Term Paper Guidelines
I. You are required to write a term paper based on library research of your chosen topic.
A. The topic shall be related to issues that we explore and discuss in the area of abnormal psychology/mental health disorders. (You may write about specific disorders, assessment of abnormal behavior, theories of abnormal behavior, treatment modalities for various abnormal behaviors, the mentally ill in prison, etc.).
B. The term paper shall be at least 15 typewritten pages (double-spaced) in length.
C. The term paper shall be written in strict APA Publication Manual writing style. MLS, ALA, SOS, CYA, or any other style will not be accepted.
D. The term paper is a formal scholarly paper and shall be written in that manner.
1. Although writing term papers in the first person voice is now acceptable from the APA’s perspective, when doing so the paper will still be written in a formal style—not the style you would use to write a letter to your long lost lover.
E. The term paper shall be based on library research of at least six (6) professional resources/references.
1. These resources should be of peer-reviewed professional journal articles or professional books by experts in the field, and shall be related to your particular chosen topic.
2. Internet resources may be utilized ONLY if you obtained an electronic version of an actual (full-linked text) academic journal article online. That is, the electronic version is an exact copy of the journal article as it appeared in the written version of the journal.
a. In other words, a Dr. Phil-type on-line article from a Google or other similar search that presents a summary of a topic area by some Dr. Phil-type or from Brittany Spears, or from the CIS Miami web-site that cannot be authenticated for its reliability or validity or non-plagiarism is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
b. Information from Wikipedia is not acceptable.
c. Some government websites publish articles of research that they have commissioned. This research is peer reviewed and is quite scholarly, and thus you may use it. (e.g., U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; National Institute of Mental Health, etc.).
3. In essence, your resources/references should be professional journals and books written by experts in abnormal behavior, mental health disorders, mental illness, etc.
F. The term paper will have the following format with labeled sections.
1. INTRODUCTION—this section of your paper introduces the topic and presents a brief literature review relevant to your stating the thesis and objectives of your paper. Centered, at the beginning of this introductory section you will write the title of your paper as your heading for the introductory section.
a. That is, what do you plan to do?.
2. FINDINGS—this section is where you will do what you said you would do (in the introductory section).
a. This section requires you to summarize the work in your specific topic area, critically evaluate it, and compare and contrast it to approaches offered by other theorists, critics, revisionists, etc.
b. This is the major portion of your paper.
c. This section will have a heading centered and in bold: Findings.
3. Discussion and Conclusions—briefly summarize what you did. Then present your own ideas, opinions, beliefs, insights, etc., about the topic area you reviewed, and finally discuss whether you accomplished what you set out to do.
a. This section will require careful critical and creative thinking. This should be a significant portion of your paper; because this section indicates to me whether or not you have a good understanding and perspective of the theory that you have reviewed.
b. Writing only one or two paragraphs for this section is not adequate or sufficient, and will affect your grade significantly.
c. This section will have a heading centered and in bold: Discussion and Conclusions.
G. Remember, this is not a book review. You are not going to simply summarize a book or journal article. INSTEAD YOU WILL:
1. Creatively and critically think about what you read and critically evaluate it.
a. You do this by presenting your own ideas, opinions, etc., utilizing other resources/references to back up your points.
b. DO NOT HESITATE to give your own opinions in this term paper. There is no right or wrong answer. I don’t care if you state that divorce is no big deal and does not cause harm to anyone, as long as you can back up your contentions. I value your opinions as much as I value the opinion of the authors of your textbooks.
H. Tips
1. This does not have to be extremely difficult. If you apply yourself seriously, studiously, and systematically, you will be successful.
2. The idea here is to read, think, read more, and re-think in a critical manner. I hope that you can enjoy this and learn greatly from your experience. If your project becomes tedious and painful, and you become frustrated, angry, and begin to hate my guts, then something is wrong. You either picked a topic that does not truly interest you or you are going about it the wrong way.
a. Actually if you end up disliking me, that’s okay, as long as you learn something, think critically and creatively, and enjoy yourself while disliking me.
3. Please feel free to contact me, talk with me, yell at me, tackle me in the hallway, or corral me in my office for assistance as often as you wish. Please DO NOT wait until two days before the paper is due to tell me that you are at a standstill. You don’t have to go this totally alone.
4. So, begin soon, have fun, and use that great mass of cerebral cortex that you have that sets you apart from all other species, and think critically. Engage those 1000 trillion synapses that you have and go to it!
5. Be sure to adhere to the term paper deadline as specified on the syllabus.
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