Follow these guidelines in writing your paper:1. The paper length should be between 6-8 pages in length (excluding references and a cover page). It should be
double-spaced, with 12-point type, Times New Roman or Arial font, one-inch margins on all sides, and leftjustified.2. The paper should have a cover page with the title, your name, the course title and CRN number of the class,and date of submission.3. You must have at least 6 references, but preferably more, and all sources must be cited correctly according toAPA guidelines. You will need to provide a reference list and that also must be in APA style. If you havequestions about how to cite using APA, there are some useful guidelines on the UHD Library website. Atleast four of your sources must be academic (academic journals, law reviews, scholarly books, andgovernment or organizational reports). Avoid using websites, Wikipedia, and the text as sources.4. You must check your grammar and spelling carefully. I strongly suggest that you use a program likeGrammarly (https://www.grammarly.com.). It checks your grammar and provides suggestions to correct it.It’s free to use for a paper of this length.5. YOU MUST SUBMIT YOUR PAPER AS A PDF FILE. If you use a word-processing program such asMS Word, simply click on Save as and select PDF as a file extension. Top Hat does not allow filesubmissions that are in word format.6. Paper grades will be based upon the following:a. Evidence of a problem (why is this issue a problem in the field?) (25%)b. Reform policies, legislation, programs, etc. (35%)c. Sources (20%)d. Paper length/Grammar/spelling (20%)
Tips to Improve your Term Paper
Describing the Problem
Avoid using personal experiences or opinions
Use statistics or findings that describe the extent of the problem
Policy or Programs to Reduce the Problem
Identify policies or programs that have been created to reduce the problem
You want to find policies or programs that have been evaluated for their effectiveness- research show that they work
This area should be the bulk of the paper
Sources
Find academic sources
(Scholarly books and articles, law reviews, government reports)
Newspaper investigations and non-profit organizations are okay
Avoid Wikipedia and general web searches
Why academic sources
Peer review
Tend to have a science-based approach
Use Google Scholar and UHD Library Search Engines
Consider using the MS Word Reference Tool
Common APA Mistakes
Listing the authors or the title of the source in the body of the paper
Not citing the page number for a quote
Providing factual statements in the paper without a citation
Not using a hanging indent in the reference list
Not using a uniform means of citation (italics for some sources but not others)
Not using enough sources
Grammar/Punctuation and Organization
Misspelled words, poor sentence structure, and grammar mistakes distract the reader- make it more difficult to understand your points
There’s a fix for that (Grammarly and similar programs identify grammar mistakes and provide suggestions to correct them)
Avoid paragraphs that are pages long
Use subheadings (Introduction, The Problem, Programs & Policies, Conclusion, References)
Make sure you are within the page minimum and maximum
