How to Write a Current Events Paper on a Scientific Topic

Selecting a topic

In Week 5 you will submit a current events paper. In it you will look in the daily news for a scientific topic that
interests you, and then you will go beyond what is reported in the article by discussing the long range history of
this topic. There are many sources in which you can go to find a current events science story. Good examples of
websites where you can find an article include:

1. http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/index.html
2. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/
3. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/
4. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/
5. http://www.sciencenews.org/
6. http://news.sciencemag.org/
7. http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciammag/
The article must have an author and a publication date. Avoid selecting a topic which has very little history
associated with it. Discuss at least a 50-year history.

Technical and Formatting Requirements: With this assignment, you will learn how to do proper and adequate
research and write a short paper with a central thesis statement. This paper is at least TWO complete doublespaced pages of text (Times New Roman, font size 12), not including bibliography or title page, and you must cite a minimum of THREE sources, in addition to the selected current events article. These sources are as follows:

a. ONE primary source from the era in which you are writing about. As a reminder, a primary source “is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event." Click here to learn the difference between primary and secondary sources:
https://apus.libanswers.com/faq/2299.
Click here for how you find primary sources: https://apus.libanswers.com/faq/2319

b. TWO scholarly secondary sources from peer reviewed journals or books. These must be from reputable publishers (such as university presses for books or databases like JSTOR) as found in the APUS library. What is a secondary source? "A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources.
These sources are one or more steps removed from the event." Web sites are not approved research for this assignment. Exceptions are scholarly websites and documents available through the APUS Online Library (Wikipedia and other sources like it are not considered a valid academic source). Click here to learn what makes a source “scholarly”: https://apus.libanswers.com/faq/44354. Click here for how you find peer reviewed or scholarly sources: https://apus.libanswers.com/faq/2244.

I will submit all of the final papers into TurnItIn which is a plagiarism checker. If I find evidence of plagiarism, I  will give you a zero for the paper. To ensure this does not happen make sure you familiarize yourself with the
meanings of plagiarism (see the policies section of this syllabus), take careful steps in your note taking process to avoid a potential for a mistaken plagiarism, and then finally submit your own paper to TurnItIn prior to the
course deadline. This review will serve as an important check for you.