Order Number 45471455714
Type of Paper
Essay Writer Classification Level
Undergraduate
Style of Writing
MLA/APA/CHICAGO/
Sources and References 5
Number of Pages
4
Paper Instructions
Research Paper Instructions—Ethics
You are required to write a 5-7 page research paper for this course. The paper will be an argumentative paper
over a topic you pick from the list of approved topics (you will find the list of approved topics further in the
paper instructions.) The breakdown of your paper should be the following:
• A thesis statement stating what you will argue
• At least 2 arguments that support your thesis
• 1 argument that counters your thesis
• Use at least 1 ethical theory (utilitarianism, duty, virtue) to support your thesis
• A conclusion
Approved Topics
You may pick from the following topics:
1. Environment
2. Free Speech
3. Immigration
Argumentative-What is an argument? In academic writing, an argument is usually a main idea, often called a
“claim” or “thesis statement,” backed up with evidence that supports the idea.
Claims can be as simple as “Protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged,” with evidence
such as, “In this experiment, protons and electrons acted in such and such a way.” Claims can also be as
complex as “The end of the South African system of apartheid was inevitable,” using reasoning and evidence
such as, “Every successful revolution in the modern era has come about after the government in power has given
and then removed small concessions to the uprising group.” In either case, the rest of your paper will detail the
reasoning and evidence that have led you to believe that your position is best.
When beginning to write a paper, ask yourself, “What is my point?” (you should do this with any paper that
you write). If your papers do not have a main point, they cannot be arguing for anything. Asking yourself what
your point is can help you avoid a mere “information dump.” Consider this: your instructors probably know a
lot more than you do about your subject matter. Why, then, would you want to provide them with material
they already know? Instructors are usually looking for two things:
1. Proof that you understand the material, AND
2. A demonstration of your ability to use or apply the material in ways that go beyond what you have read
or heard.
This second part can be done in many ways: you can critique the material, apply it to something else, or even
just explain it in a different way. In order to succeed at this second step, though, you must have a particular
point to argue.
Research paper instructions phi 2600
Arguments in academic writing are usually complex and take time to develop. Your argument will need to be
more than a simple or obvious statement such as “Frank Lloyd Wright was a great architect.” Such a statement
might capture your initial impressions of Wright as you have studied him in class; however, you need to look
deeper and express specifically what caused that “greatness.” Your instructor will probably expect something
more complicated, such as “Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture combines elements of European modernism,
Asian aesthetic form, and locally found materials to create a unique new style,” or “There are many strong
similarities between Wright’s building designs and those of his mother, which suggests that he may have
borrowed some of her ideas.” To develop your argument, you would then define your terms and prove your
claim with evidence from Wright’s drawings and buildings and those of the other architects you mentioned.1
What is the purpose of a philosophy paper?
• To do philosophy! Examine, clarify, articulate and justify YOUR reasons for or against some
philosophical idea(s). For this specific assignment you will argue for or against a specific point of view
on a philosophical biomedical issue.
Does this mean that all I have to do is summarize the author’s position on the issue?
• NO! A good philosophy paper does not just provide a summary of the author’s argument, nor is it a
summary of class lecture (I am very familiar with my own work). A philosophy paper should argue in
support of or against a specific thesis with proper evidence.
If I am not just summarizing the author’s position than what should I do to write a good philosophy paper?
• Choose a topic that is interesting to you! You have been provided with a list of topics and your paper
should be on one of the topics listed below. Think about the issues and determine what would interest
you the most. (note: picking a topic because you think it is easy is not always in your best interest)
• Once you have your topic start thinking about questions that you want to solve in your paper-the big
question. For example: You have decided to write your paper on the ethical issue of using reproductive
cloning to solve the problems of in vitro fertilization. Some questions you might seek to answer: why is
it ethical to clone a human being? Why should all individuals be able to have a genetically related child
regardless of their physical ability to have that child?
• Next you will want to determine which readings are relevant to your topic. Remember that you have
access to full readings on the internet. Take detailed notes: what is the author saying? Do you
understand all the key terms the author is using (if not look them up but not in Webster’s)? What
points does the author make? What is the argument?
• Once you have taken detailed notes you should be able to state in one sentence what point the author is
making—this is the author’s conclusion.
• Next point out the author’s evidence, or the premises of the argument that allow the author to reach the
stated conclusion.
