A Guide to Grading Term Papers

'A' Quality Papers

Have some unique or value-adding ideas. These papers represent a synthesis of material that goes beyond a summarization. For example, these papers may try to apply the concepts and principles of one area to another (e.g. Data warehousing as a mechanism supporting Total Quality Management efforts; evaluating the implications of Macro Viruses on Corporate E-mail usage and policies). As another example, one could solve an existing problem (or scope out a solution) by applying principles discussed in class (e.g. creating a database system, defining a high-level IS architecture for a company, establishing an IS security plan).
Draw on a broad range of reference resources. These are not limited to just one source (e.g. books, journal articles, Internet resources). At the same time, each resource contributes to the paper. There are no useless references.
References are cited in-line throughout the paper.
Have excellent structure that leads the reader naturally from one topic to the next. The introduction and conclusion not only define the problem and summarize the conclusions, but also provide a guide to the overall structure of the paper.
Are free of typographical and grammatical errors.
Are of the appropriate length for the assignment. They are neither too short nor too long.

May provide a good summarization or tutorial-style discussion of a particular topic (e.g. JDBC, Object-oriented databases, etc.) without much original thought.
Read well, have good organization, and logical flow. A paper with unique and value-adding ideas but mediocre organization and flow would be a 'B' paper. Papers that provide summarization or tutorial-style discussion would be B papers provided their style and organization is acceptable.
References are cited in-line throughout the paper.
Have occasional, but not pervasive, grammatical and typographic errors.

Have neither unique, value-adding ideas, nor good organization and flow, nor good grammar.
Minimal references, which are not cited in-line throughout the paper, but only at the end

Are plagerized in part or in whole. (If you copy someone else's words, be sure that you the following are true: (a) you are copying only minor portions of someone else's work, such as a few sentences here and there, (b) you explicitly indicate that you are quoting through the use of quotation marks or, for quotations longer than a sentence or two, a quotation paragraph, (c) you identify precisely the source of the quotation.)
Please note that if the language and grammar used in the paper differs substantially from that which you use on assignments, exams, or in conversation, I get suspicious. If you have someone proof-read your paper to correct spelling and grammatical errors (encouraged if your own comfort level with English is low), please acknowledge this person's contribution.