TERM PAPER STYLE REQUIREMENTS
Students of [social sciences] are required in most courses to write term papers, formal essays and/or research reports. Only those submissions that look and read like formal reports, term papers or essays can be marked fairly. The aim of a paper is to clearly and succinctly communicate ideas, such as the methods, results and significance of a study. Therefore, each student should have a clear idea, before writing, of what is expected by the School of Criminology.
Social scientists often report their ideas and research findings in a format outlined in the fifth edition of the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual (2001). Legal scholars typically comply with the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, also in its 5th edition (2002) which uses a different referencing style. Students should ensure their essays conform to the style required by their course instructor. Some basic aspects of standard report formats are presented in this summary. Its focus is on the APA style. If you adopt this referencing method, the Publication Manual should be consulted regarding details not covered here. At S.F.U., the Publication Manual is available in the Library at the Third Floor reference desk.
A RESEARCH REPORT
Research reports consist of several sections where appropriate, such as: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References (and, occasionally, Appendix), which are briefly described here.
Title Page: Includes the title, your name, course number and date.
Abstract: A 100-175 word summary.
Introduction: Explains the purpose of the paper. In most cases this summarizes the theoretical importance and previous research in the area and includes a clear statement of the research hypotheses or aims of the paper.
Method: Describes the study in enough detail to permit another investigator to replicate it. The Method section is often divided into three subsections: Subjects, Apparatus or Research Instruments/Tools (if necessary), and Procedures.
Results: Summarizes the data and the statistical treatment of them. Graphs and tables should be included if they make the results more intelligible.
Discussion: Evaluation and implications of the research, including how the results support or do not support the argument; comparison of results with previous research; and problems with the research.
Appendices: Includes supplementary material not appropriate in the body of the report.
References: In the research report, all references to previous research or ideas will be accompanied by a reference citation to the original author. Students should ensure they provide a full citation in every instance, including a reference to the page from which the material being used to write your essay was obtained.
Citations of authors within a sentence take the form “Freud (1928, p. 106) contended that....” with the year in parentheses and the page number included. For sentences not mentioning the author’s name, you should put the entire citation in parentheses: “...according to social learning theory” (Bandura & Walters, 1962, p. 64). Each author’s work cited in the report must be listed in the reference section, in alphabetical order. See the additional discussion of referencing below, under the “Text” heading, in the context of formal essay writing.
The Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, References and Appendix begin on new pages. The other sections (Method, Results and Discussion) begin on the same page as the preceding section if there is space. All sections of the report are double-spaced except the references (each entry is single spaced with double spacing between).
A FORMAL ESSAY
1. A formal essay has a logically structured explanatory form that attempts to clarify a writer’s single dominant idea or thesis relevant to a specific subject in criminology.
2. A formal essay has a specific and standardized format consisting of
(a) a title page,
(b) an introduction,
(c) adequately spaced pages,
(d) a concluding section,
(e) an endnote page(s) (optional and not required if footnotes are used), and
(f) a reference page(s).
3. A formal essay, thus, has a structure consisting of a clearly recognizable introduction, developmental sections, and conclusion.
Essay FormDouble spacing is required for all materials, except indented block quotations, references cited, notes, captions, and headings. Do not break or hyphenate words at the end of lines to keep the right-hand margin regular. Essays must be typed (printed) on one side of the sheet only, on good quality paper. Pages must be 8 ½ by 11 inches (21.6 by 28 cm.). At least a one-inch margin is required on all four edges of each page. Essays must be typed or word processed.
Sections of the EssayThe sections should be ordered as follows, with pages numbered consecutively, starting with the first text page after the title page:
(1) Title page
(2) Text
(3) Endnotes (if used)
(4) References cited
Title Page Include thetitle, your name, course number, and date.
TextIf the APA referencing format is adopted, references are placed in the body of the text, not in notes. Whether paraphrasing or quoting directly from another work, you must credit the source.
- · Endnotes are confined to elaborating on points that are not appropriate to retain in the body of the text.
- · For direct quotations and paraphrased summaries of the work of others, the information that you must provide will vary depending upon whether you are citing from an electronic or a print source. When drawing on a print source, the citation is placed in parentheses, with the author’s name, followed by the year of publication of the work quoted or referred to, and the page or pages cited in the following manner: (Klein, 1988, p. 122), (Rowe, 1993, p. 115-119), or (Smith & Jones, 1991, p. 21-22). This is done following, or before each quotation (even an indented one) or any statement derived from the work of another.
- · If the author of the quotation is clear from the text, then the sentence concluding the reference should cite the year of publication and the page(s). For example:
H.L.A. Hart’s approach to law involved a critique of those earlier positive law theorists’ who viewed law as the command of a sovereign because that earlier approach failed to account for the “variety of laws” that exist (1961, p. 226).
- · Paraphrased work still requires citation to the source, including a specific page number.
