Research Paper Rubric

You can download the rubric Research Paper Rubric

Superior

Good

Adequate

Unacceptable

Introduction (20 points)
Does your introduction communicate your research question succinctly, clearly, and in an interesting way? Is the puzzle easily identifiable?
Have you effectively explained why this question is interesting and important to political scientists, policy makers, and ordinary citizens?
Have you provided a road map for your paper, providing a sentence or two summary of each of the sections?
Does your title communicate the puzzle, cases, and argument in as clear and as memorable a way as possible? Would you look at something with that title and say enthusiastically, “I’d like to read this!”
If your title is catchy, is it still appropriate for a formal writing assignment? Is its meaning clear to the average reader?
Literature Review (20 points)
Introductory paragraph describes scope of literature, why topic is important
Clearly states the research question, but not in question form
Identifies major trends or patterns in the results of previous studies
Identifies gaps in the literature if those exist
Identifies the relationship(s) among studies
Presentation of distinction between assertion and evidence
Research Design (20 points)
Have you written introductory and concluding paragraphs for the research design section? Have you developed and included an appropriate heading title for this section?
Does your section introduction “introduce” by explaining the purpose of the section and providing the reader with a road map to this section?
Have you developed an actual plan for operationalizing your concepts (~i.e., conceiving of measuring your variables?) This plan explains exactly what steps you will take to know the value of your variables.
Does your plan seem reasonable and workable? Have you included a discussion in the text about the validity and reliability of your measures? Have you really thought through this discussion?
Are you looking at the universe of cases or a sample? What type of a research design have you employed? Why? Why is your selection of cases a good one?
Have you identified your data sources? Are they primary sources? Have you discussed any bias that you might intro- duce from these sources? Why are these sources the best?
If you are generating data by coming up with a plan for content analysis, writing a survey, or conducting interviews, have you attached in an appendix the actual plan, survey, or interview questions?
Does your section conclusion “conclude” by explaining why the choices you made are the best ones for your purposes?
Analysis (20 points)
Clearly presents the analysis using good charts/data/evidence
Attempts to answer the research question using the data/evidence presented
Conclusion (10 points)
Does your conclusion provide closure for the reader?
Does your conclusion make reference to the line of argumentation you specified in your introduction?
Do you explain whether you answered your research question and if not, what further line of inquiry would be useful to do so?
Paper Form (10 points)
Proper Citations
Spelling/Grammar
Good use of subheadings
Originality, creativity

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