Political Action Committees

Paper guidelines
• Optional rough draft (but still proofread) due date: 4 Mar 2013
• Final draft due date: 21 Mar 2013
• Final draft must be complete, in APA style format, and submitted in pdf file
format through Canvas o Title page
o No abstract or summary
o Text with in-text/parenthetical citations and page number headers o Any optional foot/endnotes
o Any optional appendices
o Complete References page
• Length: 1000-1500 words
o DOES NOT INCLUDE FRONT OR BACK MATTER!!!
o Length requirement is for the primary text with in-text/parenthetical
citations
o Word count roughly translates to 4-6 pages if all APA style format
guidelines are followed
• Writing style must conform to standard formal American English
• Research: 8-10 review-level sources (also referred to as Tier 1 research)
o Peer review (counts toward requirement)  Academic journals
 Academic books
 Documentary features, shorts, series o Popular review (counts toward requirement)
 Any news media (TV, print, radio, online)
 Popular press periodicals
 Popular press books
 Organizational publications (including non- and for-profit
organizations, businesses, and groups)
 Governmental publications (e.g., reports, briefs, etc.)
o Non-review (does not count toward requirement but may be used)  Websites (unless you are getting a peer or popular review
source download)

 Editorials
 Blogs/Vlogs
 Movies/TV/Music/Art  Personal interviews
 Personal experiements
o Reference resources (does not count toward requirement but may be used)
 Encyclopedias (including Wikipedia)
 Almanacs (including CIA World Factbook)
 Fact sheets/sites (e.g., About.com)
 Government documents (constitutions, laws, legal decisions)  Religious documents (bibles, theses, edicts)
Content guidelines
• APA standards for presenting of others’ intellectual property must be strictly
adhered to
o Failure to correctly and appropriately cite sources will result in an automatic failure of the assignment
o Failure to correctly and appropriately list sources will result in an automatic failure of the assignment
o Willful theft of intellectual property (plagiarism), in-part or in- total, will result in an automatic failure of the course and reporting to the appropriate academic disciplinary office for violation of the student code of conduct
• Minimum of four required sections o Introduction
 Introduce topic
 Present either a research question that will be answered
through the paper or a thesis that will be defended through the
paper
 Justification of the significance of the topic to general society
(essentially, why would it be important for anyone to read your
paper)
 Justification of the relevance of the topic to political science as
a field of inquiry o Literaturereview
 Present background information on the topic/topic area
 Present any relevant theories/past research on the topic/topic
area
 If using a research question, present the past studies/events that
have led you to asking your RQ
 If using a thesis, present the sequence of events that have led
you to making your assumption o Analysis
 Present your core research that answers the question or defends/rejects the thesis
 Present any relevant examples that help to explain your analysis or core research
o Conclusions
 Definitively answer your RQ or accept/reject your hypothesis  Offer suggestions for what can be learned from your study
 Offer suggestions for future research in the topic/topic area