Notice: Written papers are due the day you are presenting. There will be an increasing deduction of points after that date. You are expected to do the presentation —NO EXCUSES— the day you have been scheduled to do so. A missing presentation will suffer a full one-letter grade penalty. That means that it will have a -10 deduction right away. The deduction of points won't stop there. For each class-meeting the paper is due it will lose five additional points. I won't accept overdue papers after the fourth class to the one your were expected to do the presentation. Don't forget that a paper handed over at that point already has a penalty of -25 points. This is a non negotiable rule and I won't accept any bargaining. Late papers must be given to me in person to avoid additional problems. 

Don't forget that I want two copies of your paper. One for my record, the other is the one you will get back with my comments and the mark for your work. Don't e-mail me papers since I won't accept them. 

Paper handed over the next class after the scheduled date: -10 points from 100 

Paper handed over two classes late: -15 points from 100 

Paper handed over three classes late: -20 points from 100 

Paper handed over four classes late: -25 points from 100 

You don't need "magical skills" to write a good paper. What do you need is academic commitment and intellectual interest.

Essays and academic papers are best written during the daytime hours, at least a few days before they are due. Anyone can write a good paper if they do the work and follow some simple guidelines that apply to all academic writing.

Research Work

In order to answer the question you must undertake some library and bibliographical research. You need to locate published works related to your question (besides the ones that I have mentioned). You can start at Hunter Library. There are plenty of academic sources available. My suggestion is to start by examining the academic publications, specially the ones on Puerto Ricans in the United States that you can find at the Centro Library (third floor main library). In addition, you can locate published articles and books by using search engines available on-line at CUNY main library. When you get a reference to a journal article, you will have to check whether Hunter Library has the journal. You can do this by looking up the journal name on CUNY+ (DPAC), also available from the CUNY main library website. 

In addition, you can use some electronic resources available at CUNY to locate relevant academic sources. I have some links in the page called "resources" to Hunter Electronic Journals, and to CUNY-Licensed Resources where you can use the World Catalogue and ESBCO to find information for your research.

All research materials used to prepare the paper (copies of articles, books and personal research notes, etc.) have to be kept in case there is a problem with your paper. You are responsible to preserve the "record" of your research work.

YOU NEED A MINIMUM OF THREE ACADEMIC SOURCES FOR YOUR PAPER (However, for a well focused and solid academic research I will recommend that you use —at least— 5 academic sources). Not all published works are considered academic sources. Dissertations, most books and chapters that appear in edited books, articles published in academic journals, and some works published on the Internet belong to this category. Newspaper and magazine articles are not academic sources. You can use some of those nonacademic publications as complementary material in combination with at least three academic sources.

Internet Sources: Before using any Internet source for your paper you need to consult with the instructor. NOT MANY WEB MATERIALS ARE ACADEMIC SOURCES. In addition, you cannot use more than one academic source from the Internet, and only after consulting with the instructor.

Paper-presentation 

The oral presentation will show the results of the research done by you to answer the selected question. The class presentation is not just a summary. A good presentation is one that focuses on the "research question" —that has been given to you— and one that communicates clearly to the public what is the focal point of whatever you are presenting. 

Writing

In general, the best writing is simple and direct. Writing that is simple and direct is most easily understood. If your purpose is to be understood, my suggestion is to adopt a style that is simple and direct. 

Use at least three different academic sources. Papers must focus on the research question clearly outlined in the first paragraph. Evidence and analysis follow. Do not simply describe your sources, but offer an argument that you then document by referring to your evidence (the works that you have read). You need to insert clear references/citations within your narrative. I won't accept papers without explicit citations of the sources used.

Steps to follow for a good paper: 

First step: Read the textbook first and then gather additional information to answer the research question. 

Second step: Read the material that you have gathered and take notes. Prepare an outline of what you have read. 

Third step: Write a first draft using your notes. (Please keep all your notes and research materials until I return your paper) 

Fourth step: Read , correct, edit, and rewrite the draft. 

Fifth step: Write a final version of the paper. 

Sixth step: Type it following my instructions regarding the format of the paper. 

