TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR COURSE PAPERS
Prof. William A. Joseph
Department of Political Science
Wellesley College
The following points are intended to help you in the technical preparation of your paper for my course. It is my expectation that will you read and follow these guidelines. While I do not give a separate grade for "technical merit," the manner in which your paper is presented does enter into my overall evaluation.
1. Pay attention to the specified length of the assignment. Papers that are in gross excess of the page limits will be penalized.
2. Double-space the paper. I can tell the difference between double-spacing and one-and-a-half spacing. Be sure to leave appropriate margins (1") at the top, bottom, and sides of the page. DO NOT USE A SMALL FONT.
3. Number the pages of your paper. If you don't know how to use the page numbering system of your word processing program, find out! Or just write in the page numbers.
4. If you are asked to turn in a hard copy of your paper, staple the pages together. Please do not use paper clips! It is very easy for pages to get lost or for papers to get tangled together if several papers in a pile have paper clips.
5. Proofread your paper for spelling, typos, word breaks, grammar, clarity, etc. When in doubt, look it up! If you're using a computer, learn how to use the spell check system.
6. Divide your paper into sections. This is good practice for any paper over 10 pages (maybe less!). Sections will help you keep your material organized and will help me follow your train of thought.
7. Be sure that the computer printer that you are using has adequately dark print. If you are using a college printer and the print is faint, ask the consultant to change the toner
8. Be sure to back up your work frequently and print out drafts of the paper as you go along. If you are going to claim computer problems as a reason for handing in a paper late, be sure you have a draft copy (handwritten or otherwise) of your paper or the computer disk with the paper on it to show me.
9. Use an accepted academic format for reference notes and bibliographies. I highly recommend the guidelines provided on the Hamilton College Writing Center website: http://www.hamilton.edu/writing/style/default.html. See particularly the sections on:
All of the above sites are linked in the Writing & Citing folder in our course conference. You might also want to consult Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources: A Guide for Students and/or Kate L. Turbian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
10. AVOID PLAGIARISM. Be sure that you are familiar with and understand College expectations and rules concerning the proper use of sources; for further information, see the Wellesley College Articles of Government, Book II, ARTICLE XII. VIOLATION OF ACADEMIC PRINCIPLE. The Wellesley College General Judiciary Handbook also has an extensive explanation of source acknowledgment and plagiarism. Please pay particular attention to proper versus improper paraphrasing of material that you consult--even when you cite the source. It is my policy first to discuss a suspected violation of the academic provisions of the Honor Code with the student and then, if I still believe a violation has occurred, to refer the matter to General Judiciary. I also reserve the right to ask for notes, drafts, or disks to be submitted as part of any assignment (so be sure to keep those materials even after you have handed in the paper) and to make use of plagiarism detection programs such as Turnitin.com if necessary.
Rev. 02/09