Rough Draft Submission Guidelines and Research Paper Evaluation Criteria

Rough Drafts are due .   LATE rough drafts are NOT ACCEPTED!

The following are the criteria by which rough draft are evaluated:

1.  Papers that do not have a thesis, citation, or documentation will not be evaluated.  These items are essential.  At times, when some citations and documentation are present but are not adequate, I may or may not give brief commentary.  PLEASE NOTE:  failure to adequately document the paper with citations and documentation can result in failure of the paper, therefore failure of the course.  First drafts that have insufficient or absent citations and bibliography may be returned without commentary (this is surely the case if there is no bib).

2.  Notes on citations and documentation in your paper must be treated globally--if there is one error, you must check all areas for this type of error.  Notes on lack of the above items will be obvious.

3.  The analysis of the rough draft goes from the global to the local, with assessment of citation and documentation occurring at the same time as global assessment.  A paper which is more thoroughly marked is generally in a better state of revision readiness; therefore, you should not equate many marks with a poor effort--generally the more time I spend, the better the effort is.

4.  Students should strive to meet the following MINIMUMS on the rough draft:

• Length:  3000 word minimum
• Sources:  10 source minimum—sources that stem from the same home page are considered the same source unless they are done by different authors!!
• Completeness:  Drafts should be as full and complete as if you were to be graded, as much as possible.

5.  Partial rough drafts are accepted, but the accuracy of the citations and documentation in missing sections becomes the sole responsibility of the student.  In other words, if there is unintentional plagiarism in a part of the draft that was missing from the first draft (even parts that you were asked to add), then the full grade penalty of such actions will be enforced, and you will be responsible for your own failure.  You may certainly consult with me on these matters during office hours or appointments, but the guarantees that I will note all occurrences of citation, documentation, and plagiarism (sometimes handled on a global basis) are void with partial drafts.

6. Papers that do not meet the following format requirements may be rejected without commentary:

• Use 10-point Courier, 1-inch margins, and double space the paper (except footnotes, which should be in 9-point Courier and single-spaced).  All pictures should follow the text, and the bibliography needs to end the paper.

7.  Students are responsible for the following material from The Bedford Handbook, 6^th edition, and will be held accountable for such on the final draft: Chapters 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, and 57.  Use my formatting requirements when a conflict occurs between myself and the text (note: the only place I disagree with the text is on LAYOUT issues and order, not plagiarism and citation). 

Research Practices Criteria

1)  Variety of Sources

Given the research topic, has the student examined a sufficient variety of sources to show an adequate coverage of the topic?  Sources would include books, periodicals found using both on-line and print indices, the Internet, and other appropriate venues like AV materials and interviews.  Does the Works Cited page reflect this?

   Note:  the initial clause above takes into account that more cutting-edge topics may have a limited resource base while more historically-based topics may have the opposite resource base (periodicals and the Internet vs. books).

2)  Variety of Skills

a)  Does the student show BOTH the skills of paraphrase/summary and quotation usage, including proper introduction and integration, within the paper?  If appropriate to the topic, does the student show the skills of statistic and graphic usage within the paper?

b)  Does the student show proper balance of research material and thesis-supporting argument in the paper, including the careful and prudent usage of block quotations or longer summary passages?

3)  Bibliography-related problems

a)  Are there sufficient citations, either in the form of notes or parenthetical citations, within the paper such that every piece of outside information is adequately cited?  This would include the use of “umbrella notes” as discussed in class.  Note:  One missing citation could result in paper failure; several certainly will.

b)  Is there a unique correspondence between the number of sources on the Works Cited page and the number of individual sources (not citations) within the paper? Note:  One missing entry in the bibliography could result in paper failure; two certainly will.

c)  Is the formatting of the citations and Works Cited page relatively free from error, especially after corrections have been made by the instructor?  Those with significant errors may receive grade deductions including failure.

d)  Is the information in the Works Cited page and citations complete so that the next reader of the paper could easily get a hold of sources used?  Significant omissions may result in grade deduction including failure.

Paper Format Criteria

1) Thesis

   a)  Does a thesis exist?

   b)  Is the thesis too general, or does it cover the bounds of the paper well?

   c)  Is there cited material in the thesis?  There should NOT be such material; shows a lack of originality of thesis and actually is the same as not having one.

   d)  Is the thesis placed properly?

   e)  Does the thesis contain exact language, stay away from general or danger words?

2) Citations and Documentation

   a)  Are there citations for every quotation, statistic, and paraphrase? 

   b)  Are the citations done in correct MLA form?

   c)  Does every unique citation have a unique documented entry on the Works Cited page?

   d)  Are Works Cited entries in correct format?

3)   Introduction

a)  Does the introduction properly set the appropriate tone and focus for the paper while not alienating the reader? 

4) Body & Evidence

a)  Are there topic sentences or sub-theses which apply the ideas of the thesis throughout the paper?

b)  Are these sentences original?

c)  Is evidence being used in its proper place, which is in support of your ideas?

d)  Is evidence being linked to the ideas properly, through both explanation and punctuation?

e)  Is proper transition occurring such that evidence is not being used as introductions of or conclusions to paragraphs?

f)  Are long quotes being used correctly when needed or relied upon too much?

g)  Is accurate transcription of evidence, including authors' names and titles, occurring?

5)  Syntax & Logic

a)  Does the order of the paragraphs in the paper suggest that a plan is being followed?

b)  Does the order of sentences within a paragraph suggest that a plan for the paragraph is being followed?

c)  Does the order of words within a sentence suggest that a plan for the sentence is being followed?

d)  Are words which are used being chosen properly as to exactly convey the proper meaning?

e)  Are numerous homophone errors occurring, causing the reader confusion?

f)  Is proper tone being followed for the audience (college-educated people with interest in your subject)?

6) Close

a)  Is the close appropriate to the function of the paper? 

b)  Does the close not repeat too frequently those words and phrases found in the introduction while still conveying a sense of the thesis? 

c)  Does the close not present new information, beyond those conclusions that might be logically drawn from the material within?

7)  Grammar and Spelling

Is the paper relatively free from grammar and spelling errors such that it reflects the skills learned throughout two college-level writing courses?  The presence of numerous errors--especially run-ons, fragments, and spelling errors--will result in grade deduction, including failure.