Chidlren's vacinnation paper :

Paragraph 1: Introduction and thesis sentence

• Introduce the topic
• Pro or Con - state whether your argument is Pro or Con 
• Include a thesis statement as your last sentence.  A thesis statement clearly states what your paper is going to cover.  It gives an overview of the points you will make.  This will organize and define the main points of your paper.   
  • Hint: Write your thesis sentence last.  That way you can focus on the flow of information within the body of your paper and then make your thesis sentence match your topics at the end of your writing process.  
  • Example: This paper will illustrate the pros and cons of X, refute common arguments for/against X, and propose a public health policy to address this important public health topic.

Paragraph 2 and 3:  Chosen side of the argument

• Briefly, but persuasively, summarize your chosen side of the argument.  This needs to be in your own words.  You cannot use direct quotes from any source, including Procon.org (Links to an external site.). Be sure to use APA referencing when appropriate for summaries and paraphrasing.
• Your summary should include 5 main ideas between the two paragraphs.
• Include at least 3 references from academic, peer-reviewed journals.  These must be different from the sources used in paragraph 4.  Provide an in-text citation for each reference (see APA Style Citation Guide).   
  • Your references must clearly support your chosen side of argument
  • You may use sources of information other than academic journals in addition to academic journals, but not in place of them.

Paragraph 4: Opposite side of argument and rebuttal

• Briefly summarize the opposite side of the argument.  This needs to be in your own words.  You cannot use direct quotes from any source, including Procon.org (Links to an external site.). 
• Your summary should include 2 main ideas. 
• Include at least 2 references from academic, peer-reviewed journals.  Provide an in-text citation for each reference (see APA Style Citation Guide & Tutorial). 
  • Your references must clearly support the oppositions' side of argument
  • You may use sources of information other than academic journals in addition to academic journals, but not in place of them.
• Be sure to offer a rebuttal for each main idea. I encourage you to present a main idea and then refute it. Then present the second main idea and refute it.

Paragraph 5:  Policy recommendations

• Based on your completion of the Policy Design Worksheet, present your policy recommendation here. Be detailed in your discussion and improve upon what you wrote in the Worksheet.
• Include stakeholders who may be affected by this policy recommendation (individuals on both sides of the issue).
• Your policy should be unique, and should not simply state the assigned side of the topic.  For example, your policy cannot be to keep the issue legal in states where it is already legal.  This is simply maintaining the status quo, and will not be accepted as a unique policy.

Technical Requirements for Policy Papers:

• 500-700 words, 5 paragraphs, essay format
• Double-spaced, 12 point font, 1" margins
• Submit to the correct link in Assignments.  This uploads your paper to TurnItIn, a plagiarism detection device.  See plagiarism information under Institutional Policies.
• Correct grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc.
• Use peer-reviewed, academic journal references. All peer-reviewed articles are reviewed by experts in the article topic. Peer-reviewed journals are considered the gold standard of academic research.  Some examples of peer-reviewed academic journals include American Journal of Public Health and New England Journal of Medicine. Magazines, news websites, and newspapers arenot examples of peer-reviewed content. This paper must include a total of 5 peer-reviewed, academic journal articles. A few notes about peer-reviewed, academic journal articles:
  • Magazines, news websites, and newspapers are not examples of peer-reviewed content. Internet resources such as blogs and Wikipedia are not peer reviewed journals. Lay press such as Washington Post and Time Magazine are not peer reviewed journals. Even many governmental and non-governmental summary publications and reports, such as from the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and the American Heart Association, are not peer reviewed journals. As well, many text books are the summary and conclusions of individual authors and have not undergone a formal peer review process.
  • ProCon.org (Links to an external site.) contains many sources on the topic, however not all of these sources are peer-reviewed journal references. If you use information from ProCon.org (Links to an external site.), cite the original source of that information, and verify that the original source is a peer-reviewed journal.  Points will be deducted for failure to do so.
  • An excellent resource for finding health related peer reviewed journal articles is PubMED, the National Library of Medicine's article index.  Go to the USF Health Sciences Library website at http://library.hsc.usf.edu/ (Links to an external site.) and click on the link to PubMED to conduct an article search.