American Studies Question (2024)

Students will choose a political issue in the U.S., research the topic and different positions, and choose an informed personal stance on the topic. The Research Paper is worth 20% of the final course grade.

GOVT 2305Research Paper Requirements and Grading

Assignment details:
1. Select a current American political issue and briefly describe the issue and what the
different viewpoints are. For example, the topic could be legalization of marijuana in
the U.S. The viewpoints are either for legalization or against it.
2. Research the topic using three professional sources (books, journals, newspapers,
magazines, or websites that end in .org, .edu, or .gov) and compare and contrast the
different viewpoints and positions on your topic. Fully address the different sides of
the issue and demonstrate an understanding of its complexities.
3. Draw a personal conclusion based on your analysis of the issue and present an
informed evaluation from the evidence.
4. Your paper will include the body of work and a Works Cited Page (list or resources
used).
5. Submit your paper through Canvas by the due date as posted in the Course Syllabus.
Fyi, the paper will automatically be run through a program that checks for plagiarism.
Plagiarized work will receive a grade of zero (0) with no opportunity for make-up.
Requirements for formatting your paper:
• Completed in Microsoft Word
• Use MLA (Modern Language Association) Formatting o Details and helpful
information can be found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
• 12 font size
• Verdana font
• Double spaced
Grading Basics:
• The body of the research paper must be a minimum of 1,000 words.
• The research paper must be original work from the student and may not be
recycled from a different class. In other words, if you’ve already submitted the
paper in a different class, ever, you may not use it for this assignment. All
information must be properly cited using in-text citations; place the author (e.g.,
Brown) or the source name (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau) in parenthetical citation
after paraphrasing their work.
• Use 3 separate professional sources.
• Information from sources must be paraphrased and not quoted. Do not put any
quotes within your paper. The resources cited within the body of the work must
match the listed resources on the Works Cited page.

Grading Specifics/ Rubric
First, there must be 1,000 words. Assuming there are 1,000 words, the grade will be
100 points. This grade will be reduced if certain criteria isn’t met. Carefully read and
understand all the requirements before submitting your paper.
Late papers = -10 points per day (12:00 a.m. after the due date is late)
Word Count (body of paper) = 1,000 words in Microsoft Word = 100 points
Not counted towards the word count: the header, anything in quotes, words on Works
Cited page, irrelevant information (doesn’t pertain to the topic or assignment)
“Turnitin SafeAssign” percentage must be below 25% & your AI percentage
must also be below 25%
Point deductions:
1 point deduction for every 10 words short of 1,000
5-point deduction for every 1% over 25% on the paper’s Originality Report & or AI
report; this percentage will be shown after you upload your paper (note you may
upload your paper as many times as you’d like)
10-point deduction if it isn’t submitted in Microsoft Word
3 different professional sources cited correctly (3 source minimum)
Acceptable sources: nonfiction books, journals, newspapers, magazines, or websites
that end in .org, .edu, or .gov.
Each source must appear twice:
1. Cited within the paper and each cite must be highlighted once (highlight the
author’s name or source within the paper)
-AND-
2. Correctly cited on the Works Cited page at the end of the document
Point deductions:
10-point deduction every time quotations are used; use paraphrasing
For each of the 3 sources:
Not an acceptable source or less than 3 sources = - 20
Not cited within the paper = -10
Cited within the paper and not highlighted = -5
Not cited on the Works Cited/ References page = -10

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