The length of your paper should be a minimum of 10 full pages, double-spaced. You may not include the cover and bibliography in the page count, but both are required.  There are penalties for papers that are short of the required length of 10 pages. You may include an abstract, but you may not include it in the page count.  Images should be limited and must be of a reasonable size with conservative spacing.

You must cite from 7 or more references. If you use an internet source, it must have a valid URL associated with it. You may not use your textbook as a reference.

Research Paper
The Research Paper fulfills a key requirement for this course and must be an original work for this course. You may not submit a paper used in another course. When selecting a topic for this paper, you are limited to the content covered in this course. You must submit your topic to the appropriate

In the opening segment of your Content Section, there is a Plagiarism Test for you to become familiar with the topic and how to approach your paper. The instructor strongly suggests that you take the test and become familiar with the process Columbia College uses in this area. Research papers are to be your own work, which can be influenced by references.

Your paper must be at least 10 pages, double spaced. The title page and bibliography are not included in this 10-page requirement. There are penalties for papers that are short of the required length of 10 pages. You may include an abstract, but you may not include it in the page count. Maintain reasonable space between paragraphs and pay particular attention to the spacing around figures that you include. The use of pictorial items should be limited. Font size is limited to 12 and the margins are to be set to 1-inch all around. You must use a style process such as MLA. You will be penalized 20% per page for papers that do not fulfill the length requirement of 10 pages.

Note: If you include images in your paper, you must make sure the paper is of adequate length before inserting the images. You can review the grading criteria in the Content Section, in the Getting Started Module.