Instructions
For your Senior Capstone Project, you will be responsible for investigating an issue within the Criminal Justice system and discussing proposed solutions to fix the issue.
Your Capstone is meant to be a comprehensive and in-depth investigation of an issue within the justice system, keep this in mind when writing. Given the length of this paper, you are expected to have an abstract.
Your paper should include these distinct sections (headings are expected):
Abstract
Introduction (note per APA, intros do not need headings)
Introduce the topic and purpose of the paper.
Be sure to include a roadmap where you clear state the purpose of the paper and the main topics that will be covered.
Your introduction should cover briefly the topic, the importance of said topic, and the direction your Capstone will take.
This roadmap itself only needs to be 1-3 sentences.
Remember the purpose of an introduction is to draw your readers in and provide them with a clear view of what the paper is covering. So make your introduction interesting and informative.
History/Background
Cover the history of your topic.
When did this type of issue or problem first arise?
How did arise? What factors contributed to it?
Were there any notable events or occurrences?
Were there any early public or government responses?
You may need to think outside of the box, were there any social movements or paradigms overtime that led the problem?
Current
Discuss the current status of the topic.
How has the problem changed over time?
What impact has this problem had on society and the justice system?
Think financial costs, harm, etc.
Are there any contradictory claims regarding the status of the problem?
Have there been any recent social movements or government responses?
What other notable issues have been highlighted regarding the topic?
Potential Solutions
Has the government or legislature enacted new rules or legislation to address the issue?
What have researchers, scientists, etc. recommended to address the problem?
Have any of these recommendations been tested and what were the results?
Conclusion
Reiterate the main points covered in the paper and tie everything up.
Keep in mind that conclusions are only meant to reiterate what was already said, new (or previously unmentioned) information should not appear.
Your paper must meet the following additional requirements:
This paper, at minimum, should be 25 full pages (not including cover page, abstract, headings, reference page, blank spaces, tables, pictures, etc.).
The paper should be written utilizing double spacing, size 12 Times New Roman font, and 1 inch margins on all sides.
Your paper must have an abstract, cover page, running head, and reference page.
APA formatting guidelines should be followed.
A paper checklist and power point have been provided on D2L, you are responsible for utilizing both when writing and formatting your paper.
The Academic Enhancement Center and the Owl at Purdue website also provide APA formatting aid.
The paper must have headings, while you will have the main headings (History, Current, Solutions, Conclusion), subheadings should also be used to help with organization and flow.
See the Owl at Purdue for APA heading instructions.
Do not write the paper from a first person or subjective standpoint.
This paper is to be an objective report.
Quotations are allowed, but cannot make up more than 10% of the text.
Block quotes (quotes that are 40 words or more) are not allowed.
You must have 25 appropriate sources.
You will be required to be utilize the sources from the annotated bibliography, they will count towards your 25.
Additional sources are allowed if you feel that they will add to the paper and they are acceptable.
Acceptable sources include peer-reviewed articles, government reports, organizational reports, court decisions, codified law, books, and newspaper or magazine articles.
At least 15 of your sources must be peer-reviewed journal articles.
The goal is to primarily use high-quality sources for the bulk of your proposal and eventually the bulk of your Capstone (see the ranking of sources under the Writing Aids Module).
Keep in mind that there is a difference between government and organizational reports and government and organizational webpages, reports are allowed, while general webpages are not.
While you may use books to help provide information, you cannot use more than 5, and they cannot make up the bulk of your citations (i.e. cannot have multiple pages of information that was only derived from a textbook(s)).
You may use news or magazine articles if they help to highlight the current state of the problem (or how it is portrayed to the public), but you cannot use more than 5.
Unacceptable sources include, but are not limited to, encyclopedias, videos, movies, documentaries, television shows, lecture, Wikipedia, Biography.org, About.com, Yahoo, Google, Murderpedia, Blogs, CrimeMuseum.org, unverified webpages, etc.
Keep in mind that is it impossible to list all types of unacceptable sources. Therefore, if you are unsure if a source is acceptable, email it to me.
When attempting to figure out the validity of a source the best thing to do is see who or what is responsible for that source.
If it is a book, who wrote it, what are their qualifications?
If it is a webpage, look at the About section, who created and maintains that webpage?
Is it a college, an organization, a government department, a magazine or newspaper? Or is a person or group that you cannot verify?
