Biology Question

Part III – Forensic Biology Research Paper

Research Paper Required Sections:

• A title page with the title of your approved research paper topic, the name of the class, the date of submission, and your name.
• An introduction where you provide a brief overview of what the paper is about and why it relates to the work of forensic investigators.
• A brief history of how your topic became one of the disciplines whose principles are applied by forensic science professionals.
• An explanation of the science behind your topic choice. How does it work and what are the areas that it affects? How are its findings used by members of the criminal justice system?
• Two real-world examples that showcase the current state of the art in your topic area.
• Conclusion
• A separate page with at least ten (10) references to reliable information sources, of which three (3) must be peer-reviewed scholarly articles. References should be in APA format, with functioning URLs (links).

Research Paper Format:

• Paper length: 1000-1250 words, double-spaced. Neither the title page nor the list of references counts toward the total word count.
• Margins: 1 inch.
• Font: Times New Roman or Calibri, font size 12. Use black text and white background.

Research Paper Content:

Your paper should reflect a depth of knowledge of the subject matter. The assigned reading in the course is designed to provide foundational information in forensic biology. In this research project, you should build on that foundation and find 10 references as your sources of information to write your paper. Specific content from each of the cited sources should be evident, and you should use at least one in-text citation per source cited.

Please consult the grading rubric at the end of the research paper section for all the parameters that apply to your paper, including clarity, accuracy, and relevancy of content, proper use of the English language, and properly cited and reliable information sources.

Note that your assignment should be fully paraphrased in your own words, in your own style of writing and structure. Avoid just changing a few words in a sentence copied from an information source because it is not considered proper paraphrasing of material written by another person.

If you are quoting the words of another person directly, quotation marks need to be added before and after the copied text, followed by an in-text citation.  A general rule of thumb is no more than 10% direct quotes in an assignment.

Here are some resources if you need help with paraphrasing:

UMGC OAIA (2021) Paraphrasing content in your own words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH4YG4wb49c

UMGC library (n.a.) What is Paraphrasing? https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/online-guide-to-writing/tutorial/chapter5/ch5-10

Walden University (2020) Effective Paraphrasing Strategies. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/evidence/paraphrase/effective 

QUT Library (2013) How to Paraphrase. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObGEcok06U&t=8s

Helpful information from the UMGC library about how to use direct quotes: https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/writing-resources/grammar-help/quotation-marks

Your paper will be scanned by Turnitin when you submit it to the assignment folder. Carefully review the Turnitin report. This may include the need for better paraphrasing the information in your own words and/or the addition of quotation marks and in-text citations for any direct quotes. Resubmit your paper before the submission deadline. It is recommended that you submit the final paper, or an almost complete draft at least 12 hours before the paper is due to get the initial Turnitin report.

Helpful information from the UMGC library about how to view and use the Turnitin report to improve your writing: https://libguides.umgc.edu/turnitin-students

UMGC’s Writing and Citing Portal is a great starting point for many useful resources: https://libguides.umgc.edu/gethelp/writing-citing

The UMGC Effective Writing Center is another excellent resource: https://www.umgc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center

To schedule a time with a writing tutor, go to the Academic Support tab in the LEO classroom, and choose Tutoring. UMGC students get 4 hours of free tutoring every month (across all courses).

Submission to Assignment Folder and Discussion Topic

Submit your final version of the research paper to this Part III Forensic Biology Research Paper assignment folder located in the week 7 module and as a main response to the Part IV - Research Project Presentation and Critique discussion topic (located in the week 7 and 8 modules- takes you to the same place) by the due date listed in the syllabus.

After you submit your paper to this assignment folder, please remember to check the Turnitin report (which will take a few minutes to generate), and if needed, revise, and resubmit before the submission deadline.

Please copy and paste your paper into the main response in the discussion topic, rather than attaching it as a Word document. This makes it faster for the other students to access it. You can also attach the Word document if there are formatting issues when copying and pasting.

Content

100 points

Content presented is relevant, accurate, up to date, well organized and well written in the student’s own words.   Specific information from each of the cited sources is evident, with at least one in-text citation per source in the reference list.

90-100 points 

75 points

Content presented is mostly relevant, accurate, up to date, well organized and well written in the student’s own words, and/or specific information from most of the cited sources is evident but may be missing from a few, may be missing a few in-text citations.   

75-89 points 

74 points

Several issues with relevancy, accuracy, organization and writing, may use too many direct quotes, and/or minimal specific information from several of the cited sources, and/or missing many in-text citations.

50-74 points 

25 points

Major issues with relevancy, accuracy, organization and writing, may use too many direct quotes, and/or no specific information from the cited sources, and/or no in-text citations.   

0-49 points 

Score of Content,

Mechanics

15 points

Very few errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence and paragraph structure, and grammar. 

14-15 points

13 points

Occasional errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence and paragraph structure, and grammar, but meaning is not obscured. 

11-13 points

10 points

Frequent errors of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence and paragraph structure, and grammar; meaning at times confused or obscured. 

6-10 points

5 points

Dominated by errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence and paragraph structure, and grammar, meaning at times unidentifiable. 

0-5 points

Score of Mechanics,

Format

10 points

All format requirements are met. 

9-10 points

8 points

Format requirements are mostly met, a few minor issues.

6-8 points

5 points

Several format requirements are not met. 

3-5 points

0 points

Most format requirements are not met.  

0 points

Score of Format,

References

15 points

All references listed at the end, in-text references are included, all references in correct APA format with functioning URLs (links) . At least 10 references are included, and at least 3 of them are peer-reviewed scholarly articles.

14-15 points

13 points

Missing one or two references, and/or minor problems with APA format, and/or a few missing functional links, and/or missing a few in-text citations. 

11-13 points 

10 points

Missing three or more references, missing in-text citations, and/or references not in APA format, and/or no peer-reviewed scholarly articles cited. 

1-10 points 

0 points

No references included. 

0 points 

Score of References,