sure to use whatever tools and resources are available, so that your paper is as well written as possible.

 Checking for Correctness

Below are some additional guidelines for you to follow when checking for “correctness.”

· If you do note the same kinds of errors recurring, work to unlearn the type of reasoning that caused you to make them.

· Check your proposal for the possibilities of fragments, run-ons, and comma splices. Do subjects and predicates actually exist in every main clause of every sentence? If you can pick these out, you are much more likely to spot errors in subject - verb agreement, especially if you remember that no subject should be found within a prepositional phrase. Does a period, comma plus coordinating conjunction, or a semicolon separate each independent clause from others?

· Read the sentences carefully. Is there a possibility that someone could misread any of the sentences, making the words mean something other than what you intended? For example, if you had this sentence, it would be ambiguous:

The children liked the comedians because they had a great sense of humor.

In this sentence, it is unclear who had the sense of humor. Was this an attribute of the children or of the comedians?

· Can you tell what word is the antecedent of any pronoun you use? Are pronouns close to their antecedents? Are modifying words close to the words they modify so there can be no uncertainty as to what is being described?

· As you check over the punctuation in your proposal and course posts, be sure you know the actual reason for every mark you place there. For example, commas do not indicate pauses. Each one you insert should be there because if fulfills a necessary function to increase the clarity of what you write.

Work to become adept at avoiding technical errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling when you are producing written work. Before that final editing stage, however, you should feel free to focus on the flow of ideas and the creation of something substantial. Only after you have produced a draft and made revisions relative to phrasing and such things as coherence of ideas should you concentrate on editing for correctness. Then it deserves your complete concentration if you want your efforts to receive a reader’s full attention.

 Plagiarism

Using someone else’s ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or words as your own is considered plagiarism. In general, plagiarism is an academic offense that is taken very seriously by colleges and universities. Plagiarism, in its truest sense, is not restricted to sentences, phrases, or whole paragraphs as it can also involve statistics, music, artwork, and such things as results from experiments.

Deliberate plagiarism occurs when someone, sometimes out of laziness or fear of failure, deliberately takes credit for someone else’s work. In a school setting, this might mean a student turns in a roommate’s paper or a paper he/she has copied from the Internet or purchased from a paper-writing service, and claims the work is original. This is considered a serious offense in most academic settings.

The more common type of plagiarism is accidental plagiarism. Most often this form of plagiarism, which occurs inadvertently, happens because of the way a person has taken notes. Remember, when you are taking notes, you must always cite your sources and be very careful to use quotation marks around any piece you think you might wish to quote. Once you have written it out on your note cards, mark it in some more dramatic way—perhaps in color—so you will remember it is a quote and treat it correctly. If you do this, you should be able to avoid accidental plagiarism involving quotes. Another form of error frequently made with note taking occurs when paraphrases are too close to the original. In general, avoid phrases that are characteristic of the original. The paraphrase must be entirely in your own words with a sentence structure altered completely from that of the original.   Regardless of whether you paraphrase, summarize, or quote, you must offer citations for the information unless what you include is considered common knowledge. Common knowledge means the information is likely to be found in multiple sources and/or is known to many people.

Example of common knowledge:

Abraham Lincoln was President of the United States during the Civil War.

When in doubt, however, cite your source. In that way, you avoid the taint of plagiarism.

 Plagiarism Policy

Argosy University Online Policy Regarding Plagiarism

In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, Argosy University requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. Naturally, in much academic writing, authors often refer to and rely upon works, published and unpublished, of others. When incorporated properly, reliance upon authoritative sources adds knowledge and credibility to the document that the author is preparing. However, without proper documentation, the reader may be misled in attributing certain writings to the author when such is not the case. In effect, the author has passed off the work of another as if it were his or her own. When this happens, the author has committed a form of academic dishonesty known as plagiarism. Among the harms from plagiarism are that the writer of the original material suffers from lack of recognition of his or her contributions. The original writer and publisher may also be damaged by an infringement on their copyright, which is an exclusive right to copy or reproduce materials that are protected by law.

