Stages of Decomposition

CJ322/ANTH322 FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY: GUIDE TO RESEARCH PAPERS INTRODUCTION This handout serves as a guide to successfully plan, organize, and write your term paper for Criminal Justice/Anthropology 322. I encourage you to also seek help from the writing center (http://www.wou.edu/las/humanities/writingctr/), especially if you have a history of being penalized for such errors in previous essays or papers. Other resources include The Practical Stylist by Sheridan Baker, The Elements of Style By Strunk and White, and Writer’s Choice by Nothey and Procter. CHOOSING A TOPIC You may select any topic for your term paper provided that it has something to do with forensic anthropology. I encourage you to discuss your topic with me early in the term. Please submit a thesis/objective statement to me by the end of Week 3. I would also be happy to review a completed outline provided that it is submitted prior to week 6. Completion of this outline will help you formulate your thoughts early. Once you’ve chosen your general topic area, list the important or most interesting aspects of this topic (from class lecture, readings, other classes, films or popular media, or discussions you’ve had). This should help narrow your focus and determine a central idea or research question you’d like to examine. Your topic should be something that is of interest to you or relates to your area of study as much as possible. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need help finding or narrowing your topic. RESEARCH After your topic is chosen and you’ve narrowed it down to a central idea/thesis statement your next step will be a visit to a library. Be selective in your use of literature since you will be evaluated in part on the authority and dependability of your sources. There is a lot of information out there on forensic anthropology that is neither authoritative nor objective. Use primary resources whenever possible. Primary sources include books published by academic presses and journals, e.g. American Journal of Physical Anthropology or Journal of Forensic Sciences. Secondary resources are those that refer to or quote from an original work; you should track down the original work or primary source in these cases. An example of a secondary source is an article in the Oregonian or Newsweek reporting on a study from the original journal. As you read the literature, read it with a critical eye. This means being aware and reporting the limitations if they exist. WRITING Format your paper accordingly: title page, body of paper (including an introduction, body, and conclusion), and list of references. The title page includes the title, your name, the course number and name and date. Please do not use colored paper, decorative borders, or illustrations in your title page. Your introduction should direct the reader to the purpose of your paper. Avoid introductions that present background information before the purpose of the paper is identified. With regard to the body of your paper, group related ideas together and use a clear pattern of organization. Patterns of organization may vary, but include moving from least important to most important, smallest to greatest, oldest to newest, particular to general, etc. Your conclusion does not have to summarize your entire paper but should reinforce your general argument. Avoid needlessly repeating yourself or introducing new information in your conclusion. If your paper does not meet the suggested length (at least 7 pages total), it may not demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the material or the ability to build an argument. Add another section or more supporting evidence. Avoid plagiarism or any misunderstandings by following proper rules regarding punctuation and citing and quoting sources. Inadequate credit given to your sources constitutes plagiarism. Always cite direct quotes, paraphrases of statements made by others, and opinions or theories that are not your own. Direct quotes should be enclosed in quotation marks. Use direct quotes sparingly to support your ideas. Only use a quote if it expresses an important idea more clearly, concisely or eloquently than you can express it yourself. Your summary of an author’s work should demonstrate an understanding of it. Many students assume that they can put a passage in their paper without referencing it if they simply substitute words or rearrange sentence structure; this still constitutes plagiarism. Information taken from a book should be referenced by page location. If the entire book is used as a source then page numbers are not necessary. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if the reader is able to find the information easily without the page number. Your paper will contain citations within the body of your text and a list of cited references at the end of your paper. Don’t include all the works you have read, just the ones used in writing your paper. Citations in the body of text should be placed in parentheses with the author’s name and year of publication, e.g. (Weitzel 2005). If using direct quotes cite page numbers, e.g. (Weitzel 2005:400–408). Your list of references cited (i.e. the bibliography) should be included at the end of the paper. References are listed in alphabetical order by last name. Two or more works by the same author should be listed in chronological order from oldest to most recent. Although “et al.” is used in the text, it should not be used in the bibliography. Names of all authors should be listed. Submit assignments using the writing style of the discipline of anthropology or criminal justice. For anthropology guidelines refer to the American Anthropological Association (AAA) style guide. AAA uses The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition, 2003) and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition, 2006), http://www.aaanet.org/publications/style_guide.pdf . For criminal justice guidelines refer to the American Psychological Association (APA) style, http://www.apastyle.org/ . All written assignments must be typed and double-spaced. Use a font no smaller than Times 10 point. You may include tables, charts, maps, etc. with appropriate labels, descriptions, and citations. These can be placed within the text immediately following their corresponding text or grouped at the end of your paper. Please proofread your paper before submitting it. Excessive grammatical errors will result in a lower score on your term paper.