At this point in the course, you have developed a focal question, reviewed articles related to your topic, and have designed an outline of your final paper. Using all of that information, begin the writing process now. Effective writers create a draft of their paper and revise that draft one or more times before producing a final paper. Your draft-writing process begins with this assignment and continues in Module 4. In Module 5, you will submit your final draft of this paper.
This assignment requires you to write a draft of the first few pages of your final paper, using current APA standards for editorial style, expression of ideas, and formatting of the text, headings, citations, and references.
The following components, each in current APA style, must be included:
- Title page
- Running head with page numbers
- 2-3 pages of the body of the paper. Be sure to:
- Articulate a research question which is specific, researchable, and important to the field. This should be the same focal question you submitted in Module 2.
- Provide an introduction to your paper, introducing your topic and providing an overview of the main points you will discuss in further detail in the final paper.
- Review at least 3 academic references. These should be academic references taken from the list of 10 references you submitted in Module 2. Your review of each source should include the following:
- The main topic
- The focus or thesis of the journal article
- The argument the author is making and its relevance to your focal question
- The type of article—published, original research, meta-analysis, or reflection piece
- The key findings of the study
- Your opinion about the merits of the study, including future points of interest or research
- Analysis of how the information/research findings in each article confirm or contradict the findings in the other articles you have chosen.
- Headings and subheadings organizing the body of the paper
- References page
