CJS 447, Senior Seminar
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING AND SUBMITTING THE SENIOR SYNTHESIS PAPER
STYLE GUIDE AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING YOUR SENIOR SYNTHESIS PAPER
The rules are necessary to follow to produce a qualitly senior synthesis paper. The senior synthesis student is responsible for the accurate preparation of copy, including typing, organization, end note form, etc. You should not expect your professor to copy-read the final paper for errors. You are completely responsible for the legitimacy of your paper, its structure, format and final product. MLA assistance can be found by clicking on this link or typing this address into your browser: http://cctc.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml You may have to "mouse around" a bit to find assistance on the topic of your need or concern.There are also helpful links on the main syllabus of this course.
Throughout your efforts on this paper, please remember that this is a synthesis paper and not the typical term paper, historical analysis paper, application paper or an evaluation paper. A paper which offers a descriptive overview or review of a topic does not qualify as a synthesis paper. Synthesis papers go beyond analysis, and exceed mere description, and move forward to synthesis.This paper requires synthesis and this view of synthesis is based on Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. To put this synthesis in perspective, you might need to click on this link. If you are having some difficulty in understanding the concept of a synthesis paper, try this link for a refresher or other assistance.
APPROVAL
Before proceeding with your work, you must obtain approval from your
professor on the topic, style and format of your senior synthesis criminal
justice studies paper.
PAPER CONCERNS
Size: 8.5" x 11"
Weight: 20 lb. (white)
FONT STYLES
Courier 10 cpi, Times New Roman 12. Do NOT use exotic fonts (e.g., slanted, square, or script type). If you are doubtful about the type of font to use, please consult an MLA HANDBOOK and/or bring a sample of the font's style and size to class for approval before typing or printing the final copy. The font style must be uniform throughout the senior synthesis paper, except in the appendix if tables and/or charts are used.
MARGINS
Top, bottom, left and right-hand side of page should have a 1 inch border. Please consult the MLA HANDBOOK. See, "the format of a research paper."
Illustrations, graphs and tables must not extend beyond these margins.
SPACING
DOUBLE-SPACE between headings and text AND DOUBLE SPACE the text throughout. The MLA style requires double spacing including all quotations and the WORKS CITED page.
QUOTATIONS
Quotations that constitute fewer than five lines in your paper should be set off with quotation marks [ " " ] and be incorporated within the normal flow of your text. For material exceeding that length, omit the quotation marks and block indent the quoted language one inch from your left-hand margin. If an indented quotation is taken entirely from one paragraph, the first line should be even with all the other lines in that quotation; however, if an indented quotation comes from two or more paragraphs, indent the first line of each paragraph an additional one-quarter inch.
PAGINATION and NUMBERING
Every page in the senior synthesis paper after the title page must be assigned a page number. Please use lower case Roman numerals for the Preface page, Table of Contents page, List of Figures page, List of Illustrations page and List of Table page; Arabic numerals must run consecutively with no missing numbers for the substantive part of the paper. Traditionally, the first page of the paper body is considered to be the first page but is not normally given the numeral "1" on the page. If you cannot get your software to omit the first number and it prints a number on the first page, that will be acceptable. The use of 12a, 12b, etc. is NOT permitted. Consult MLA HANDBOOK. See "page numbers" in using last name.
FRONT MATTER
See the exhibit in the Appendix. You should follow this illustration exactly.
The following is a list of the order in which the "front matter" should appear in your senior synthesis paper for Criminal Justice Studies:
1. Title Page
2 Signature Approval Page
3. Preface (This will be a reprint of your abstract.)
4. Table of Contents
5. List of Figures (if any)
6. List of Illustrations (if any)
7. List of Tables (if any)
ILLUSTRATIONS
All illustrations (drawings, charts, graphs, etc.) must fit inside the regular margins of the page.
Each illustration should be labeled as "Fig. 1," "Fig. 2" and so on, consecutively through the senior synthesis paper; and if more than a few illustrations are used, a table of illustrations should follow the table of contents.
