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Recommended Research Paper Guidelines for Advanced Research & Writing Requirement

Permission Required

With an instructor’s permission, students may complete a paper of at least 25 pages, exclusive of footnotes, involving substantial research to fulfill the college’s Advanced Research & Writing requirement.

1. If the paper is to be completed in conjunction with a course, students should contact the instructor regarding requirements for permission.

2. If the paper is to be completed in conjunction with independent research, the requirements and deadlines for independent research apply. The length of the paper is the prerogative of a student’s supervising instructor. See the Independent Research in Course Descriptions.

3. If the paper is to be written apart from a course or independent research, students must contact the supervising faculty member for the requirements before commencing work on the paper.

Drafts and Deadlines

l. Students submit a partial first draft covering one or two parts of the paper, a full first draft, a second draft, and, if necessary, a full or partial third draft.

2. Deadlines are set by agreement and must be honored. In the case of an independent research or a paper in partial fulfillment for a course, missed deadlines may be taken into account in grading, particularly if no extension is obtained until after the deadline has passed. All final drafts must be in by the final class day of the semester. Extensions must be requested in advance and must be approved by the instructor and the dean of students. A Request for Extension of Grade Due Date form can be obtained in the Student Services Office.

Format

1. The paper must be in the form of a law review note, with citations in footnotes rather than in text, parenthetical explanations of authorities in footnote where appropriate, and textual footnotes to develop points where treatment in the text would interfere with its flow.

2. Include a table of contents showing page numbers for all headings and subheadings, an introduction (headed “I. INTRODUCTION”) explaining how the paper will proceed, and a short conclusion.

3. Make liberal use of headings and subheadings to promote good organization, and make parts of the paper easier to find.

4. Try to use the active voice, possessives to minimize prepositions, short paragraphs, sub-paragraphed enumerations, and other devices to enhance readability.

Style

1. Use 8½ x 11 inch (letter size) paper. Do not use onion skin.

2. Double space text except for indented quotes (50 words or more); single space footnotes.

3. Papers should have 1-inch margins and the typeface should be no larger than 12 points (10 characters per inch).

4. Comply fully with The Bluebook rules on form and citation, using the rules applicable to law review writing.

5. Center all headings and use the following priority and type:

I. ALL CAPS UNDERLINED

A. ALL CAPS

1. Underlined

a. Not Underlined

1) Not Underlined

a) Not Underlined

6. Use ordinary type for everything else (no ALL CAPS), except underline where The Bluebook calls for italics.

7. Footnotes may be placed either at the bottom of each page or as endnotes at the end of the paper.

 

Nothing in these requirements is intended to preclude a supervising faculty member from imposing additional requirements to satisfy completion of the Advanced Research & Writing requirement.