Guidelines

Your name should appear on a separate title page and nowhere else on the paper.

Hardcopy submissions must be stapled. Seriously. I will take off points for failure to do so.

Papers must be double-spaced.

Do not place your papers in folders or report covers or use special paper.

Page maximums provide an explicit maximum length for the main body of the paper. Generally speaking, to properly and thoroughly cover the assignment you should be writing at least 75% of the maximum length. Title page and bibliography do not count towards the paper length.

Papers should use MLA, Chicago, or APA format to cite appropriate references in text and in a Works Cited page. That is, I really want to see your references in the form (Greene 2012) in text. Do not site long, temporary URL's in the works cited page.

Plagiarism will not be tolerated

View NCSU's plagiarism Policy

You must submit an electronic copy as well to the class Moodle page.  The hardcopy will be your graded submission, but the electronic copy is also required for records purposes and to discourage plagiarism.

Before Turning In Your Paper...

The following is a list of items that you should really think about in order to get the best possible grade on your paper. Please leave yourself adequate time after completing an initial draft of your paper so that you can go back and address these issues as needed. A written assignment is a very important reflection of your ability and how you approach academic work and you should plan your time accordingly.

Proofread! Read your whole paper. Make sure there are no typographical errors, extra words, etc.

Read for grammar, flow, etc. Read the paper aloud to yourself. Does what you are writing sound funny/awkward to you? If so, it will sound even worse to someone else.

Read for organization. Does your paper follow a logical flow? Is it clear why you are moving from one topic to the next? Consider using sub-headings to guide the organization.

Use the present tense and active voice (first person is fine!)

Look for excessively long paragraphs. Each paragraph should deal with a single main idea. Overly long paragraphs are a sign of poor organization.  Sections and headings, where appropriate, help the reader understand what you are trying to communicate.

Are your word choices appropriate? Do not use a particular word if you are at all unsure of the meaning it conveys. I am not impressed by attempts at a sophisticated vocabulary that fall short.

Avoid common traps, e.g., "I believe" "It is obvious that" "It is important to" "This proves" etc., to establish your "expertise" rather than make a meaningful point.

Have you appropriately answered all the questions in the assignment?! Also consider if you have included extraneous-- thus distracting-- material that does not actually address the assignment.

Have you taken the opportunities to directly apply course material where it is relevant to what you are discussing?

Do your conclusions make sense based upon the information you have supplied? Where appropriate, are your conclusions supported by appropriate research and have you correctly cited the research?

Do you really have enough references that bear directly upon the questions in the assignment and have you used them appropriately?

Make Sure You Have Read All The Guidelines

AI Policy

You may use AI tools as research assistants and writing aids—to find sources (verify them independently), improve clarity, brainstorm ideas, or organize notes. However, AI cannot substitute for your own critical thinking and analysis. The core principle: when you submit work with your name on it, the ideas, arguments, and analysis should be genuinely yours. Using AI to generate your arguments or write substantial portions undermines the purpose of your education—developing your ability to think critically about political science and communicate effectively. Think of AI like a research librarian: helpful for finding materials and refining your work, but the intellectual labor of understanding, analyzing, and arguing must be your own. If unsure about your AI use, ask: "Am I still doing the thinking, or is the AI doing it for me?" You are building skills that will serve you long after this course ends.

Furthermore, the capacity for AI to write really nice sentences about American Public Policy means my grading will place great emphasis on the things which AI cannot do well and reflect your engagement in this course. While AI can write coherently on all sorts of aspects of Public Policy and political science, it has quite clearly not been a student in this class and I will therefore be placing great emphasis on your ability to demonstrate you have learned concepts particular to/emphasized within this particular class. 

If you do use AI assistance in the writing of your assignment, I would like you to indicate so, the tool, and the nature of the assistance within you references.  E.g., "ChatGPT: I used ChatGPT to read over my paper and improve the overall writing style.  I asked it to help me create a basic organization structure for this assignment."