TABLES
Tables are of two kinds: text tables (small tables inserted in the body of the text) and formal tables (larger tables requiring a whole page or most of the page). Text tables need not be labeled, but formal tables must, as "Table 1", and so on, consecutively through the paper. Tables must also be titled. If more than a few tables appear in your work, a list of tables should follow the table of contents. Tables in a senior synthesis paper should communicate something to the reader; they should not be inserted unless they are referred to and interpreted in the body of your text, and thus form an important part of the exposition of information.
WORKS CITED RATHER THAN FOOTNOTES
As a general rule, for this paper, we will use parenthetical documentation with a Works Cited page as per the MLA style. Please consult the MLA HANDBOOK and see the clickable link on the course web site to the community college. If you feel you must use MLA stylefootnotes, see the instructor. For assistance in constructing each entry in the Works Cited page, consult:
http://cctc.commnet.edu/mla/preparing.shtml
APPENDICES
Appendices may be used to present detailed information whose inclusion in the text of the paper would unnecessarily obstruct clear presentation of argument. An appendix should be labeled, and each appendix should be independent of others. Ordinarily an appendix should not have footnotes (documentation should be inserted in the body of your text).
BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND/OR THE WORKS CITED PAGE
The title "Bibliography" usually implies a list of references consulted or, more formally, a reasonable complete list of works on the subject considered in the senior synthesis paper. If you wish to emphasize that the list of references includes only those actually cited in the paper, the list may be called "Works Cited." Please consult a MLA HANDBOOK OR http://cctc.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml Ordinarily scholarly ethics requires that you should not list works which you have not actually consulted. It is unwise to do so in any case, because you are expected to be familiar with your bibliography.
TYPING/PRINTING
For the title page, please consult Exhibit A. You should adjust your given word processing software so you could type the information required in a proper format.
When in doubt, please consult a recent MLA HANDBOOK for writing style, manuscript preparation, documentation, etc.
Suggested source: Joseph Gibaldi.MLA HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS OF RESEARCH PAPERS. latest ed. The Modern Language Association of America.
EXHIBIT A
(Sample Title Page)( DO NOT PRINT THIS HEAD MATERIAL IN YOUR FINAL PAPER!)
THE SYNTHESIS OF OSAMA BIN LADEN'S LIBERAL LEFT PHILOSOPHY WITH
THE PHIOSOPHY OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT AND BARAK OBAMA IN FORMULATING
A POSITIVE TERRORIST POLICY FOR DAYTON, OHIO
A senior synthesis paper submitted to the University of Dayton's Criminal Justice Studies Program
within the College of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment for the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree.
by:
Jacob Levi Mohammed, Jr.
April, 2009
EXHIBIT B
(Sample Signature Approval Page - following title page)
( DO NOT PRINT THIS HEAD MATERIAL IN YOUR FINAL PAPER!)
A senior synthesis paper written by:
Jacob Levi Mohammed
B.A., The University of Dayton, 2009
Approved by
___________________________________,
Jefferson Ingram, J.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
for the Criminal Justice Studies Program
of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work.
EXHIBIT C: do not print this top of the page material in your paper.
(Sample of Table of Contents - following Preface page)
Table of Contents
Section Page
Approval Page.............................................................................................................................................i
Preface.......................................................................................................................................................ii
Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................................iii
List of Figures............................................................................................................................................iv
List of Illustrations......................................................................................................................................v
List of Tables............................................................................................................................................vi
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................1
Title or Content Heading............................................................................................................................2
1. Sub-title or Sub-heading........................................................................................................................4
2. Sub-title or Sub-heading........................................................................................................................5
Next Title or Content Heading...................................................................................................................7
Next Title or Content Heading...................................................................................................................9
Next Title or Content Heading.................................................................................................................10
1. Sub-title or Sub-heading (if applies).....................................................................................................11
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................................15
Works Cited...........................................................................................................................................16
Bibliography (if used)...............................................................................................................................17