Term Paper (Literature review Paper)

Term paper: Literature Review Paper (20% of grade): Select one of the following topics to write your paper.

Course: Foundations of Criminal Justice

Level: Masters

THIS IS THE TOPIC I SELECTED ---- Corrections: Consequences of having a felony criminal record;

Term Paper (20%): Select one of the above topics. You should tell me your topic by the 2nd week of class.

The paper should be up to 10 pages in length plus references/bibliography. Papers should be formatted according to the American Psychological Association Writing Guidelines, which are most comprehensively covered in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (use the latest edition available). Condensed and simplified versions of the APA formatting and referencing requirements may be found on-line and in other writing manuals. See the topic outline for due date.

Your Paper should do a good job of integrating material from other relevant articles and/or books. This means that you should find at least five to ten important journal articles to learn about your topic. Your best bet here, of course, will be to use some reputable social scientific, criminal justice, juvenile justice and/or philosophic journals. Social science search engines and legal sources (like HeinOnline, Westlaw, and LexisNexis) will be most helpful in finding useful articles and topics from these journals. I advise NOT relying on internet sources like Wikipedia—since these tend to be more general and superficial, and less reliable and scholarly. Give credit to all the sources used (avoid plagiarism and second submissions).

In addition, you should at the very outset (in the very first paragraph or two) provide a “thesis statement”—that directly and clearly explains to the reader what question, topic, or problem you’ll answer, or what issue or problem you’ll try to resolve about the topics provided. You need to submit your topic to me by the second week of class, Also, this Paper must be new—not merely a version of some previously written Paper and not a Paper written for another class (known as double/second submission). (Trying to do that may result in getting an “F.”)

Your final version is due on the fifth week of classes, and up to 10 pages in length. This version should be uploaded via Turnitin (ecourse tab).

Be sure to cite all the sources of quotes and material that you borrow from, so as to avoid plagiarism (and the consequent danger of getting an “F” for the class and even potentially of being dismissed from the Program). You should do this through a system that refers to footnotes and/or references included at the end of your Paper.

Feel free to send me questions about your Paper early on, well before the due date; doing this should make for a better final product, by allowing me to respond with advice and constructive feedback.

Submit your paper using the Turnitin tab on ecouse. Due dates will be strictly followed, unless there is documented reason for the missed work (i.e. hospital note with complete description/reason for missing the work).

Writing a Literature Review Paper

(Source: https://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/researchcourse/lit_rev_write.html)

A literature review consists of two distinct parts. The first part is the research review. In the first step you will use scholarly articles to read and discover what others are saying about your topic. After you have read and reviewed studies related to your topic you will need to create a narrative description of what you discovered. As you write you will need to remember that the purpose of a literature review is to:

• Inform the reader of the knowledge and ideas about the topic.

• Inform the reader of your reason for reviewing the topic.

STEP ONE: Plan

• Find a focus- organize your work around ideas/problem identified in the literarature read: direction or position that you can support.

• Create a working thesis: provides a way of looking at the research around your topic.

• Think about elements of organization- this means that you must consider the way that the information will be presented. Creating an outline of topics and subtopics is a helpful way to organize.

STEP TWO: Writing (Introduction, Body, Conclusion)

1. Introduction: (1-1 1/2 - Page)

• Define the general topic, issue or area of concern.

• Point out trends in the published research in the area or conflicts in the theory, methodology, evidence, and conclusions, or gaps in the research or a new perspective.

• Detail your reasons for reviewing literature on your topic; explain your stance and organizational structure.

2. Body: (3-5 Pages): It’s important to consider how you will present the sources you have found. You may want to consider the following methods:

• Chronological- Organize the research in the order it was conducted.

• By publication- You may group sources by the type of research they present or the area/field of research (for example: government reports).

• Trends- Categorizing your sources this way will present changes in data interpretation over time.

• Thematic- Organizing your ideas around topics or issues. This organizational structure presents an emphasis on ideas or themes.

• Methodological- this approach groups research studies by the way the research was conducted.

In this section be sure to include:

• The current situation in regard to the topic or issue.

• The history or related ideas that have influenced the development of your issue.

3. Conclusion: (2-3 Pages)

• Summarize the major parts of significant studies and articles but your attention on the focus of your position.

• Evaluate the current thinking on your topic. This may be a place for you to suggest that there are flaws in the research, theories, findings or areas of study.

• Conclude by providing insight into relationship between the topic and the focus of your area of interest, study or proposed position on the topic.

Composing Tips

• Use evidence- Your interpretation of the resources you have chosen must be backed up with evidence that shows a link between what you are saying and information to support it.

• Be selective- Choose the most important parts of each source to highlight in your review.

• Use quotes sparingly- Most literature reviews do not use direct quotes from the text. Use short quotes if you need to once in a while, but do not quote large passages of text. Your goal is to summarize in your own words the studies you have found that provide documentation of your position or serve as background.

• Summarize and synthesize- You will summarize the work of others as you create your literature review you’ll also need to synthesize it as a way to relate it to your own work.

• Keep your voice- This means that even though you are presenting the ideas of others you will still need to use your ideas and words. But give credit to sources used (citation).

• Paraphrase with caution- Retell the ideas of others with caution being sure to watch that the ideas of others are presented as someone else's and your ideas are presented separately.

• REVISE, REVISE, REVISE- Take advantage of your friends and writing center. Ask them to read your work and help you to make your literature review as well written as possible.

• Upload your paper via Turnitin (ecourse tab).