Students found to have committed academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, shall be subject to disciplinary action, which may include dismissal from Argosy University.

To avoid plagiarism, all sources relied upon, whether quoted directly or paraphrased, must be documented through normal scholarly references and citations and all work must be submitted using the format found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition (2009). Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in all courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult the Argosy University catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.

Additionally, Argosy University considers resubmission of a work produced for one course in a subsequent course to also constitute academic dishonesty. It is the student's responsibility to seek clarification from the instructor regarding how much help may be received in completing an assignment, exam, or project and what sources may be used.

TurnItIn

The faculty at Argosy University is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments through "Turnitin," (www.turnitin.com), an online resource established to help educators develop writing and research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common information and duplicative language.

 The Prospectus

Keep in mind during this module that you are slowly forming a support apparatus for a fully fleshed-out paper.

During Module 1, you created a working proposal for an argumentative/persuasive paper. During Module 2, you formed an annotated bibliography to demonstrate both your progress with APA style citation, and the support materials that you have found.

Here in Module 3, you will revise and combine these two planning documents. You will then add your abstract to form your prospectus for your paper.

By now you have had a chance to do a bit of research and have probably decided that your earlier, working versions of your initial thesis, proposal, and annotated bibliography need some revision. These revisions will constitute the clearest version of your argument thus far: The prospectus.

The Title/Cover Page

Remember that the prospectus begins as any written assignment does in the course, with an APA style title page.

· Your title page is double spaced, as is the rest of the prospectus.

· It is formed in plain 12 point Times New Roman font.

· Center your title in both upper and lowercase letters (NOT ALL CAPS) on one of two lines in the upper half of the page.

· Under the title, place your name in this manner: first name, middle initial(s), and last name.

· Under your name, place “Argosy University Online.”

· You may use the course name if you wish.

· Do not place a date

· Headers are one half inch from the top of each page, and all margins are one inch.

· The words "Running Head:" should appear in the header on your title page, left aligned, and be followed by your running head in capital letters.

The Thesis

Remember, a clear working thesis, often called a hypothesis, is your paper’s primary claim. It should be used in your introduction to your paper, sometimes as the first statement, but more often as a concluding statement at the end of your introduction. For the purpose of this assignment, we will let it stand alone as a separate entity, just after your title/cover page. It is presented (as is the case with your entire paper) in the objective third-person voice (no “I,” “me,” “you,” “your,” or variations).

· It should be a single sentence with no conjunctions.

· It should not be too broad or too narrow, and not a fact or a feeling.

· It is not a topic.

· It is never a question.

· For this project, your thesis statement should be a claim that can be supported by university-level peer-reviewed research.

 The Abstract

The Descriptive Abstract

If you were creating a piece of academic research for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, you would form an abstract at the beginning of your paper, just after the title page. The most common reason for including an abstract is for indexing and organization. Take note when accessing the academic databases through the Argosy University Online Library, even when the full text of an article is not available, you will frequently see the abstract. These abstracts are often all you would need to decide whether reading the entire article is worth your time and efforts.

However, your abstract at this point of the course serves a different purpose. Since your paper is not yet completed, we will call this a “working abstract”. This working abstract will give the reader a very specific idea about the topic and approach of your paper. It is a concise, condensed statement detailing what the paper seeks to accomplish, the scope of the topic it engages, and what sort of evidence or arguments it expects to use. It does not pass judgments about your paper or your conclusions. It is not written in first-person voice, and it is considered a stand-alone document.

Your working abstract will be between 100 and 250 words, and it is included on the first page of text, just after the title page. You are to center the title, “Abstract,” in plain font at the top of this page. The first sentence of your abstract is not indented, although the rest of your paper should be. You can begin with your thesis and cover the major points of your paper.

You may also include a brief list of keywords at the bottom of your abstract, indented and in the following format:

· Keywords: goldfish, beta, sharks 

Note that “Keywords” is italicized and the actual keywords are listed with commas separating them. This makes it easier for databases to find your work if it is published.

