Guidelines for Final Paper and Writing Contest
Length: Write a 4–6 page academic paper to enter the writing contest and compete for monetary awards ranging from $50 to $200.
Topic: The topic for your paper needs to be related to sustainable development and/or environmental issues:
- Choose a topic in sustainability or the environment that interests you. The topic you select should be quite narrow in scope (for example, air pollution in Beijing rather than air, water, and land pollution in China).
Citation and format: Cite at least five sources in your paper: one book from either the American Cultural Center’s sustainability books collection or your university libraries; two scholarly/academic articles; one magazine or newspaper article; and one website.
- The 4–6 page paper should be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font, one-inch margins all around, and formatted according to the 6th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual. Check the APA Style Guidelines here.
- Check the citation video and other resources if you are not sure how to do it.
Criteria for a good academic paper: Write clearly; have an interesting and arguable thesis; and have coherent paragraphs. Overall, the paper needs to be well organized and supported with appropriate examples, factual information and findings from scholarly publications.
Check the Grading Rubric for Writing Contest Papers here.
You need to watch all videos and do all assignments before you may start working on your final paper for the writing contest.