Posted: May 22nd, 2015

Criminal Justice

The Department of Criminal Justice recognizes the value of excellence in writing for students in Criminal Justice. In part, each professor is expected to provide guidance on improving a student’s writing skills. Students are required to use only the APA (American Psychological Association) format to write and develop a scholarly paper for submission in the Social Sciences. APA has been adopted by the Department as its writing standard for all academic written assignments. No other writing style is acceptable.

APA is the American Psychological Association, and the style is one of many in the academic world used to regulate the language, citations, procedure, and formatting of manuscripts and other examples of writing in the social sciences. Please be consistent throughout each written paper. Refer to APA Guide under Resources on the Course Menu for APA specifics.

All projects, assignments, or papers submitted for grading will be required to include an abstract and reference page. All references are to be cited using the American Psychology Association (APA) format (6th edition). Other formats will not be accepted. For each scholarly paper and group assignment(s), the work will be assessed using an individual grading rubric for each assignment. This tool and process helps the students identify and professor measure the key points necessary to successfully complete written or group assignments. Wikipedia is not an appropriate source for any scholarly writing and is not permitted for any assignment in this program.

 

 

 

***It is very important you comply with the directions pointed out here. Especially regarding APA. The number of students who have been submitted for plagiarism over the past year has (in my opinion) increased significantly. This is due in part because of the Department’s directive to faculty to enforce writing standards. Please understand that if you write something that is NOT YOUR WORDS, you need to IDENTIFY it (use “quotation marks” around the quoted material or indent it) and then CITE it (APA citation needs to follow the quote). Always refer to the APA book you have for this class OR the APA information listed in the “Resources Area” of this class OR the “Purdue Owl” information in the syllabus.

STEP ONE: First thing you need to do is to determine what is which article contains a subject that is “interesting” to you. Once you have determined a possible topic, send it to me via class mail (the subject/topic of your paper AND the article you are basing it on). Be careful not to select a topic that is too broad. ****You need to send me your TOPIC AND the article you are basing your topic on by the end of Module 2 which is 3/18. I will send you the articles via class email. IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR TOPIC TO ME BY THEN FOR APPROVAL, YOU RUN THE RISK OF SUBMITTING A PAPER THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE (obviously the grade will not be one you will want).STEP TWO: Later this week I will provide an announcement that will help you see how to set up your paper AND how to provide citations within the paper AND how to set up your references. You also have your APA textbook. Keep in mind, how you cite and how you set up your reference can affect up to 40% of your final grade (if you notice, the last two criteria in the grading rubric deals with APA issues and each criterion is worth up to 20% of your paper grade).

Do not assume you know APA. Students have ‘thought’ they knew it, but ended up losing valuable points because they did not check their work with the resources found in this class site or the APA textbook that is required for this class.STEP THREE: I recommend you set up a basic outline of your paper. At this stage it can be very basic since you are using it to get your thoughts together.STEP FOUR: Research your topic. You need to use at least 5 references (not including any wiki sites). Using any dictionaries or encyclopedia sites are also viewed as poor references (fine for high school, but not really college level). Also, the textbook is okay, but as a starting place. Do not rely upon it since it does not demonstrate “research skills”.STEP FIVE: Putting your research notes together with the outline. This is the time you may want to make your outline more comprehensive. Set up how you want to review the subject of our research. This is important since you need to have a ‘ flow’ with your paper. Jumping around can confuse a reader which affects the quality of what you write. STEP SIX: Writing your paper. Some people provide an abstract some do not. While your Title Page and Reference Page do not count towards minimum words, an abstract will. Then have some type of introduction. It could be a section of your paper or simply the first paragraph. The key of the introduction is to tell your readers (meaning me) WHAT YOUR SUBJECT/TOPIC IS about and WHY IT IS IMPORTANT (basically telling me what you are going to write about and why I should want to read it). Then proceed with the next section of your paper, following your outline.STEP SEVEN: Once you have finished your paper comes the HARD PART. Making sure you complied with the rules:

1) Did you cite references within the body of your paper correctly? Remember, just because you did not use direct quotes doesn’t mean you don’t provide a citation. Review ‘ paraphrasing’ in your APA.

 

2) Did you follow APA when listing your references?

 

3) Did you double space?

 

4) Did you double check spelling/typo errors? I use a 1% error rate. Meaning, if you have more than 1 error for every 100 words, you will receive a 10% penalty. So, if your paper is 3000 words, you cannot have more than 30 errors in that whole paper. Sounds like a lot, but trust me, it isn’t hard to hit that many errors. Do spelling/grammar check on your paper. THEN, have someone else read it. You are your worst proofreader. Watch the similarity/originality report. This report tells me how much of your paper is from other people and not from you (this comes from turnitin.com). If you do a lot of quotes or paraphrasing – basically using someone else’s work, your originality report will be high. **It must be below 25%.** So, the best thing to do is to use your opinions and experiences (personal/professional) if possible, THEN provide some research support for them as you write. DO NOT copy a big chunk of information from an article – it will raise your originality score. Remember, the lower the better; however, keep in mind that simply listing 5 references, but then having a paper full of “I believes” with no support will score poorly too.

