Teachers Instructions:
ASA FORMAT
The objective of this assignment is to assist you in writing your final paper. At this point, you should have narrowed your topic down by at least focusing on one subtopic. For instance, if you want to study the death penalty, you will need to decide on a subtopic. An acceptable subtopic might be racial disparities in those sentenced to death. You are to turn in a 2-page research proposal along with an annotated bibliography consisting of 10 sociological / criminological sources and summaries of the article/book. For the 2-page proposal, you’ll need to cite the sources used in your annotated bibliography and make an argument on why this topic is important. For the annotated bibliography, each source needs to be in ASA format, followed directly by the summary. Each summary should be approximately half a page to a full page. You should start off by skimming through research articles on the topic, picking out the best articles. Summarizing the first 10 articles found will likely lead you astray.
Formatting: Your paper should be typed, 2 pages in length for the proposal (not including title page, abstract, or references), double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, with 1-inch borders. Your paper should be thoroughly edited for spelling and grammar. Your paper should be written in ASA format, which can be accessed here (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/asa_style/index.html (Links to an external site.)). If you look to the left column on the page, there are many links, but only a few pertain to ASA formatting. Under “ASA Style”, you should read Manuscript Formatting, In-Text (Citation) References, References Page Formatting, and Manuscript Writing Style. Your annotated bibliography should be 5 – 10 pages, with the citation, followed by the summary, which should be approximately half a page to a full page in length.
Use the writer center. The writing center is an excellent source for assistance in writing your papers. Writing Center URL: https://www.writingcenter.msstate.edu/ (Links to an external site.)
Use criminology / sociology scientific journals and books. You need to write from a sociological or criminological perspective, which means that you need to cite sociology and criminology journals and books that cover the topic. Academic books are often published by universities, such as NYU Press. Academic journals will indicate on their website if they are peer-reviewed.
Your paper must be well organized. You need to have an introduction and conclusion in your paper, both of which summarize your argument for the reader. Your intro should have a strong thesis statement. In between the intro and conclusion should be a paper that is well-organized, well-written, concise, and makes clear points/arguments citing sociological/criminological evidence.