PDF reproductions of printed journals may be cited the same as print journals, since they typically contain page numbers. Most electronic sources do not contain page numbers, therefore alternate means are used to identify the source of the material. If paragraph numbers are given, these should be used: (Myers, 2000, ¶ 4) or (Myers, 2000, para. 4). In some cases, it may be necessary to cite to an electronic document without a specific location reference, however this will be a rare occurrence. - · Chapters from edited books are cited to the author(s) of the chapter, not the editor of the book. Accordingly, if you rely on Richard Schneider’s chapter on “Sentencing Mentally Ill Offenders” in the book edited by Julian Roberts and David Cole, Making Sense of Sentencing, you would cite in the text of your essay to (Schneider, 1999, p. 161), not (Roberts & Cole, 1999, p. 161). If you are referring to the book as a whole, reference is made to the editors of the book. For example: “A recent effort to collect a wide range of commentary on sentencing was carried out by Roberts and Cole (1999).”
Notes: Any endnotes follow the text of the essay and begin on a new page. They are restricted to material that cannot be conveniently included in the text. Avoid, unnecessarily long notes. Notes are numbered consecutively through the text by superscript (raised) numbers.
References Cited: The text and notes are followed by References Cited—which do include any publication not cited in the text of your paper; the list is not a comprehensive bibliography of materials that you have discovered that pertain to your essay topic. The list should begin on a separate page, and all entries must be single-spaced, (double spacing between entries), listed alphabetically by last name of the first author, and chronologically, from oldest to newest, for two or more titles by the same author(s). In listing an unusual reference, include all information needed to enable a reader to identify and locate the source; when in doubt, include details. The following are examples of appropriate layout, using the A.P.A. format:
Periodical (Journal) Reference:
Atkinson, R.C., & Shiffrin, R.M. (1991). The control of term memory. Scientific American(2), 82-90.
Turk, A.T. (1996). Law, conflict and order: From theorizing toward theories. Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 23(3), 282-294.
Book Reference:
Barash, D.P. (1997). Sociobiology and behavior. New York: Elsevier.
Southwell, E.A., & Feldman, H. (Eds.). (1989). Abnormal psychology: Readings in theory and research. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
Schmeiser, D.A. (1988). The native offender and the law. Ottawa: Law Reform
Commission of Canada.
The entries have the following elements: author(s); year of publication; title; and source (i.e., publisher and place of publication in the case of books and reports only). Book titles are italicized; titles of articles are not enclosed with; journal titles are italicized. The journal title is followed by the volume number, then the number within the volume (or the month or season, depending upon the journal’s style), and then the page numbers. Chapters from edited books are listed by the author of the chapter, but include the editors as part of the reference:
Schneider, R.D. (1999). Sentencing mentally ill offenders. In J.V. Roberts & D.P. Cole (Eds.), Making sense of sentencing (pp. 160-172). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
If the book as a whole is also referred to in the text of your essay, then the book is listed separately in your reference list, with the editors in the author position:
Roberts, J.V. & Cole, D.P. (Eds.). (1999). Making sense of sentencing. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Note that a hanging indent is used in your reference list. Accordingly, the second and subsequent lines of the reference are indented from the left margin.
CITING INTERNET SOURCES
The internet provides students with access to a wide array of resources that are not available in a print medium. Caution must be used in selecting internet sources. Since almost anyone can put up their own Web page, the quality of Web sources varies widely. Some reputable peer-reviewed journals publish on the web. Additionally, many useful government reports are available on the Web. However, many web sites contain uninformed opinion, and miscellaneous ramblings that should not be relied upon in writing a formal academic term paper. It is incumbent on the student to use only appropriate web sources, and to ensure that their instructor is willing to allow reliance on Web-based sources.
Citation styles for Internet publications are still evolving. However, printed style manuals have begun to offer considerable guidance in recent years. The current edition (5th) of The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001) gives examples for citing documents available via the World Wide Web. Sometimes reports will contain most of the information you would use in a typical non-electronic reference. In such cases, the usual format is followed, with the addition of the date the source was retrieved and the URL used to access the source, and no reference need be made to publication information if the document was not otherwise published. For example:
Chemerinsky, E. (2000). An independent analysis of the Los Angeles police department’s board of inquiry report on the rampart scandal. Retrieved January 14, 2002, from http://www.usc.edu/dept/law/faculty/chemerinsky/rampart_finalrep.html
Some reports and journals duplicate print versions of the same document, typically via a PDF document format. If page numbers are available and the print and electronic versions are the same, you are free to cite the electronic version the same as the print version. Like most references, a Web document should ideally have a title, an author, and a date, but things are not always so easy. For example, a date may not be available, in which case, (n.d.) should be used. For example:
United States Sentencing Commission. (n.d.). 1997 sourcebook of federal sentencing statistics. Retrieved December 8, 1999, from http://www.ussc.gov/annrpt/1997/sbtoc97.htm
CITING LEGAL CASES AND STATUTES
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001) provides an Appendix dealing with citation of legal materials. However, different conventions have arisen among legal scholars in Canada than those prevailing in the United States. Accordingly, students should adopt the common referencing format for Canadian legal materials found in the current edition (5th) of the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (2002), modified to fit the APA format otherwise used in their papers.