 

 

DO NOT USE PAPERS FROM A PREVIOUS CLASS EVEN ONE YOU MAY HAVE WRITTEN AT A DIFFERENT COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY! Trust me, turnitin.com will catch it. In the last 3 terms, I had 4 requests for student papers from separate professors regarding students “recycling” a paper they used in my class. I had one student receive an “F” grade on the research paper for doing it in my class (used a paper he/she wrote at a different college).

 

 

 

 

DO NOT “CUT AND PASTE” – even if you “identify” and “cite” the quotes (protects you from plagiarism, but will score zeros in criteria 1, 2, and 3). What is “cut and paste” – it is where chunks of a paper are just copied from a source – doesn’t demonstrate knowledge, just the ability to copy another person’s work. The originality score measures how much of your paper is copied material (if it is 25% or higher there is a penalty, 50% or higher – your paper will fail).

 

 

Speaking of plagiarism, in the past 2 years I have seen a LARGE increase in the number of faculty submissions to Academic Review committees for issues of plagiarism.

 

Did your paper show how the subject you selected impacts the CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM as a whole? In other words, you may be writing about open juvenile records. It is clear that the topic is relevant to the Courts, but what about law enforcement? What if you are reviewing a specific explanation (theory) for why children become killers? Knowing this “reason” could impact policing as well as possibly the Courts (sentencing options). But, could it not also affect Corrections?

 

STEP EIGHT: Final review. If you have not waited until the last week to start your paper, set it aside for a day or two. Then read it one more time. How does it sound to you? Does it flow? Does it make sense? If you have another person available – have him/her read it.STEP NINE: Submit your assignment (Module 7). contact me ASAP.LAST COMMENTS:

The grading rubric has 5 grading criteria. Each grading criterion is worth up to 20% of your final grade. Grading Rubric CRM 370 – Research Paper

Each student will complete a research paper on a selected topic related to juvenile justice. Papers will be graded according to the following grading rubric. The information provided in this LONG message is probably the most important you will receive in this class. Not so much because of the points available for the research paper, but the issues of APA compliance AND especially the issue of PLAGIARISM (which is a grade killer and possibly an education killer). For those two reasons alone, I STRONGLY recommend you copy this whole message and keep it available when you do your Research Paper!exceptional: corresponds to an A- to A (90-100%). Performance is outstanding; significantly above the usual expectations.Proficient: corresponds to a grade of B- to B+ (80-89%). Skills and standards are at the level of expectation. Basic: corresponds to a C- to C+ (70-79%). Skills and standards are acceptable but improvements are needed to meet expectations well.Novice:corresponds to a D to D+ (60-69%). Performance is weak; the skills or standards are not sufficiently demonstrated at this time. Null: This criterion is missing or not in evidence.Department Criterion #1: The paper provides a fundamental overview of the topic as it relates to the criminal justice system.Department Criterion #2: Shows depth and understanding of the subject matter with appropriate analysis of the topic selected (this includes University Core requirement).Department Criterion #3: Meets acceptable college level standards with respect to form and substance; meets APA style requirements.Department Criterion #4: Meets acceptable college level standards with respect to form and substance; meets APA style requirements.Department Criterion #5: Free of typographical errors; typed in a double-spaced format with bibliographic references; free of plagiarism.How I view the Department’s Grading Criteria (Keep in mind – Word Count is very important as it establishes the “grade range” your paper is eligible to receive. More specific information on this is provided later in this message):The first Criterion deals with how much information does your paper provide (beyond what is provided in the textbook). It also looks at how well you presented the information. The second Criterion examines how you demonstrated the affect of your subject/topic on the criminal justice system as a whole. If your paper is on the social control theory, but you never talk about how it interacts with or affects the criminal justice system…you just lost up to 20% of your paper grade.

The third criterion also examines how you deliver the information in your paper as well as the information itself. Does it present the problem (s), analyze them, and then have a logical conclusion? Does the information you provided demonstrate an understanding of the subject/topic. Simply copying the work of others or a paper comprised entirely of opinions will score low here. Yes, this is the area that utilizes the similarity/originality score that turnitin.com provides. The fourth criterion reviews your compliance with APA issues within the body of your paper.The last criterion also considers APA issues (referencing and plagiarism) as well as issues such as double spacing your paper, typos, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, etc.

Just a quick word about turnitin.com: some students in the past have thought they could ‘beat’ turnitin by using papers they used in a previous class or just changing a few words around in a reference they want to use (but not want to quote or did not give credit which is a form of plagiarism). Let’s say I said: “By making a mistake twice is problematic, making the same mistake a third time is a crime.” You want to use it in your paper, but you change it to “Making a mistake twice is bad, but making the same mistake three times is terrible”. Is this paraphrasing or a quote? Turnitin will highlight it so you need to cite it. Turnitin has caught references/citation errors and trust me when I say the problems you will face (if deemed to be plagiarism) are not worth it (failing grade or even worse)! You will lose points AND if repeated a lot in your paper, it can be sent to the department for review as a possible violation of the University’s policy on plagiarism.

