Assignment 4: Research Paper

Topic: Any disease or condition of the body

Objective: To investigate various details about a disease or condition of the human body

Assignment Instructions:

To prepare for this assignment, I recommend that you do the following:

• Read these directions carefully.
• Read the rubric. The rubric is a very detailed template that I will use to assess your performance. It also will help you understand what is expected of you as you prepare your assignment.
• Message me with any questions!

The required elements: Your paper should contain the following elements in the order listed below.

In addition, my expectation is that any feedback that was given to you from Assignment 2:

Annotated Bibliography and Assignment 3: The Abstract be incorporated into this assignment. Please go back and review those comments.

1. Abstract – this section must contain the following:
   1. Topic Sentence: Your abstract must contain one sentence that clearly and concisely introduces the topic of the paper
   2. Content Sentences: Your abstract must mention the following five main topics of the paper: introduction, statistics/epidemiology, financial costs, anatomy & physiology/etiology, diagnosis/treatment/prognosis
   3. Conclusion Sentence: Abstract contains one sentence that mentions key conclusions and/or findings, future directions/research
2. Main Body – this section must contain the following five main topics (the subtopics are recommendations to use if appropriate to your disease/condition):
   1. Introduction:
      1. Thoroughly define the disease/condition
      2. History of the disease/condition
   2. Statistics/Epidemiology:
      1. Statistical prevalence (e.g. overall, gender, age)
      2. Types of distributions (e.g. frequencies, patterns)
      3. Types of determinants (e.g. causes, risk factors)
   3. Financial Costs:
      1. Costs to the individual/family
      2. Possible costs to society
      3. Loss of productivity
   4. Anatomy & Physiology/Etiology:
      1. The normal and abnormal structure & function behind the disease/condition
      2. Cause(s) of the disease/condition
   5. Diagnosis/Treatments/Prognosis:
      1. How this disease/condition is diagnosed (e.g. history, exam, diagnostic imaging, labs)
      2. How the condition/disease is treated (e.g. traditional medical treatments, alternative methods of treatment)
      3. The prediction of this disease/condition’s outcome
3. Conclusion – this section must contain four to six sentences that sum up the main topics of the paper.
4. Reference Section – this section must contain the following:
   1. This is not just a separate section; rather, referencing should occur throughout the paper via parenthetical citations anytime you paraphrase or make direct quotes. Please be sure to cite any language in the paper that should be cited. Your paper should also have a final reference page listing 5-10 credible sources researched for your paper.
   2. Do not include your critique/summary from Assignment 2: Annotated Bibliography; simply list the references utilized in your paper in APA format on the reference page.

Please make note of the following tips and tricks:

• There is no minimum word count for this paper; however, your paper should be thorough and include all the required components listed in the instructions and rubric.
• Please note that less than 10% of your paper should contain direct quotes.
• Avoid bulleted lists within the body of your paper.
• Do not write in first or second person.
• One last reminder: be sure to properly cite your work, both internal to the paper as well as within the reference page.

Additional Resources:

Research Paper Tips and Guidelines

APA Papers – General Format

Advice on writing abstracts

APA – In-Text Citations: The Basics

APA – Reference List: Basic Rules

Sample APA Style Paper

Evaluation: Please review the Research Paper Grading Rubric that describes how your paper will be graded.

Submission Instructions:

1. You must submit your Research Paper as a “Microsoft Word” document rather than a Word Pad, Works, etc. document AND title your file name asFirstnameLastname_SCIN132_Assg4.doc, otherwise, you will not receive credit for your assignment.
2. Upload your assignment for grading by clicking on the "Add Attachment" button at the bottom of the page.
3. The new screen will prompt you to click the "Browse" button so you can locate the MS Word document of your paper on your computer.
4. Find the file and double click on it.
5. Click "Continue".
6. Double check to ensure that your research paper was successfully uploaded as an attachment.
7. When you have completed this assignment, type "Completed" in the rich text editor box below.
8. Check the "Honor Pledge: I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment." checkbox.
9. Click the "Submit" button.
10. Your paper is automatically submitted to TurnItIn with your submission:

Papers will be automatically added to and checked against the standard Turnitin repositories. Originality reports will be returned to the faculty and student in roughly 15 minutes of the submission. Multiple submissions are allowed before the due date. If you wish to learn more about and how to access Turnitin.com, a plagiarism detection web site, these are available from the APUS Online Library. Tutorial & Student Study Center.