• At this point you should now have a concise outline of the author’s argument and can finally start to
look at any problems that have emerged in the argument. It is the examination of these problems that is
critical to doing philosophy. At this stage in your philosophical quest you may not fully recognize the
problems or you may fully agree with the author’s argument so you will be required to research and find
1 The Writing Center at North Carolina-www.une.edu/dept/wcweb
Research paper instructions phi 2600
outside help. (Please see the section on Research). This means that you will want to address
arguments against your thesis and why those arguments are invalid.
o Problems that you might want to consider (This list is not exhaustive)
▪ What does the author mean by certain key terms? Are the terms defined or is it assumed
the reader understands the terms? If the terms aren’t defined where does this lead the
reader?
▪ Are there unstated assumptions? Is the reader left to fill in missing information?
▪ Can you provide examples of what the author is talking about? If you can’t than you
probably don’t really understand the author’s argument.
▪ Is the author’s argument consistent with your experiences? Or is it farfetched?
▪ Is the author consistent? Or does the author jump around and change his/her
assumptions?
▪ Is the evidence provided valid?
What do I do once I have completed the above steps?
• You are now ready for the outline. The following is a list of suggestions for your outline.
o The question (this should be a statement addressing the thesis of your paper)
o The argument (how does the author make his/her argument-this can be accomplished by bullets
but you will want to include detailed statements both quotes and your own explanation of the
argument)
o Criticisms of the argument (what problems did you find with the author’s work, what criticisms
have you researched through others?)
o Your position (do you agree, disagree and what evidence supports your position?)
o Your evidence (who did you use to help you? Names, positions, why should their work be
trusted?)
If you have made it this far you are almost through!! The final step is to use your outline to “write” your paper
in an understandable way.
What if the suggested path to writing a philosophy paper doesn’t work for me?
• We all write differently and each of us has our own way of researching and understanding information,
however, keep in mind that what you are being asked to do can be accomplished in many different
ways. In the end you will need to examine, clarify, articulate, and justify no matter what path you take.
Sources:
The minimum amount of sources required is 6 scholarly works, however you may use as many as needed
to write the paper.
You may use internet sites for sources but you ARE REQUIRED to use at least use ONE book
(excluding the text book) and TWO journal articles. Note that books can be found online as well.
Wikipedia does not count as a source and should not be used in your papers!!
Research paper instructions phi 2600
Grammar:
This is a college course, you need to use proper grammar in your paper!
Most common mistakes that SHOULD NOT show up in your paper include, but are not limited to, the
following:
The correct usage of
• There/Their
• Then/Than
• Write/Right
• Past tense/present tense
• Verb agreement
• Do not use contractions.
• Do not start sentences with And or But!
YOU NEED TO PROOFREAD YOUR PAPER BEFORE YOU TURN IT IN! **Hint on proofreading—it is
always best to give your paper to someone else (friend, fellow classmate, success center, professor, parent etc)
to proofread, they are likely to catch mistakes that you may miss.
Quotations:
Do not quote excessively; it is hard to integrate numerous long quotations into your own paper.
Therefore, keep the quotes at a minimum.
Documentation/Plagiarism
• According to Council of Writing Program Administrators plagiarism is defined as, “In an instructional
setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not commonknowledge) material without acknowledging its source.” (http://www.wpacouncil.org)
You are required to document your information not only with a bibliography page but also within the
body of the paper through the use of endnotes.
ANY INFORMATION THAT IS NOT YOURS MUST HAVE A SOURCE! MEANING IF YOU
QUOTE SOMEONE IT MUST HAVE A SOURCE AND IF YOU PARAPHARASE SOMEONE IT
MUST HAVE A SOURCE. Failing to give someone credit for their work is plagiarism
INCORRECT DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AS PLAGARISM AND COULD RESULT IN
AN F FOR THE COURSE. IF YOU ARE UNSURE HOW TO DOCUMENT INFORMATION SEEK
HELP!
YOU MUST DOCUMENT YOUR INFORMATION!
For more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it see resources on the angel site
Guidelines for the appearance of your paper
You will be using Chicago style for your paper.
The paper MUST be 5-7 pages long. The title page, bibliography, end notes page, etc DO NOT count as
one of the 5-7 pages! The 5-7 pages should only include the body of the paper.
The paper must be double spaced with page numbers
Research paper instructions phi 2600
You MUST USE the following font: Times New Roman. Size 12 ONLY!