You will be writing a research paper for this class. Please note it is a “RESEARCH” paper so please do not rely on your text as a primary reference. I would even go as far as say don’t use your text because it becomes very “attractive” to rely on it too heavily and that will negatively influence your final grade. HOWEVER, submitting a paper that is basically “cut and paste” or full of quotes will bounce your grade because it will raise your ORIGINALITY SCORE. To keep your originality score below 25%, you need YOUR OWN WORDS in most of the paper. You can do this by giving “opinions and views” in your paper and then have a “conclusion” section with your views and even some recommendations. Finally, submitting a paper that is nothing more than “cut and paste” – even if cited correctly – will not receive a passing grade.

Remember, your paper will be automatically submitted to “Turnitin” once you submit it to the dropbox (thus your need to know and use the APA format). Both of these issues are requirements of the Criminal Justice Department. You should have purchased a book on APA. Strongly recommend you take time to review the email on APA sites I sent you. PAPER LENGTH: There is no “maximum length” to the paper. I provided you with the word count requirements for this paper in one of the FIRST TWO CLASS EMAILS I sent you this term. Please understand that doesn’t mean you are going to get an “A” if your paper exceeds 2000 words. It only means that you are eligible for a grade up to 100%. You could still fail due to APA non-compliance issues or other grading criteria. Word count does not include title page or reference page (however, it does include the “abstract”).Unfortunately I do not have the time to “preview” a person’s research paper. My suggestion is to decide on a topic and cleared that topic with me ASAP. If you want me to review your topic to insure it is acceptable, it must be done by the end of Module 2. Again, base your topic on one of the articles I have provided. Nothing worse than not clearing a topic (issue) and then finding out it is not acceptable AFTER you have submitted it. I know I have mentioned it before, but it is so very important to your grade: APA grading issues are actually found in 2 of the 5 grading criteria so that means up to 40% of your paper grade is based on APA “stuff”.

 

 

 

 

 

Folks, not complying with APA will destroy your paper grade so if you are not familiar with it…LEARN IT! Last term one student had a good paper, but did not follow APA and “barely” ended up with a “D”. Main problems: did not know how to correctly cite within the body of the paper AND list references.

 

 

For specific instructions (including number of references needed) I will provide you with specific Research Paper information on the second day of class (it will also provide you with the DEPARTMENT’S GRADING CRITERIA). You will be required to submit a topic to me by the end of Module 2 so it is something you need to start on as quickly as you can after you get the information from me. It is your chance to determine your topic for the paper. Research Papers, via the dropbox, are automatically submitted to turnitin.com (in other words, you WILL NOT be submitting your papers directly to turnitin).

 

 

Speaking of TURNITIN: Some really big things NOT TO DO when writing your scholarly paper or research paper:

 

 

1) DO NOT think you can fool turnitin.com by changing 2 or 3 words in a sentence. If it isn’t cited, it is flagged by turnitin as a possible plagiarism issue.

 

 

2) Also, please hear me on this one: DO NOT USE ANY PAPER OR WORK YOU HAVE USED IN A PREVIOUS CLASS (even if at a different school) OR USE WORK DONE BY ANOTHER STUDENT.

 

 

3) Finally – AVOID “cut and paste” papers. These are papers that students copy different parts of other people’s work and put together as one paper. If the “cut & paste” paper correctly identifies and cites the quotes, it is not plagiarism. However, it will receive a failing grade because it does not demonstrate any “knowledge” on your part (just that you have the ability to copy someone else’s work).

 

 

 

Here are a few “HIGH POINTS” regarding the Research Paper:

 

 

1) Need to comply with APA.

 

 

2) Need to watch spelling, grammar, typos, spacing, punctuation, and capitalization errors.

 

 

3) Need to use 5 references (none should be any WIKI site).

 

 

4) Originality report (also known as “similarity report”) cannot be higher than 25% (IF IT IS 40% OR HIGHER, YOU WILL FAIL THE PAPER).

 

 

5) Quantity eligibility numbers:

 

 

1000 or lower for “0 to 59% range”

 

1001 – 1050 for “0 -69% range”

 

1051 – 1100 for “0 – 79% range”

 

1101 – 1150 for “0 – 89% range”

 

1151 and over for “0 – 100% range”

 

 

 

So, a research paper with 2000 words (not counting title page, references, etc.) would be eligible for any grade up to 89% (doesn’t guarantee any particular score since poor quality, failure to meet APA requirements, or meet criteria of Grading Rubric could still result in a failing grade).

 

 

This is a major paper so it is one you need to start on FAST. Every term there are students who wait until the week it is due, end up submitting a paper with 800 words and wonder why they earned a “F” grade.