Cases
Cases decided in different courts in various jurisdictions have been collected and printed in a series of law reports, and many are available electronically. When referring to a case reported in a law report series, the citation of the case is provided so that the reader may find the full text of the decision if they so desire. The full citation will be provided in a list of cases included after the references cited list. In the text, cite the name of the case (parties names italicized) and the year of the decision. For example: “In Feeney (1997), the Supreme Court of Canada addressed the power of the police to arrest a suspect in a dwelling.” Note that the Crown (Regina in Latin) is commonly a party in criminal cases, and by convention is abbreviated as in Canada. Direct quotations and references to a specific part of a judgment should identify the paragraph number where it is available: e.g. (para. 14). If paragraph numbers are not used in the case, reference should be made to the relevant page number from which the quote is drawn: e.g. (p. 3).
Following the list of references, a list headed Cases Cited should contain the full references to the cases used in the essay. This list should be alphabetical by parties to the case (in italics), and contain the year, volume number, law report, series (if any), page on which the case begins, and abbreviated court name (in parentheses) if this is not apparent from the law report. For example:
v. Feeney (1997), 7 C.R. (5th) 101 (S.C.C.)
v. Kokesch, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 3
Note that some law reports use round brackets, or parentheses, while others use square brackets. Those law reports using square brackets begin each new year with volume 1, while those using round brackets continue higher each year until the series is ended and a new series begun, at which point they will return to volume 1. Square bracket citations place a comma before the opening of the bracket, thereby showing the year to be an integral part of the law report citation. The year denotes the year of publication of the law report and may or may not coincide with the year in which the case was decided. Indeed, it is necessary to readily track down the case in such a law report to have the appropriate year in which the case was reported. Round bracket law reports use a comma after the close of the bracket. The year denotes the year in which the case was handed down, but it is not an integral part of the citation. The case could easily be tracked down with the balance of the citation, regardless of the year. Note also that the first citation contains an abbreviation for Supreme Court of Canada at the end of it. The law report, C.R. or Criminal Reports, covers cases handed down in a broad range of courts across the country, so the identification of the court is helpful in this instance. The second citation makes no reference to the court, however the law report is S.C.R., or Supreme Court Reports. This law report only publishes cases handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada. Accordingly, including the case at the end would be redundant.
Statutes
Legislation mentioned in the body of the text should be identified by the statute’s short title and italicized. Reference should also be provided in a list of Statutes Cited, appearing after the Cases Cited list, containing the statute’s citation, incorporating the jurisdiction, the year, and the chapter number. For example:
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, S.C. 1996, c. 19.
Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34.
Police Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 367.
Note: In law-related courses, some instructors may allow or even require you to fully conform to the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation as applied in law journals. This is a significantly different format from APA, requiring all source citations to appear in either footnotes or endnotes, with only superscript numbers appearing in the text, and no parenthetical citations of authors and publication dates. You are encouraged to look at a current Canadian law journal employing this citation style and consult the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation when writing essays with such requirements.
Academic Dishonesty
All students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the School of Criminology’s “Statement of Intellectual Honesty”. This document is available from the general office. That document contains a summary of the University’s “Code of Academic Honesty” accessible at http://www.sfu.ca/policies/teaching/t10-02.html on the SFU Web site. In the context of essay writing, students must be particularly careful not to engage in conduct amounting to plagiarism. This occurs where an individual submits or presents the work of another person as his or her own.
- · When direct quotations are used, these should be enclosed in quotation marks and kept in the body of the text of your paper if they are less than 40 words long.
- · The author, year and page number must clearly attribute the source of the quote.
- · Longer quotes are indented from the body of the text and single-spaced. These too must be clearly attributed to the source by proper referencing.
- · Failure to use quotation marks or indent longer direct quotes may be interpreted as a form of plagiarism, even if the source of the material is vaguely identified in your paper.
- · You must include a pinpoint reference to directly quoted material and paraphrased material.
- · Paraphrasing the work of others does not make it your own; it too must be referenced to the original author, year of publication and page number.
If a source you are using makes reference to another source that you want to incorporate into your essay, you should not cite directly to that original source if you have not read the work cited yourself. For example, if Glanville Williams’ The Mental Element in Crime is cited in Simon Verdun-Jones’ text on criminal law, and you did not read the work cited, list the Verdun-Jones reference in your reference list. In the text, your citation may look as follows:
Glanville Williams considers recklessness to involve subjective foresight of risk and an unjustified assumption of that risk (as cited in Verdun-Jones, 2002, p. 123).
Your reference list would then contain only:
Verdun-Jones, S. (2002). Criminal law in Canada: Cases, questions, and the Code (3rd ed.). Toronto: Harcourt Canada.
Other Styles
Students should ultimately consult with their professor or teaching assistant regarding their preferred essay style. You may be encouraged to adopt a different style than the one presented here. In this regard, the library has prepared a useful guide to “Bibliographies and Footnotes” available at http://www.lib.sfu.ca/researchhelp/writing/biblio.pdf that will lead you through the MLA and Chicago styles of referencing, as well as the APA format.
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