Seventh step: Make 2 copies of the paper. (I want 2 copies of the paper) 

The written paper should be your original creation based on your own work and the sources that you have gathered seeking information to answer the question. It should be analytical, and not a summary. Also, please refrain from copying literally from the authors' text (unless you are quoting following standard academic rules). This is plagiarism, and it won't get you a good grade on your paper. 

Plagiarism

Using someone else's ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as your own, either on purpose or through carelessness, is a serious offense known as plagiarism. It will ensure your paper is returned with a big F. Everything you write must be in your own words, unless in quotation marks with clear references to author, date of publication and page number. 

Quotations

Should be used sparingly. (The shorter your paper, the more sparingly quotations should be used!) As a general rule, there are only two situations in which direct quotations are appropriate: (1) When the wording of the original quotation is so good that to paraphrase it in any way would simply not do it justice and (2) when the quotation is of such importance that it serves as a form of documentation, with regard to whatever point is being made. 

All direct and literal quotations from books, essays, and sources MUST BE within “quotation marks” including the number of the page from where it has been taken. For example:

“While all Puerto Ricans suffer from different degrees of racialization and exclusion as second-class citizens in the United States, subordinated social groups in Puerto Rico suffer from a double coloniality of power (Grosfoguel, 1998: 23).”

Don't forget, if you need to quote from the original text follow standard academic procedures (use quotation marks and indicate the page number). Also, no more than two short quotations per page are allowed. At the end of the paper include a section titled: References. There, using any academic style system, include the full bibliographic reference. 

Citations/references

Many students get confused with the meaning of "citations" and "references" explicitly acknowledging sources and inserted in the body of the paper. Let's be clear, a citation is not a quotation. You are not literally copying from the author's original work but you are informing the reader that the ideas, facts, statements that you are discussing in the paper come from this (those) source(s). This is an example of two citations inserted within the text:

References/citations within the text should be indicated by the use of the author's surname and date of publication in brackets, as in (Mintz, 1974). Then in the bibliography (works cited) list it: 

References/ Works Cited (bibliography)

This is a model –used by most social science journals– on how to prepare a list of references/works cited.

For books:

Kornblum, William (2001). Sociology: The Central Questions, New York: Harcourt Brace.(Author, date of publication, title, city of publication, then publisher)

For dissertations: Same as books, with the exception of name of the publisher, in that case should be the name of the University where the thesis was presented.

For journal articles:

Featherstone, Michael (2000). "Archiving cultures", British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 51, Num. 2: 161-84 . (author, date of publication, article title, journal title, volume, issue, page numbers) 

For book chapters:

Weber, Max (1986). "Major features of world religions", in Robertson, R. (ed) Sociology of Religion. Harmondsworth: Penguin. (Author, date of publication,, chapter title, editor, book title, city of publication, publisher) 

For Internet sources:

Urry, John (2001). 'Time, Complexity and the Global', published by the Department of Sociology, Lancaster University at: http://www.comp.lancaster.ac.uk/sociology/soc057ju.html (author, date of publication, title, publisher, URL the place where is located in the web)

IMPORTANT: You need to arrange the list of sources (works cited) in alphabetical order (using the author's surname).

Format of the paper

No plastic binders. No folders. Simply staple your work at the top left corner. 

Paper: White, twenty-pound, 81/2- by 11-inch paper. 

Margins: Except for page numbers (see below), leave one-inch margins all around the text of your paper -- left side, right side, top and bottom. Paragraphs should be indented half an inch; set-off quotations should be indented an inch from the left margin (five spaces and ten spaces, respectively, on standard typewriters). 

Spacing: The text of the paper must be double-spaced, excluding indented quotations that should be single-spaced. Each page of the paper should have at least 24 lines of text.

Font size: point-12 (standard font in most word processing programs)  DON'T USE 14 or 16 size font.

Heading and Title: At the top of the presentation page, at the left-hand margin, type your name, (and Soc. Sec. #) the course name, and section number. Then double-space again (at least, twice) and center the title of your paper. Don't write any additional text on this page. You should start the essay-paper in a new page that you will number # 1.

