Research Paper Assessment

While grading your research paper, I ask myself the following questions:

1. Is the heading formatted correctly?

2. Is the paper double-spaced?

3. Is there a title?

4. Is the title underlined? (It should not be.)

5. Is the title in bold? (It should not be.)

6. Is the title clever? (It should be.)

7. Does the introduction follow the format we have practiced?

8. Is there a clear thesis/road map at the end of the introduction?

9. Does each body paragraph have a clear topic sentence (main idea)?

10. Does the body paragraph focus on the main idea?

11. Are there quotes from both the primary source and a secondary source?

12. Are the quotes embedded properly?

13. Are the quotes cited properly?

14. Is the paragraph easy to follow? Does it flow?

15. Is the paragraph mostly the ideas of the student or the quote?

16. Are there many editing mistakes?

17. Are there many grammar mistakes?

18. Are the proper tenses used consistently? (You should be using the present tense.)

19. Is there a conclusion paragraph?

20. Is there a properly formatted works cited page?