Order Description
Choose a topic that interests you or is relevant to your work. Prepare a 3,000 word double-spaced paper (including abstract, references, figures and tables; don’t bother with a table of contents) in 12-point font. Use the American Psychological Association (APA) format. Your paper should summarize an issue, characterize the scientific/technical information and knowledge gaps, indicate how the information is being applied, and suggest how you think the issue should be resolved. In an effort to foster real-world application, you may wish to develop a scientifically justified environmental position paper, directed at, for example, a congressional committee, a senior administration official, an NGO executive director or a company CEO.
I posted topics from all of my prior students and some of their papers as examples in “Content” ? “Course resources” ? “Research paper: prior topics & examples.” These may help in developing your own topic and paper. Feel free to write on one of these topics or to come up with a new one. You may note that the earlier papers do not fully follow APA guidelines. Some are longer than the 3,000 assignment. Times change. The assignment has evolved. Good writing is so important in this field, as in many others. It often takes more thought to express ideas with clarity and brevity. A quote attributed to French philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal comes to mind: “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”