Criteria for Evaluating a Research Paper Department of Languages — Sandhills Community College
EXPRESSION AND COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS (50%)
Introduction (5 points): Focus the reader’s attention on the subject of the research paper in a thorough paragraph of thought-provoking sentences leading effectively into the thesis statement.
Thesis (5 points): Make your thesis argumentative, clear, and specific
Development (20 points): Thoroughly support or explain the thesis or build to a logical conclusion in a series of vivid, interesting paragraphs, fully developed with facts, examples, reasons, narration, description, comparison, cause and effect, process analysis, or other appropriate methods.
Expression (5 points): Use precise language, varied sentence beginnings, and varied sentence patterns.
Unity (5 points): Make each sentence in a paragraph adhere to the main idea of the paragraph; make each paragraph adhere to the main idea of the research paper.
Organization and Coherence (5 points): Arrange ideas in a logical order; use transitions and other cohesive devices to link ideas effectively within and between paragraphs.
Conclusion (5 points): Logically complete the development of the thesis.
Creativity: Up to 5 extra points may be awarded for creative expression.
RESEARCH, DOCUMENTATION, AND FORMAT (50%)
Outline (5 points): Include a formal outline that reflects the structure and content of the paper.
Research (10 points): Research your subject thoroughly and balance your use of sources.
Citations (10 points): Effectively introduce and cite your sources.
Quotations and Paraphrase (10 points): Effectively quote and paraphrase from your sources.
Blending Sources (5 points): Effectively blend a variety of sources within your paragraphs.
Works Cited Page (5 points): Follow the MLA guidelines for your works cited page.
Format (5 points): Follow your instructor's guidelines for the format of your paper. Paper should be written with Microsoft Word and saved on the student's own flash drive.
Revision: Up to 5 extra points may be awarded for significant improvement through revision.
Research: Up to 5 extra points may be awarded for significant depth and breadth of research.
EFFECTIVELY WRITTEN SENTENCES  (1/2 points deducted per error)
Sentence Structure: Avoid errors in subordination, coordination, and parallelism. Avoid sentence fragments, comma splices, and fused, incomplete, or awkward sentences.
Grammar and Usage: Avoid inappropriate verb or pronoun use, subject-verb or pronoun-antecedent disagreement, unclear pronoun reference, misplaced or dangling modifier, inappropriate shift in person or tense, redundancy, imprecise language, or incorrect usage.
Spelling and Capitalization: Avoid spelling and capitalization errors.
Punctuation: Avoid misuse or omission of the apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark, quotation marks, semi-colon, slash, underlining, or italics.
Any of the following may result in failure or a lowered grade:  Topic not approved in advance; outline, notes, and draft not approved; thesis lacking or unsupported; a paper that is primarily an anthology of direct quotations; cheating, plagiarism, or falsification; frequent errors in grammar and mechanics that prevent communication; a carelessly written or typed paper; a late paper; failure to use MLA documentation; or lack of correlation between works that are cited in the body of the paper and sources that are listed on the works cited page.
RESEARCH PAPER GRADE:  A=100-93; B=92-85; C=84-77; D=76-70; F=69-0 points