WAC Paper Guidelines
General Guidelines
Present and defend a sociological/ political issue
You are heavily encouraged to choose a less covered topic. The following topics are VERY common:
Abortion
Gun control
Death penalty
Gay marriage
4 FULL pages in length (NOT including the cover page or reference page)
Must use 6 scholarly sources from WSU databases
Sources should be no older than 10 years old (2012-current)
Write in size 12 font, Times New Roman, double spaced, APA format, one-inch margins
You may not use the following: direct quotes, contractions, rhetorical questions, casual/conversational language, 1st person
Paraphrasing only, write in the 3rd person/ academic tone
NO ABSTRACT
How the paper will be graded
Research: paper must display evidence that you have done a substantial amount of research regarding your topic
Thinking/Analysis: paper must display evidence that you have thought critically about what you have read and discovered during the course of your research rather than repeating what the articles and books said. This is imperative!!!!! An essential part of research is assessing the merit of the information you as the researcher are collecting. Your research should lead you to draw some conclusions about your topic by providing some analysis of why something changed, happened, or why it did not happen.
How the paper will be graded cont.
Theory Application: Clearly present the sociological perspectives – (structural-functionalism, conflict, symbolic interactionism) that apply to the thesis
Comparison: Paper should involve a clear compare/contrast to an opposing side of your argument or presentation. This becomes empiricism and not opinion by supporting your position with research and theory.
Writing Format: Papers should be clearly written and organized, as well as free of grammatical and spelling errors.
How to Lose Points
Not including a reference page or title page
Minimal to no in-text citations
Using sources that are not scholarly/peer reviewed
Not meeting 6 academic journal article minimum
Using outdated sources (older than 2012)
Not meeting the minimum 4-page requirement
Using a format other than APA
Not meeting content requirements
Point Deductions
Not including all references in your paper. Not listing all sources used in your paper, in your list of references.
There must be at LEAST 6 total academic journal articles (you may have more if you feel it is necessary). If you have less than 6 this will result in missing points
If you use an invalid source (from Google, Wikipedia, etc.) points will be deducted for each invalid source. Missing just one or