Chicago Style
The links below will give you all the information you need to correctly document your paper using Chicago
style. Please use the links and if you are still having trouble use the writing lab. You can always ask me if you
need more help
A video explaining how to use Chicago
everything you could ever need to know about how to use Chicago to document your sources in your research
paper. USE
Research
What is a Scholarly Source?
When I use the term “scholarly source”, I mean a source that is peer reviewed or published in a recognized
scholarly source, like a journal or a university publisher.
1. Is the journal published by a scholarly association or society, or a university, or a recognized scholarly
publisher? If it is not one of these, then it may not be a scholarly journal. Now, you might not know all of the
scholarly associations or publishers, so you might have to apply some other criteria…
2. Are the articles reviewed in some way? You may well find a statement in the masthead about reviewing
policy. If the articles are sent out to “peers”, or other members in a field, for anonymous review, that’s a good
indication that the journal is scholarly.
3. What are the articles like? Are they written for an academic audience, or for a popular audience? How do
they use evidence or support? Are the citations clear and abundant (in general – not every article will
necessarily be like this).
4. What if it is a book you are looking at? Well, same thing about the publishers – there are some recognized
academic publishers that regularly send work to peer reviewers before it is published. Some of these are
university presses, others (e.g., Routledge, Blackwell, Peter Lang, etc.) are not associated with universitiese t,
but are still excellent academic publishers.
5. Is a course text a scholarly source? If it is a textbook written for classroom use, probably not. It is intended as
a teaching tool. It should not be used in a paper, although you can use the references in the textbook to look in
more scholarly sources. However, sometimes professors assign classic works as classroom reading. These are
works not originally written for classroom use, and can be used in a paper. When in doubt, ask the professor.
The key in looking for a scholarly source is to identify the mechanisms used to ensure that the article is of a
high standard. Sometimes we just trust the reputation of a journal or publisher, and sometimes we actually
Research paper instructions phi 2600
look for a statement about the review process. Magazines, in general, do not have a review process, and their
material is meant for a wider audience. It may be valuable, but it is not scholarly.
Are internet sources scholarly?
Now, what about sources from the internet? These can be harder to deal with. First, the easy ones. There are
some scholarly journals that publish a web version, and in some cases they only publish a web version. The fact
that the journal is on the web should not necessarily detract from using it. The real issue is still the scholarly
process it has gone through. Most journals now provide on-line versions, and these are as reliable and
acceptable as their hard-copy equivalents.
How about reference works like Wikipedia or Encyclopedia Britannica? Let’s take Wikipedia first. A wiki is a
community-edited document, one which anyone can add to or change. That’s not exactly peer review, because
the reviewers aren’t necessarily people who have studied an area. Wikipedia might, though, give you ideas to
follow up elsewhere, and that’s fine. But I wouldn’t use it as a scholarly source. Encyclopedia Britannica: It has
a real editorial staff, and high quality articles. It is, however, a general encyclopedia, and so its purpose is to
meet the needs of a general audience, not a specialist audience. For philosophy, for instance, it is a better idea to
use either the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, or one of the two major on-line encyclopedias of
philosophy (which are, by the way, reviewed), the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
You should be quite suspicious of other works on the web. Just typing something into Google will not give you
reliable results. You might, though, look for portal pages for particular topics or issues. Sometimes academics
will make pages of the best resources on the web. These can be useful, but even many of these resources are not
likely peer reviewed, and so would probably not be up to the level required for your papers.
Many students are tempted to do all their work with web-based sources. This is a mistake. Even with a lot of
work being put on the web, there is no substitute for the library. Make sure to use it.
(http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~janzb/courses/scholarly1.htm)
Please refer to Canvas for further resources on research.
Final Draft of your paper
Title page (Name of college; the full title of your paper; course information (class, time, days); your
name and date)
Page numbers
Body of the paper (5-7 pages)
Endnotes or footnotes
Bibliography
*If your paper is lacking either an endnotes page or a bibliography page or both pages it will be returned to you
with the grade of F. You will have an opportunity to re-submit the paper with the required information within
2 days of it being returned to you, however, you will lose a full letter grade on the resubmission.
