You must prepare a research paper on a topic relating to homeland security. A topic withparticular emphasis on critical infrastructure protection involving the Water, Food & Agriculture or IT/Cybersecurity sectors would correspond more closely with the focus of this course, but you may choose to focus on other sectors or homeland security-related issues that are more applicable to your current or desired career, agency or discipline, or to your own academic research interests.Topic proposals are subject to my approval.

The length for the body of the paper should be approximately 15-20 pages (approximately 250-300 words per page, for a total of about 4,500-6,000words), not including the Title Page (with Statement of authorship), Table of Contents, Abstract, Tables, Appendixes (if any), and References.

Usestandardformatting (margins, font, etc.). APA citation style should be followed throughout the paper. Keep in mind that overall length is just one criterion; the major criterion is thequalityof the content.

You may re-use only a limited amount -5% or less -of material from papers you have written for other courses or at other institutions. You must also provide citation for that material in the body of the paper and in the reference list. Not doing so is considered self-plagiarism under APA guidelines (2010, pp. 16, 29, 170). If you feel that you have adequate justification for exceeding the 5% limit, discuss this in advance with the instructor, whose decision will be final.

Please post a description of the topic (i.e., a brief proposal, abstract, or thesis statement) for your research topic for my review and approval.

• Provide a well-formulated thesis statement or abstract.

• Identify your research strategy(ies); for example, using academic and substantive government sources; conducting interviews (this should be limited); collecting and analyzing data.

• List at least 2 academic or substantive government resources on the topic, cited in correct APA reference list format as a preliminary bibliography.