Research-Based argument essay

Requirements of the Research-based Argument Essay

You are writing a serious, scholarly, academic research-based argumentative

term paper of 1500+ words (NOTE: This is body text total only; do not count title page or end references and no more than 10% or 150 words of verbatim quoted

sources). For this final essay, much of your reading will be drawn directly from the

source material you carefully glean and selectively acquire through your systematic

investigation into your chosen topic (within the Science, Technology, and Society realm; an explanation of this theme with sample topics is provided in a separate PDF

document). Immersing yourself in these scholarly resources (published non-fiction

books, professional peer-reviewed articles, and trustworthy/authentic websites) is an

essential start to becoming an expert on your topic. Knowing what you are talking

about by using your sources thoughtfully and intelligently will make you much more

comfortable—as well as persuasive and convincing—as you shape your written argument with sound, valid logic and reliable, empirical evidence.

You Need At Least Six Scholarly Sources Minimum. The final draft of your research paper should have a minimum of six (6) cited sources (more is better) and presented in strict APA format (per the APA Sixth Edition style manual; double-spaced,

in alphabetical order and with the required hanging indents). Within your essay, you

will either quote, paraphrase, or summarize the use of the original material for a fact, a

concept or a specific idea. You may use any scholarly articles, books, and websites

from PDF articles provided in the course, as well as additional ones that you acquire on

your own (e.g., via EBSCO databases) to buttress and support your thesis. Note that in

APA style, these different types of sources also contain different internal formatting

(e.g., titles of books and journal names are italicized, websites and article titles are not,

etc.). Do not include end citations for any interview(s) or surveys that you conduct (or

other  “personal  correspondence”) in the end References section, although those are cited in-text. Secondary sources like Wikipedia, dictionaries, etc., do not count.

The minimum six required scholarly PRIMARY sources (you are strongly encouraged to find, use, and cite additional sources; better essays have 10 or more) should include:

 at least 1 scholarly, non-fiction book;  at least 2 scholarly websites;  at least 3 scholarly articles from professional, peer-reviewed journals

derived/found in paper (hardcopy) or online (electronic-published) formats,

In addition to the necessary six required sources noted above, you may use other secondary sources that may include any published books, magazine articles, opinion-

editorials (op-ed columns), newspapers, websites, blogs, podcasts, or other media

(e.g., feature films, commercials, documentaries, television programs past or present,

YouTube videos, etc.)—but these ancillary sources will not count towards nor fulfill the six scholarly, professional-grade, high quality original sources requirement for Essay 4.

However, you should avoid citing the publicly-sourced (freely edited) materials from sources such as Wikipedia or the Opposing Viewpoints series of "pre-digested,”   highly opinionated, special-interest polemics, screeds, syndicated (for-profit) op-ed

commentaries. Use these items essentially as background-only information or as

supplemental, supporting (i.e., corroborating) bibliographic sources of already-cited

facts, cases, articles, books, etc. You may not count these secondary sources among your scholarly material (since they are—for the most part—expressively written for personal, political, and/or commercial purposes and aim at a narrow target audience).

Required Diversity in Source Origins. You may not draw more than two sources from the same journal, author(s) or website. This would also defeat one key

point of the class, which is to give you practice in conducting a wide-ranging exploration

of your topic using a variety of research strategies and tools. Also, you should also

attempt to find multiple sources (more than one) to directly corroborate, buttress and

support important points in your paper. Avoid citing and re-citing the same source

repeatedly to support similar observations; at least attempt to corroborate your findings

with a second (or third) scholarly, research-based source. You may choose to conduct

an interview with a person with advanced or specialized knowledge about your topic,

from which you may use selected "verbatim" quotes (exactly word-for-word what was

said) in context. You may conduct your own direct research as well (e.g., using a

survey to gather information). An interview or a survey is not required, however.

