Special Interest Paper

Special Interest Paper (20% of final grade)Each student will write and submit a 3.5-page paper (double spaced using APA Format) on a topic from the course that I hope you will select because it is of intense personal interest to you. The topic you choose must come from the course content (review the assigned text chapters for ideas). You may also draw your paper topic from lectures, but of course these correspond to the text chapters as well.Select and read three (3) articles from peer reviewed academic journals on your topic and provide a very brief synopsis of each article as it relates to your interest. Your synopsis is not a summary of the entire journal article. Rather, only discuss those aspects of each article that you will draw from for your exploration of your topic. C ontact a Leddy librarian if you do not know what a peer reviewed journal is, or how to find appropriate academic journals in psychology. Finally, describe how each article relates to your topic, and discuss the implications you see for real life. You will be graded on the basis of structure, intelligibility, quality of your arguments and insights, and the implications that you draw from your analysis of the articles you have selected.Your paper should conform to the following structure and page limits:• Define your topic and why it is of ‘special interest’ to you (something like your ‘Thesis Statement’) (Half a page)• Describe the main points of each article that make it of relevance to your topic – one paragraph per article. (Not to exceed one page in total). Be thoughtful yet brief.• Provide a two-page discussion of how the findings of these articles affect, reinforce, and/or change how you think, feel, and/or behave with respect to your chosen topic.Finally, GET Excited!• Write your paper in first person. It is your critical assessment of the scientific literature on your topic.• Back up your personal conclusions with reference to the findings of the articles you have selected.• Use APA format . For the purposes of this paper, you will need to include a cover page, a 3.5-page body written in accordance with the above structure, and a separate references page. You are not required to write an abstract of your paper or include a running head.• The following websites are reliable resources that will provide you with a wealth of information on formatting your paper in APA style.http://www.apastyle.org https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/Your very dedicated Leddy Librarians AND the amazing people at the Writing Support Desk can provide you with more supports should you need assistance. They are here to help! Papers should be submitted electronically through BLACKBOARD. Hard copies or emails directly to the Professor or GA/TA will not be accepted. Papers should be submitted in MS Word format. When submitting Papers, use the following file name protocol to identify your file:1160_paper_yourlastname.docxSelecting Your Topic :Ensure that your paper topic clearly comes from the assigned portions of the text or from content covered during lectures. If your paper topic is drawn from a chapter not covered in this course (i.e., one of the chapters from the text covered in 1150 Psychology as a Behavioural Science), it will invalidate your paper regardless of how well written it might be and you will receive a grade of zero. Choose your topic from assigned text chapters or lecture content from this course only. No topic approvals are necessary.Page Limits : We have a limited number of GA hours available for grading. Our GA’s will read your paper to the 3.5 page maximum and stop at that point. You’ll be graded on the content of your paper to that point. Accordingly, do not exceed the page limit.Late Submissions : Late assignments will be penalized 3 marks per day (out of 20) for the first 3 days. A paper submitted one minute after the time it is due will be docked 2 marks for being a day late. Assignments submitted later than 3 days following the official due date and time will receive a grade of zero.Questions about the Paper : I will be very happy to answer any questions you have about your paper up until the final two days before it is due. I will not answer questions about your paper in the last 48 hours before it is due. This means you are very wise to start your papers well before the last 48 hours before the due date and time.Cheating and PlagiarismI take cheating and plagiarism VERY seriously. I keep all past papers submitted for this course in a database, and all submitted papers are scanned against this database for plagiarism after being uploaded to Blackboard. Moreover, I use the various plagiarism detection systems provided by the University of Windsor for uploaded documents. If your paper is found to be in part or wholly plagiarised, the Senate Regulations for consequences of plagiarism will be applied.