The research proposal is a composite of all of the previous assignments. This is the first big step on road to writing your creative research project. This formal proposal will focus your research and writing effort. It must be precisely written, and including the cover page, should be about five pages long.

Before you will be able to complete this assignment, you must complete enough research to be conversant on the topic you are proposing. You should start by using Lexis, available through the APUS On-line library, to access law review articles on your topic. Those law review articles will become a point of departure to access primary sources on your topic, such as statutes, legislative materials, case law, regulations, and others. Of course you may also use law review articles, other periodicals, and other secondary sources for your paper.

Note that as you read these articles and other materials, you should take notes. You must have a system in place from this point forward to keep track of your sources and the information you pull from your sources. It is helpful to draft your full Bluebook citation for each of these sources before you start taking notes. As you take notes, keep careful track of exactly where you find the information. This will help you immensely when you start writing and footnoting your sources.

You should now have enough to be ready to finalize your proposal. That said, before you begin to draft your final formal proposal, it is important to take a step back and think about your topic and the feedback you have received on your previous assignments, which are the building blocks for this formal proposal. Ask yourself why the topic matters, and why you care about it. Consider what you have learned from your readings. This will likely involve going back and reviewing your notes. Ask yourself again what your purpose is in writing about the topic. What do you want your reader to walk away thinking about after reading your paper? Once these things are clear in your mind, and you have helpful notes on your paper, you are ready to start finalizing the proposal. Do not just blindly cut and paste from your earlier submissions. Instead, put it all together carefully, proofreading for structure, content, and writing mechanics / grammar. This is your formal proposal, so make sure you get it right.