Write on: Pros & Cons of First Responder Peer Support Groups.

Chapters 13

Textbook: Regehr, C., & Bober, T. (2005). In the line of fire: trauma in the emergency services. New York: Oxford University Press.

Written Assignment Guidelines

For each module that requires a Written Assignment, you will be required answer one of the questions provided. These Written Assignments are a minimum of 1200 words and are APA research papers in proper APA format. The word requirement does not include the Title page or References. It is only the actual narrative. These are Review of Literature papers and as such should address the current research and expert thinking on the topic. The paper should report on the findings of your research and should be well cited. Personal opinions or conclusions drawn from the research should be reserved for the Conclusion. It is important to address the topic specifically and not write a general essay style paper. Specifically addressing the topic is 20% of the grade. It is not necessary to address preliminary information about the topic. The goal is to research the topic.

1. All quotes and ideas taken from other sources must be cited in proper APA format and listed in the reference list. APA has different rules for citing different types of sources so be sure to check the APA Manual that is required for this course to be sure you are citing correctly. Do not use footnotes as they are not a standard form used in APA papers. The reference list must be alphabetical by author’s last name. If there is no author, other format rules apply; again, check the APA Manual for proper citation and reference format. Points will be taken off for improper citation and reference listing.

2. You must use a minimum of 3 scholarly sources: One must be the textbook and the one must be a peer reviewed journal article. You can use two journal articles to meet the requirement or substitute an academic book or professional level (not general public level) government source for one of the scholarly sources. Other sources may also be used and should to make your papers stronger. These additional sources do not have to meet the scholarly criteria. Older sources used when newer information is available will not count towards the scholarly source requirement. Some that should not be used are Wikipedia and general information type sources, businesses and blogs. You should be obtaining these sources through libraries such as the St Leo on line library or any source that provides access to academic journals. I also urge you to include as additional sources professional level government sources when needed. Newspapers and news media are popular sources however; you can use them as additional sources. If you find information that has no author, try to find the information in another location with an author or a government site. If you can’t the information it may not be credible. If a source looks like a journal article but you are obtaining it from a site that is not considered scholarly for this assignment it will not count. You must go to the professional journals. Dissertations, master’s theses, dictionaries and encyclopedias are not considered scholarly sources for these assignments. They can be used as additional sources. Secondary sources (author you cite from the article or book you are actually reading) require a special citation format and cannot be included in the References. See the APA Manual.

3. Only 15% of your paper can be quotes from other sources and must be properly quoted and cited. All ideas of facts taken from other sources must be cited. Any word for word quote should be in proper APA format for quoting. This is quotation marks for quotes under 40 words and for quotes of 40 or more words, indented without quotation marks. The citation goes either right before or right after the actual quote. Changing a few words does not address the quote issue and is not graduate level writing. Either paraphrase or use the quote. Turnitin will indicate how much of the paper is actual quote material and how much is taken word for word without being identified as a quote The Turnitin score can be higher than 15%. The 15% is for quotes only. If your Turnitin percentage is higher than 15% and there are many 1,2, or 3 % sources from other papers submitted by students, this is not a problem and I will subtract these small percentages from the total. The References are also subtracted. You should be looking at the total quoet percentage and any larger matches from sources you are using that are not in quotes but have word for word matches.

4. In these Written Assignments you may not use personal forms, opinions, experiences, other stories or hypothetical accounts to illustrate a point in the main body of the paper. Keep your paper focused on the research you find on the topic. These assignments are a research paper, not an opinion papers. The only part of the paper that can contain your personal opinion is the Conclusion. The Conclusion should be a summary, suggestions for further areas of investigation, your opinion of your research or concluding remarks. It should not have additional research and it should be brief.

5. Remember, as an APA research paper there should be a title page, Abstract, Research Findings, Conclusion and Reference list.

6. The Reference section should include only those sources that have a corresponding citation in the paper. The first word of the citation should also be the first word of the reference entry. Please review the APA Manual for Reference format.