Final Paper Grading Rubric

Research Paper Rubric—Draft (200 points)







x2 CONTENT ORGANIZATION WRITING STYLE MECHANICS


A


90-100 ptss.  Includes a strong thesis statement, introduction, and conclusion


 Shows original thought


 Supports arguments well


___ No logical flaws


___ Credible outside sources used to support arguments


 Skillfully refutes counterargument(s) and does not ignore data contradicting the thesis


 Refers to a minimum 5 outside sources both in-text and in the references page, two of which are academic sources


 Should be very well- ordered


 Has some original insight


 Has strong internal organization within each section


 Uses clear and effective transitions between and within sections  Appropriate to the assignment (formal and in third person)


 Engages readers’ interest


 Is accurate (no far-fetched, unsupported comments)


 Is precise (says what you mean)


 Is concise (not wordy)  Is free of serious errors


 Follows accepted conventions of grammar, punctuation, and spelling


 Follows APA citation guidelines


 Follow APA format guidelines


B


80-89 pts.  Includes a good thesis statement, introduction, and conclusion that may need minor revision


 Supports most arguments concretely


___ No logical flaws


___ Credible outside sources support most claims


 Refutes counterargument(s) and does not ignore contradictory data, although the refutation may need tightening and additional support


 Refers to a minimum of 5 outside sources both in-text and in the references page, two of which are academic sources.  Should be well-ordered.


 Has internal organization within each section


 Uses transitions between and within sections that are mostly clear and effective  Should generally be appropriate to the assignment


 Is accurate (no far-fetched, unsupported comments)


 Is precise (says what you mean)


 Is concise (not wordy)  Contains some generally minor grammatical and punctuation errors


 Has few misspellings.


 Generally follows APA citation guidelines, with one or two minor errors


 Generally follows APA format guidelines


C


70–79 pts.  Includes a thesis statement that needs revision.


 Has an introduction and conclusion, but they do not set up or close the paper effectively


 Shows too little original thought


 Over-emphasizes or repeats some main points


 Supports some arguments with outside research, but not all


 Relies too heavily on personal experience or one or two sources


 Ignores obvious counterarguments


 Is informative rather than persuasive (i.e., a report rather than an argument)


 Contains references to 3-4 outside sources, only one of which is academic  Is not clearly organized


 Lacks transitions between sections


 Has several sentences that are monotonous or confusing  Is appropriate in places, but elsewhere is


___ vague


___ too informal


___ too subjective  Contains numerous grammatical and punctuation errors that make the paper somewhat difficult to understand.


 Has some misspellings that spell checkers do not catch, such as affect/effect


 Attempts to follow APA citation guidelines, with multiple errors


 Attempts to follow APA format guidelines


D


60-69


pts.  Includes a thesis statement that defines a topic but no claim and needs major revision


 Lacks introduction or conclusion, or develops them so poorly that they need complete revision


 Develops main points inconsistently or repetitively


 Ignores obvious counter arguments


 Has too few in-text citations


 Relies too heavily on one or two sources


 Is informative rather than persuasive  Has a confusing organization


 Lacks transitions between most sections


 Has many sentences that are monotonous or incomprehensible  Interferes with the clarity and development of the main points  Contains many serious grammatical and punctuation errors that make the paper difficult to understand


 Has not been spell-checked


 Does not follow APA citation guidelines


 Does not follow APA format guidelines


F  Does not earn 60 points or


 Is plagiarized


Point range for Final (300 point)


 270–300 or standard x 3


 249–269


 219–248


 180–218