Research Paper Directions A written research assignment using APA style The topic should be related to Project management (PM) that you are interested in. If possible current situations Follow these guidelines when writing your paper: 1. For your research paper topic, you will be asked to develop a project, either real or fictitious, that you will manage. In each learning plan, you will develop a portion of the project plan based on the content from that learning plan. To begin, identify and briefly describe your project and develop a project charter. The project description and charter should serve as the introduction to your research paper. Save the project charter so that you can add additional sections. 2. Subsequent sections of your research paper will include: A description of organizational and external factors that will influence your project. Sources of risk for your project and the key issues associated with human resource management. Evaluation techniques. A scope statement. Planning and management recommendations. A formal assessment plan. A description of the monitoring and controlling of the financial aspects. 3. Research your topic. Use such resources as the Internet, library/media center or experts in the field. You must use at least six (6) resources in this project. Consider the following list: (Rationale: Six sources are required to enter the yearly NAU research contest.) Internet sources Books Popular periodicals Journals Interviews with subject matter experts Newspapers 4. Prepare a draft of your paper. Include the following items. Cover page: List the topic title, your name and the date. Introduction: A description of your project and project charter. Body: Make sure your report includes support for decision made or conclusion drawn. Conclusion: Conclude your report and summarize what you have said. State conclusions you drew from what you learned, future actions you would recommend, additional questions that arose from your research or further research that is needed in the area. 5. Prepare a Reference page to document your references. Document your sources using APA format. (Rationale: APA uses References, not Work Cited.) 6. Use the scoring guide to assess your work. 7. Revise your paper as needed. Criteria Introduction 1. Identifies the subject and states the thesis. 2. Includes an attention getter to capture the reader''s interest. Body 3. Provides support for the thesis presented in the introduction. 4. Each paragraph in the body includes a clear topic sentence that expresses the central idea of the paragraph. 5. All of the sentences in a paragraph contribute to the idea in the topic sentence to produce paragraph unity. 6. Paragraphs lead the reader logically from one section to another; transitions are used to make connections between ideas easier to follow and contribute to the smoothness of the paper. 7. Paragraph coherence is established through the use of chronological order, space order, enumeration of reasons, expression of an idea supported by examples, cause and effect or comparison. Conclusion 8. Is brief and relates to what has been written previously by mentioning major ideas, interpreting the significance of the material in the body, making predictions, using an anecdote, stating a quote or question. Audience Awareness 9. Written for a general audience. Writer makes this clear to the reader if writing for a special audience. Other 10. Uses appropriate grammar and punctuation. 11. Uses conventional spelling. 12. Uses correct APA style in the title page, headings, pagination, internal citations, references page and font size. 13. Uses print or electronic books, research journals, periodicals and electronic database references. 14. No more than one non-juried/non-refereed Internet site (contains material that has not undergone professional peer review). 15. Uses argumentation as appropriate.