Seminar Paper Reminders for my Political Science students

A seminar is a small group of students and teachers.

A seminar paper is a record of what you say to the group about a topic you have studied.

Preparing a seminar paper gives you practice in technical writing which will help you when you write your thesis.

Title
The title of your seminar paper should state your topic exactly in the smallest possible number of words.

Author's Name
Put your name (family name first), your ID number, the name of your department, and the name of the university under the title.

Abstract
The abstract should state the most important facts and ideas in your paper. It should be complete in itself. The abstract should state clearly:
· the problem studied,
· the method used,
· the main results,
· the main conclusions.

Do not put information in the abstract, which is not in the main text of your paper. Do not put references, figures, or tables in the abstract.

Text
The main text of your paper should be divided into sections, each with a separate heading.

The first section should be an introduction to your topic. This section should review the background of your topic and give an outline of the contents of your paper.

You should get the information for your paper from various sources, such as books, journals, lecture notes, etc. You must write the paper yourself using this information. You must not copy text written by other authors. Instead, select only the information you need and summarize this information in your own words.

The final section of your paper should summarize your conclusions.

References
You must give references to all the information that you obtain from books, papers in journals, and other sources. References may be made in the main text using index numbers in brackets.

Put a list of references, numbered as in the main text, at the end of your paper. The information you give in this list must be enough for readers to find the books and papers in a library or a data base.

For a journal paper give:
1. the names of the authors,
2. the year of publication,
3. the title of the paper,
4. the title of the journal,
5. the volume number of the journal,
6. the first and last page numbers of the paper.

For a book give:
1. the author,
2. the year of publication,
3. the title, and the edition number if there is one,
4. the name of the publisher,
5. the page numbers for your reference.

For an internet reference give:
1. the author of the web page,
2. the date of the web page,
3. the title of the web page,
4. the complete URL.

Every reference in your main text must appear in the list at the end of your paper, and every reference in the list must be mentioned in your main text.
Recommended Procedure for Writing a Paper
1. Write your title first. This will define your topic clearly and focus your mind on exactly what you want the paper to contain.
2. Search the literature and select the references on which the contents of your paper will be based. Write your list of references.
3. Make a list of your section headings and subheadings. This list will define the organization of the contents of your paper. The sections and subsections will contain not only material collected from other sources but also accounts of new work you have done: -- your observations, analysis of data, and conclusions.
4. Write the sections and subsections one by one in a simple clear style. Remember that the reader does not know in advance any of the details of the work you have done, so your account must be complete and easy to understand.
5. Write the abstract last by picking out the main points in your paper.

FORMAT
Font: Arial Unicode MS. Size 10
Spacing: Double spaced
No less than 5 pages
Paper: short bond


SUBMISSION
You will submit the paper on January 7. Please email me the file as in line text and as attachment by January 10, 2007. The title of the seminar paper should be on the subject line followed by your name (ex. Subject: Searching the Filipino Identity in F. Sionil Jose’s The God Stealer by Luis Asistio) No late papers will be accepted. The critical paper is 50 points and will be credited to your quizzes for the PRELIM.