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Each student will select a topic that is associated with forensic science and the law that is of interest to them.  These papers may be related to any type of forensic evidence regardless of whether the evidence is discussed in class or not.  This research paper will be divided into three sections.  The first section will address the history and development of the scientific evidence (i.e. how has DNA testing developed over the last two decades).  The second section will address how the evidence is generally collected and preserved for trial (i.e. how are fingerprints lifted and secured until the trial begins).  The final section will address the legal issues associated with the admission of the evidence into trial (i.e. how have the courts addressed the admission of digital photographs into trial).  To ensure that there is no confusion about what is an acceptable topic, each student will submit a brief synopsis (a typed abstract of less than one page indicating what the student will write their paper on, as well as what resources they intend to use, etc.) of their intended research paper no later than February 11, 2005.  Additionally, to assist students who have a propensity for continuously putting off the writing of their research papers, each student will submit a copy of their reference page (listing of all books, articles, websites, etc.) to the professor no later than April 1, 2005.  Failure to submit either of these assignments on a timely basis will result in reductions to the student’s final grade on the paper.  The final paper will be due to the professor no later than April 22, 2005. 

             Undergraduate Requirements:

Undergraduate students will complete a 12 to 15 page paper (does not include title page and abstract but does include reference page).  This paper must be written in either Times New Roman (should be close to 12 pages) or Ariel font (must be closer to 15 pages).  The margins will be 1.25 left and 1.00 top, right, and bottom.  The paper will be double spaced and will contain no spaces greater than 2.0.  Undergraduate papers must have a minimum of 10 sources, no more than 5 of which may be electronic (NOTE: The professor will allow the use of EBSCOHOST without considering this to be one of the 5 electronic sources).  This research paper must be completed in the APA format and will be graded on: content (what information is provided), grammar (punctuation, verb usage, etc.) and APA format (how well the paper adheres to the APA format.  The paper will account for 30% of the undergraduate student’s final grade. 

             Graduate Requirements:

Graduate students will complete an 18 to 20 page paper (does not include title page and abstract but does include reference page).  This paper must be written in Times New Roman with margins of 1.25 left and 1.00 top, right, and bottom.  Graduate papers must have a minimum of 15 sources, no more than 8 of which may be electronic (NOTE: As in the case of undergraduate papers, EBSCOHOST does not count as an electronic source).  This research paper will be graded on: content (what information is provided), grammar (punctuation, verb usage, etc.) and APA format (how well the paper adheres to the APA format.  The paper will account for 40% of the graduate student’s final grade.