Assignment: Paper Preparation: Countering the ISIS/ISIL Threat

Review the instructions for the Final Paper in Week Five of your online course or in the "Components of Course Evaluation" section of this guide. Develop a thesis and outline, and an Annotated bibliography for at least five sources to be used in your final paper in addition to the references identified in the assignment. This prep assignment is intended to help you prepare for the final draft of the Framework.

This assignment must contain the following elements:

• Thesis. Write a thesis statement for your Final Project. The thesis statement should synthesize the point or claim you intend to argue or prove in your paper. In your Final Paper, the thesis should be the final sentence of your introduction and the first sentence of your conclusion.

• Outline. The outline must include all of the required components stated in the assignment instructions.

• Annotated Bibliography of five academic references. The annotated bibliography must contain:

o APA Citation.
o A summary of the article to include, what the author tested, major conclusions and recommendations.
o Summarize how each source will contribute to your Framework.

Scholarly references standards include:

• Primary (original) sources written by experts in the field of study
• Secondary sources supported by research in primary sources
• Credible sources (experts in the area of study)
• Relevant research (materials are pertinent to the area of study)
• Peer-reviewed journal articles (journal articles reviewed by recognized experts in the relevant field of study) are required.
• Official Government Websites are appropriate sources of information.
• Educational websites may be appropriate in some cases but should be evaluated carefully.

The following are examples of what is not acceptable for academic research and referencing:

• Encyclopedias
• Dictionaries
• Wikipedia, other wikis, or blogs
• Websites and other sources that do not provide quality researched materials (site does not use credible sources to support the information in the document)

All research must reflect professional academic protocol and be documented according to APA standards (Please see guidelines for avoiding plagiarism).

APA Title and Reference Page

The assignment should include a properly formatted APA (6th ed.) style title and reference page. The reference page must include at least five academic sources. In addition to the required APA citation for each source, the reference page should also include a summary of the source.