Research paper instructions phi 2600
*Please also note that papers that do not reach the required page number of at minimum 5 pages will be docked
10 points for each page the paper is short. If you turn in 3 pages you have already lost 20 points on the paper
before it is even graded.Distinguished (100%)
Proficient (85%)
Basic (70%)
Below Expectations (50%)
Non-Performance (0%)
Thesis Statement Raises the strongest objection to the thesis presented in the assignment. The objection is strongly grounded in research and logical reasoning. Raises a plausible objection to the thesis presented in the assignment. The objection is mostly grounded in research and logical reasoning.
Raises an objection to the thesis presented in the assignment. The objection is somewhat grounded in research and logical reasoning. Attempts to raise an objection to the thesis presented in the assignment. The objection is minimally grounded in research and logical reasoning.
The objection to the thesis is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions. Counter Argument Provides a strong, thorough rebuttal to the objection. The rebuttal effectively demonstrates that the thesis can withstand the objection and applies the principles of charity and accuracy.
Provides a rebuttal to the objection. The rebuttal mostly demonstrates that the thesis can withstand the objection and mostly applies the principles of charity and accuracy.
Provides a limited rebuttal to the objection. The rebuttal somewhat demonstrates that the thesis can withstand the objection and somewhat applies the principles of charity and accuracy.
Attempts to provide a rebuttal to the objection; however, the rebuttal minimally demonstrates that the thesis can withstand the objection and does not apply the principles of charity and accuracy.
The rebuttal is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions. Conclusion Provides clear and concise closing remarks that comprehensively summarize the essay. The remarks consider the broader controversy and/or further research that could offer additional insight into the moral solution of the business problem.
Provides closing remarks that summarize the essay. The remarks mostly consider the broader controversy and/or further research that could offer additional insight into the moral solution of the business problem. The closing remarks are somewhat unclear.
Provides closing remarks that minimally summarizes the essay. The remarks minimally consider the broader controversy and/or further research that could offer additional insight into the moral solution of the business problems. The closing remarks are unclear and/or vague.
Attempts to provide closing remarks that summarize the essay; however, the remarks do not consider the broader controversy and/or further research that could offer additional insight into the moral solution of the business problem. The closing remarks are unclear and vague. The closing remarks are either nonexistent or lack the components described in the assignment instructions.
Written Communication: Context of and Purpose for Writing
Demonstrates methodical application of organization and presentation of content. The purpose of the writing is evident and easy to understand. Summaries, quotes, and/or paraphrases fit naturally into the sentences and paragraphs. Paper flows smoothly.
Demonstrates sufficient application of organization and presentation of content. The purpose of the writing is, for the most part, clear and easy to understand. There are some problems with the blending of summaries, paraphrases, and quotes. Paper flows somewhat smoothly. Demonstrates a limited understanding of organization and presentation of content in written work. The purpose of the writing is somewhat evident but may not be integrated throughout the assignment. There are many problems with the blending of summaries, paraphrases, and quotes. Paper does not flow smoothly in all sections.
Organization and presentation of content are extremely limited. The purpose of the writing is unclear. There is little or no blending of summaries, paraphrases, and quotes. Paper does not flow smoothly when read.
The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.
Written Communication: Control of Syntax and Mechanics
– Displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains no errors and is very easy to understand.
Displays comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains only a few minor errors and is mostly easy to understand Displays basic comprehension of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains a few errors which may slightly distract the reader.
Fails to display basic comprehension of syntax or mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains major errors which distract the reader.
The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.
Written Communication: Required Formatting
Accurately uses required formatting consistently throughout the paper, title page, and reference page.
Exhibits required formatting throughout the paper. However, layout contains a few minor errors. Exhibits limited knowledge of required formatting throughout the paper. However, layout does not meet all requirements.
Fails to exhibit basic knowledge of required formatting. There are frequent errors, making the layout difficult to distinguish as required style.
The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.
Written Communication: Word Requirement
The length of the paper is equivalent to the required number of words. The length of the paper is nearly equivalent to the required number of words.
The length of the paper is equivalent to at least three quarters of the required number of words. The length of the paper is equivalent to at least one half of the required number of words.
The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.
Written Communication: Resource Requirement Uses more than the required number of scholarly sources, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.
Uses the required number of scholarly sources to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.
Uses less than the required number of sources to support ideas. Some sources may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are used within the body of the assignment. Citations may not be formatted correctly. Uses an inadequate number of sources that provide little or no support for ideas. Sources used may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are not used within the body of the assignment. Citations are not formatted correctly.
The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.