Philosophy of Science Rubrics for the Final Term Paper FSG ... - DrJJ

Philosophy of Science
Rubrics for the Final Term Paper FSG 500
Semester July 2008 – November 2008
Dr. Jaafar Jantan a.k.a. Dr. JJ
Associate Professor of Physics
Applied Sciences, Univ. Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam
Title: Honesty in Scientific Reporting
I am very concerned about those who didn’t write the article themselves. If you had copy
more than 80% of the content of articles from other sources and just paste it on your article,
then there is no originality in your article and it is NOT your article. Hence, YOU WILL
FAIL.
You are graded on a dichotomous scale of either acceptable or not acceptable.
You will pass the final term paper if:
1. You submit the term paper (MUST SUBMIT HARD COPY).
2. Your paper is original.
3. Your score for C2+C3+C4+C5 is greater than 5.
Category
MARKS
C1: Submission: (MUST BE 1 to
1
pass the term paper)
C2: Content: Introduction 1
Arguments with examples:
1
Minimum of 4
Supporting Sources (indicated 1
in text using the APA or science
format)
Formatting (organized
1
according to Introduction, Body
of text containing main
hypothesis and arguments and
Conclusion)
Word Count: 3000 ± 200 (about 1
6 pages)
C3: Research (evidenced by
1
supporting sources in text of the
article):
C4: Citation/References: (using the
APA format)
1
C5: Originality: (article written
using your own words and MUST
have a score of 1 to pass the term
paper)-most of you failed because
of this category.
C2+C3+C4: 7
1

What You Need To Do To Pass
Identify which categories you failed and make the necessary changes as follows:
C1: Submission: Those who sent hard copies will receive credit for this. Else, you fail the
term paper.
C2: Content:
a) Introduction: All of you are okay on this and so no changes are necessary.
b) Arguments: Many of you failed on this so you must make your arguments on whether
you agree or disagree (see example in (c)). Then provide your justification. At least
four arguments must be provided.
c) Supporting sources: You must support your arguments with the necessary supporting
sources and you must use the appropriate method to cite these sources. For example:
(My own words)
“I agree that honesty in scientific reporting must be given high priority by science
students’ and scientists alike. Honesty as defined by the The Sage Dictionary (c.f. The
Sage's Dictionary Online) is worthy of being dependent on or marked by truth. Truth
refers to a true statement or conforming to reality or actuality. There are many
examples that had been found in the scientific culture where truth of science activities
was not reported in scientific writing. In 1989, two scientists from Utah reported they
were able to harness energy from cold fusion (c.f. Times Magazine, 1989). Their
announcements in the press conference brought surprises to the scientific
community.”
d) Formatting of the article: Since your article is very long, you must create special
sections for your discussion. Sections include Introduction, Argument 1, Argument 2,
Argument 3, Argument 4 and Conclusion. This will make your article more neat and
organized,
e) Word Count: If your article is less than 2900 words than you will need to increase
your discussion to make it to at least 2900 words.
C3: Research: Most of you received credit for this.
C4: References: This is where most of you flawed in many ways. I have asked you to use
either the scientific format or the APA format when you cite the sources in the body of
your text. Many of you did not do that. So, go check again on my website for examples
on how articles are cited. When you cite it in the text then you must list it in the
references section. The example below shows an APA format for the citation I made in
my short article above.
REFERENCES:
Fusion Illusion (1989). Times Magazine. May 8 th , 1989. Accessed Nov 14 th , 2008.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957604,00.html

TheSage's Dictionary Online. Accessed Nov 14 th , 2008.
http://www.sequencepublishing.com/thesageonline.php
C5: Originality: You need to use your own words in order to pass this category and if you
fail this category, then you fail the term paper. I have seen so many term papers from
different students with exactly the same text indicating that all of you were just copying and
pasting rather than using your own words to write. Even if you cannot produce your own
writing throughout the article, at least make an effort to argue using your own words.
Those of you who failed the term paper will be
given until 6pm, Tuesday Nov 18 th , 2008 to
resubmit hardcopies of your amended article.
Otherwise, you will FAIL the term paper and the
course.