Limits on Quotable Material. You are limited in the amounts of verbatim quoted material you are allowed to include. You are being evaluated on how well you write, construct and present an argument, and by the overall quality of your writing. You may include verbatim quotations from personal correspondence (e.g.,

interviews, emails) as part of your overall quotation limits. The mission-critical

requirement here is that YOU MUST WRITE this paper, not merely assemble a series of salient quotations and expressive commentary from your sources. Limit your quotes to include empirical, observable facts, statistics, quantitative and qualitative data, not

(even well-stated) opinions by other authors. Moreover, no more than 10% of your paper (not to exceed 150 words) can be direct quotes. Also, avoid quoting unsupported suppositions, assumptions, assertions, speculations, conjecture, musings,

interpretations, and cherry-picked facts, concepts or ideas simply presented/repeated

from other people's potentially biased, confounded, unverified, unproved, unreliable

statements. APA Note: In-text citations for quoted sources must also contain the page or paragraph number where that quote is to be found, retrieved, and verified. Directly

quoted sources not specifying page or paragraph numbers are considered incorrect.

Zero Tolerance for Cheating and Plagiarism. Other than what is common knowledge (and it is a suspect, highly debatable assumption to decide what knowledge

is,  in  fact  “commonly  known”), you must directly credit the source that gave you ideas, facts, statistics, observations, insights, conclusions and other details used in your paper.

If you appropriate any string of words without quoting and fair attribution—you are

committing academic dishonesty on the college level. Using these ideas without

crediting the source will constitute plagiarism and is not tolerated. This is the law of

“fair  attribution”  for  another  person’  “intellectual  property”:  a  law  which  you  violate  at   your own risk of the severest penalties. Be sure to pay careful attention to the course

materials about plagiarism and how to correctly quote, paraphrase, and summarize

other’s  material  with  appropriate  attribution of where you obtained that knowledge.

Additional Paper Design Considerations. You may (or may not) choose to use sub-headers to break up your pages of text. Unlike other courses—the use of charts/graphs, tables/figures, pictures, pictographs, diagrams, photos, illustrations, or

other information graphics is always encouraged by Dr. Lasnik. A picture indeed may

say ten-thousand words (original Chinese aphorism). However, graphics used must be

properly labeled and (of course) fully attributed in APA source notation and standard,

professional technical writing conventions. Various well-designed and illustrated

textbooks may also clearly show you the correct manner of including these valuable

resources into your paper. If you intend to use graphics of any kind, be sure to review

Everyone’s  an  Author  (pp. 576-590), and carefully consider the correct APA concepts and guidelines about the use of visual images before incorporating any into your paper.

Your actual ‘body  text’  word count is taken very seriously. APA style requires a title or cover page, running head with pagination, and this is not counted in

word count. Your word count must also exclude all end References and any supporting

or ancillary material (e.g., appendices): so only count words from the first word of your introduction to the last word of your conclusion. Failing to observe these guidelines will

cost you points as does exceeding the 10% limit on direct quotes. Any breach of the

anti-plagiarism honor code provisions of RCC will be spotted immediately by SafeAssign.

Your final draft essay will be graded according to the clearly stated Rubrics and to the degree you adhere to the final essay Checklist. Careful proofreading and polishing of each section, paragraph, and sentence is vital. Sentence structure problems

(fragments, comma splices, and run-ons) will lower your score. Obviously, wording

errors, spelling and capitalization errors, and punctuation problems also reduces your

credibility as a serious writer. The text Everyone’s  an  Author  contains solid material on proper grammar, word usage, and punctuation, as do additional course materials and

online links (Purdue OWL APA: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/).

In conclusion, you are not expected to have achieved perfection [mastery] in

your writing during this course; for many students—that doubtful goal is an elusive, lifelong metric. You are expected, however, to have demonstrated significant, solid

improvement beyond basic competency towards American English writing proficiency.

In the end, all one can do is his best. If you work hard and passionately towards that

level of performance, you will be very successful in this final paper and in this course!

© V. E. Lasnik (2015)