Instructions
This week you will submit your property law research paper
on the topic and the thesis you submitted in Week 1. As a reminder, you may not change your topic
without the proper approval of your professor. Your paper must be submitted in
a Word (.doc) file.
Formatting: Your research paper must be a minimum of at
least 10 pages, which does not include a title page or any reference
pages. There is no maximum; however, you
should try not to exceed 20 pages. Your
paper MUST be double-spaced with 1″ margins in Times New Roman 12pt
font. No graphs or graphics may be
utilized in your paper. Failure to comply with formatting requirements may
result in the deduction of one entire letter grade, e.g. from an “A”
to a “B.”
Citations: Legal Studies majors MUST use Bluebook footnote
citations. Please be sure to insert
footnotes in Word using the ‘Insert Footnote’ button, not by typing them in the
footer. Do not use endnotes.
Editing: Don’t forget to proofread your paper multiple
times, spell-check, grammar-check and review all citation formatting.
Paper tips:
Write an introduction, which identifies the topic of your
report and the issues which you seek to illuminate. The introduction should
include the thesis and a very preliminary overview of the evidence you will use
to support it. What do you plan to discuss in the paper? Lay out the paper in this paragraph. Finally, the introduction should include a
statement that identifies what your paper contributes to our understanding of
Property Law (in other words, why is the topic of your report important?).
The main body of your report should be dedicated to supporting
your thesis with claims gleaned from your research (into what others have
written on the topic; data that you have gathered), readings from the course
text, discussion boards, and/or case law, interviews, law review articles.
Please cite your references at the end of your report. A good rule of thumb is
that you should have at least one reference on each page to support the thesis
of your paper. Therefore, you should
have at least 7+ references/sources you discuss in the paper.
Conclude your report by recapitulating your thesis and
explaining in greater detail the significance of your findings. If you would
like, include in your conclusion some questions or claims about the topic. If
you believe more research needs to be done on your topic, be specific about
what kind of research and how you think it ought to be done. What does the
future hold for your topic?
Rubric: Your research paper will be graded using Rubric.
This will help with your understanding of what constitutes the grade assigned
to your paper. A copy of the Rubric can be found linked to this assignment. I
recommend reviewing it as you write your paper before handing it in.
Use previous thesis, sources and outline. Will attach for reference.