Creating Your Working Abstract

If you are using an outline format to create your paper, you may extract key ideas from that or you can draw your ideas from your prospectus. You can then group these main ideas into one or two sentences for each proposed section of your paper. As you work on your paper in the upcoming modules, revisit the abstract. Begin to edit out any unnecessary wordage, and emphasize powerful statements and words. Once the paper is completed, you can refine the abstract based on the actual findings from your research.

After your thesis statement and abstract, you will place a page break and add your final proposal.

 Adding the Proposal and Bibliography

The Final Proposal

The final version of your proposal should take into consideration all of the points that you used to create the original working version in Module 1. The structure should be the same, with additional elaboration and detail from your weeks of academic research. 

A big difference for this module is that each section will require a properly formatted, APA style in-text citation in the text of the proposal. 

Remember that the text of your research proposal has 5 parts:

· Hypothesis: a one-sentence paragraph; no introduction is necessary.

· Explanation: a statement that includes the points you think you will be discussing in your paper.

· Subpoints: each sub-point explains more fully a point mentioned in your explanation.

· Possible Objections: a brief discussion of the opposition’s point of view.

· Reply to Objections: your brief answer to the opposition.

Click  here  for a helpful guide to in-text citations.

The Revised Annotated Bibliography

Remember from Module 2 that a bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents, both text and electronic. We then add our annotations, a paragraph below each of the citations, in regular text, detailing the particular aspects of each source, and whether it is useful to our research or not. For this final version, you will edit-out the sources you will not be using, and add the new sources that you have found during the past week of research. You are required to have between 5 and 7 sources for your prospectus.

In this way we can organize and demonstrate our progress. A healthy annotated bibliography is a sign of a kind of kinesthetic energy for a paper. The ideas are all there, only the finishing touches need to be placed, and the text added, for a rough draft of the paper.

Again, these annotations should do the following:

· Summarize the source by explaining what the main arguments are in the source, what the main points are, what topics are covered, and by telling what the content focus of the work is.

· Give a final assessment for the particular source. Although you stated whether the source was useful for your particular research purposes in the last bibliography, you will not need to do so here, as these are your final choices.

· You may wish to compare it with other sources you included from Module 2and indicate whether or not you find the information reliable and objective or biased and produced by someone who does not have adequate credentials.

 Putting It All Together

Reflect on how the source fits into the research you are doing and/or are planning to do. Consider whether or not the source can be helpful to you in terms of shaping your argument or in producing information that can change your thinking about the topic itself.

As with our last endeavor, the process used in creating an annotated bibliography is one that requires succinct explanation, concise analysis of materials, and skill in both library and online research.

The Revised Prospectus

Here is how the revised prospectus should be structured, with a page break for each component:

· Your APA style title/cover page

· Your working abstract with thesis

· Your revised proposal

· Your revised annotated bibliography

 Avoiding Convention Errors Revisited

As you work on a finished copy of any piece of writing, be sure to do a last check to ensure that the way you have presented your information is as good as the information you provide—that your paper is professional and polished. Earlier in the module, you were reminded to check for the basics:

· Have you avoided fragments, run-ons, and comma splices?

· If your sentence has more than one independent clause, have you separated your independent clauses with a period, comma with coordinating conjunction, or semicolon?

· Is there a possibility that any sentence can be misread, so that your words appear to mean something other than what you intended?

· Are your pronouns close to your antecedents and your modifying words close to the things they modify to prevent misreading?

· Is there a specific reason for every punctuation mark you use?

· Are your pronouns correct in number? When you use pronouns likeeveryone, someone, and something, have you ensured that your verb is also singular?

· Are your verbs consistent in tense or do you move between time periods, making it hard for your reader to follow?

· Have you done a last check for spelling after using your spell-checker?

· Have you visually inspected the format of your document, so that it looks professionally laid out on the page and meets criteria for the task?

Remember, tidiness and good grammar contribute to your authority.

A well-written document makes you appear smarter and in control of your material.