Length: Papers should be between 7 and 10 pages (2000-3500 words) of double space text excluding references/bibliography. The page for references at the end of the paper, and the presentation page with your name and basic information don't count as "text". Each page containing text should have 24-26 full lines of text. If you need to exceed the number of pages (more than ten) that is OK. What you cannot do is to hand over a paper with less than 2000 words of written text.

Citations/References: Only works that are used in the paper and clearly cited as references to support your ideas. Don't include in the references/bibliography any title that you don't cite or quote in the body of the paper. Points will be deducted if you do that since you are trying to "inflate" your sources without showing that you really read those works.

Quotation Marks: All direct and literal reproductions of cited works must be in “quotation marks”.

Page Numbers: Number your pages consecutively throughout the manuscript on the upper right-hand corner of each page, or in the center of the page. 

Most word processing programs provide for a "running head," which you can set up as you create the format for the presentation, at the same time you are establishing things like the one-inch margins and the double-spacing. 

If you need more information on how to write a paper I recommend you to visit: Guide for Writing Research Papers

Grading

Clarity, coherence, consistency, and the underlying logic of your written work are essential elements to be considered in the grading process. Points will be deducted if your paper lacks such essential elements. 

Papers are graded according to their quality and academic excellency. The better your work the higher would be your grade. 

A grades reflect excellent, original papers, clever in answering the research question, meticulous in support, that show all the following:

• Outstanding work of research, flawless and superbly written
•clear strong original ideas and focus on the research question
•appropriate support and evidence (good academic citations and references inserted in the text)
•explicit, systematic, logical argumentation with a coherent paper structure (introduction, main body, conclusion)
•overall excellent work (see the two examples of papers that have earned A's in the past)

YOU NEED ACROBAT READER (PAPERS ARE IN PDF FORMAT)

PAPER ON PUERTO RICAN SLAVERY

PAPER ON MEXICAN MIGRATION

B grades reflect work that does not achieve the excellence of A work through some of the following:                   

•question and written text not well aligned
•unoriginal and limited argumentation 
•rough handling of quotes/citations and references (including inflation of sources)
•slim support of main arguments (paper still needs more research)
•overall good work, but not excellent according to the stated criteria (read above)

C grades reflect work that does not achieve the excellence of A work through some of the following:

•problems with references/sources (not explicitly acknowledging sources)
•imprecise ideas and problems related to coherence and consistency
•too much summary and very little analysis
•unnecessarily lengthy quotes
•loose or weak argumentation
•references of questionable support (trying to deceive the instructor by serious inflation of sources)
•slight contradictions in the argumentation
•overall average work 

The lowest grade you can get is a D (except for papers that are given to me late. Those may get an F depending of the total deduction of points and, of course, papers suspected of plagiarism). 

D grades reflect work that does not achieve the minimum standard of acceptable academic work because some of the following:
•no clear focus, serious flaws, incoherent ideas, and unsound arguments
•far too short (less than 1600 words of written text)
•far too little support of your ideas (Two citations or less)
•repetitious argumentation or imprecise language
•not addressing the specific question at all
•major contradictions that undermine the validity of the work
•overall poor work with severe shortcomings in specific aspects

WHAT IS AN EXCELLENT RESEARCH PAPER?

Even if I have written clear guidelines about the format, content, and scope of the paper, many students (in the Spring 2002) handed over papers that did not achieve the degree of academic excellency needed to earn an A.

In addition students did come to me asking why they did not earn a higher grade.

I think I am pretty clear regarding grading criteria in the paper guidelines. However, some students don't "bother" to read this essential document and they make a serious mistake.

To be even more specific I have selected two papers that did earn a full A to show what you need to accomplish to earn a full A in the research paper.

The first paper is about slavery in Puerto Rico; (presented in BLPR 243) the other is about Mexican migration to the US, (presented in BLPR 102).

YOU NEED ACROBAT READER (PAPERS ARE IN PDF FORMAT)

PAPER ON PUERTO RICAN SLAVERY

PAPER ON MEXICAN MIGRATION

I will recommend you to read the papers to get an "obvious" example of what an excellent/outstanding paper should be. I cannot be more precise and if you are still having doubts, then you may need to reconsider many things in this class.