Term-Paper Instructions:
YOU are responsible for reading and understanding these instructions. ÿIf you turn in an assignment that does not follow these instructions, your grade will reflect it. You cannot say I didn?t warn you. The ÿpurpose ÿof ÿthis ÿassignment ÿis ÿto ÿhave ÿyou ÿexplore ÿthe ÿtype ÿof scholarly research ÿbeing ÿdone by human geographers. ÿThe project will give you an understanding of the breadth and depth of research that geographers do, point out important issues in this sub-field that are the subject of academic research, and give you insights on how geographers conduct research and present that research. ÿThis assignment requires you to focus on articles in peer-reviewed, scholarly journals rather than popular media. ÿThere are several things that distinguish scholarly articles from other types of writing. ÿFirstly, these articles are peer-reviewed; meaning that they have been judged by ÿup ÿto ÿfour ÿother ÿscholars ÿworking ÿon ÿsimilar ÿtopics ÿfor ÿtheir ÿaccuracy ÿand ÿmerit ÿbefore being ÿpublished. ÿScholarly articles are also fully cited so that another researcher can prove the validity of the arguments by looking at the same sources. ÿThirdly, while popular media articles generally stand alone as a report on something, peer-reviewed scholarly articles represent ongoing conversations among scholars to advance our knowledge about the world ?in this case, human/cultural geography.ÿ
Technical ÿAspects: Your ÿpaper ÿmust ÿconform ÿto ÿthe ÿfollowing ÿformatting: ÿ12-point ÿfont ÿ(Arial, ÿTimes ÿNew Roman, Garamond, or Book Antiqua), one-inch margins all around, double-spaced, and number the pages. ÿAny paper that does not follow the technical aspects will receive a 10-point discount in the final grade for this assignment.ÿ
The Final/Analysis Paper (DUE by Friday, July31): For the paper, you will need to follow the format given below ÿin ÿanalyzing ÿand ÿsummarizing ÿthe ÿcomponents ÿof ÿthe ÿresearch ÿarticle ÿabout ÿwhich ÿyou ÿare ÿwriting:
Remember that you are only using ONE article in the part of the project. ÿIn completing the following format, you will need to read each section of the article you are using very carefully, possibly more than once. ÿYour paper should be at-least 6 pages in length (not including the Cover Page), you must follow the formatting procedure listed above, and you must submit your paper to the plagiarism detection website Turnitin.com using the class webpage by the due date. Note that plagiarism will not be tolerated. If this or any other course assignment is plagiarized, you will earn an automatic failure grade in the course.ÿ
Follow the format carefully. ÿWhen you write your paper, divide it into clearly labeled sections using the headings included below. ÿIn each section, be sure to address the questions fully. Any paper that does not include the required labels/titles will receive a 10-point discount in the final grade for this assignment.ÿ
I. Cover ÿPage: Author(s) ÿof ÿthe ÿArticle, ÿPublication ÿDate, Title ÿof ÿthe ÿArticle, ÿPublication ÿSource (Journal, Volume, Number, Page numbers), Your Name, GEO3421, Summer2020, Date Submitted.
II. Introduction: How does the author introduce the article (for example, do they tell a story to situate the topic, or do they discuss other research, a media report, an event)? ÿHow does the introduction frame the coming discussion and argument?
III. Argument: What ÿargument(s) ÿdoes ÿthe ÿauthor ÿmake ÿin ÿthe ÿpaper ÿ(for ÿexample, ÿare ÿthey ÿsaying ÿthat ÿsome ÿtopic hasn?t been studied (enough); or, are they saying that if we study some particular issue/case it will change (or ÿreaffirm) how we think about some conception; or, are they ÿsaying that if we bring in a different conception it will change the way we think about a particular issue/case)?
IV. Structure of the Paper: How ÿdoes ÿthe ÿauthor ÿgo ÿabout ÿmaking ÿthe ÿargument ÿin ÿthe ÿpaper? ÿÿÿWhat ÿorder ÿdo ÿthey ÿpresent ÿthe information? ÿHow do they layout the article? ÿWhat sections are in the article, and what points do they make in each one? ÿHow do the sections build up to the overall argument?
V. Literatures: In what literatures (both theoretical and topical) does the author situate their work? ÿWhat works do they cite, and how do they conceive what they are citing? ÿNote: Not every paper will have a specific section dedicated to literature review ?they may be embedded in various sections of the paper.
VI. Methodology: How did the author go about collecting that information (data) used to support their argument? ÿDid they ÿuse ÿinterviews ÿ(who, with ÿand ÿhow ÿmany), ÿparticipant ÿobservation ÿ(where ÿand ÿhow ÿlong), document analysis (historical documents, newspaper accounts, policy papers, etc.), or statistical data (gather by the author or some other entity) to name a few? ÿHow is the data presented: is it woven into the text of the article, or is it presented in some graphic form (maps, charts, graphs, photos)? ÿHow well does the data support the argument that the author is making?
VII. Conclusion: How does the author summarize their argument(s) one last time? ÿDo they hint at broader implications of their work beyond the focus of this article? ÿDo they make a call for more research in a certain area?
VIII. Bibliography: How many sources does the article cite and what types of sources are cited? ÿHow many of the sources are books? ÿHow many are research articles? ÿHow many are other types of documents (popular media reports ?newspaper or magazine articles, government documents, planning documents, etc.)? ÿHow many are internet sources? ÿDoes the author cite Wikipedia?ÿ
Important note:
Most ÿof ÿyour ÿpaper ÿshould ÿsummarize ÿthe ÿarticle in ÿyour ÿown ÿwords! ÿÿÿIf ÿyou ÿwish ÿto ÿuse ÿthe ÿwording ÿof ÿthe article?s author(s) you should ALWAYS put quotations marks around it and give the page number where it can be found. ÿNo more than 10% of your paper should be quotations. ÿIf you quote too much, you will lose points.ÿ
