Essay Guide (prepared by TA Kris Coombs, Jr., Spring 2018)
How, if at all, do cyberspace regulatory schemes threaten to undermine privacy rights and the protection of individual identity?
Consider key cases such as European Court of Justice “safe harbor” case (Attached)
In your paper be sure to analyze the pros and cons of establishing international instruments regulating cyberspace, particularly as
they relate to personal information.
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The term paper is a major requirement for the course. No matter which topic you select, you are expected to do interdisciplinary
research. Consult sources from many different fields of knowledge. The purpose of the assignment is to acquaint you with the
analytic and research tools necessary to study international law in various fields. That is why your research counts heavily in the
grade. Use indexes for different disciplines, e.g., United Nations documents, Inter-Library loan, the UNESCO Bibliographies (on
Social and Cultural Anthropology and on Sociology), the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP available on USC Gould Law Library
webpage), and other research techniques. From this assignment you gain an appreciation of carrying out a interdisciplinary research
project and importance.
SOURCES: Requirements for Bibliography (or References) [Not Op. Cit.]
It is imperative that you cite your sources properly. For every direct quotation provide an endnote (not a footnote) or in-text
citation (any quotation over two lines should be indented ten spaces and single-spaced); also do this for any ideas not your own.
Failure to acknowledge sources constitutes plagiarism and will result in an F grade and possible University disciplinary action. To
reiterate, any time you use a direct quotation from someone else or take an idea from a source, you must reveal this to the reader.
Please note that collaboration on the papers is not acceptable. Where this is evident, the grade for both students will be an F.
All items in the bibliography should be in alphabetical order in a single list of all sources. Do not subdivide the references by
category, e.g., articles, books, and cases. Use the title “Bibliography” or “References” but not “Works Cited”. List all sources
you consulted, whether cited in the text of the paper or not, in Bibliography or References.
Bibliographical items: some examples
Article:
Charlesworth, Hilary, Chinkin, Christine and Shelley Wright (1991). Feminist Approaches to International Law. American
Journal of International Law 85, 613-645.
or
Charlesworth, Hilary, Chinkin, Christine and Shelley Wright. Feminist Approaches to
International Law. American Journal of International Law 85 (1991), 613-645.
Book:
von Glahn, Gerhard (1992). Law Among Nations: An Introduction to Public International Law (6th edition). New York: Macmillan
Publishing Co., Inc.
Endnotes
Please use endnotes. The notes should contain complete citations as follows:
Article:
Sebastian Poulter. Ethnic Minority Customs, English Law and Human Rights. International and Comparative Law Quarterly 36
(1987), 589-615.
Book:
Alan Watson. Legal Transplants: An Approach to Comparative Law. (Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1974).
Note: the difference is that the first name is given before the last name, which is the reverse of the bibliography’s format. As
indicated above, you do not need to put quotation marks around the title of an article, you do not need to write Volume before 36,
and you do not need to put pp. 589-615 (although it is all right to do so).
Those who opt to use the social science format will refer to the source as follows: The use of the cultural defense has been
documented in England (Poulter 1987). If you wish to refer to a specific page, put (Poulter 1987: 100) (though unnecessary, you may
put p. 100). When you use the social science format, you will use notes only when you wish to make parenthetical comments which do
not belong in the body of the paper. That is, footnotes are for observations that if placed in the main text would be digressions
and detract from the flow of the argument. Use endnotes rather than footnotes.
Number your pages, proofread your work carefully, and turn it in on time.