Final Paper Reminders
Below are reminders/suggestions to use as a guide as you continue to develop the Final Paper.
Purpose of the Paper: In the research brief, you are summarizing academic research available on a particular
(narrowly defined) topic related to digital media topic for a specific audience of PR practitioners. This should be
similar to, and an extension of, the work you did in the Research Writing Methods course, a prerequisite for this
course. (I recommend reviewing the material from your Research course, as a refresher.) In the final paper, you will
also include your own analysis and recommendations regarding how the audience can use the information.
Using the Outline as a Guide: You can expand on the outline to develop the full paper. Each sentence can be
an opening sentence of a paragraph that elaborates on the points you made in the outline.
PR Audience: All PR practitioners will not find all academic research on digital media to be relevant. Place the
information in a specific context, for a specific audience. The audience you identify should be narrowly defined, so
you can provide actionable information in your research brief for that audience. Understanding this context for the
paper is essential, because it will influence how you review the academic research, and provide a lens to analyze the
information. Put yourself in the shoes of the specific PR audience (and assume the instructor is in that audience,
too): What will be most useful to the audience of PR practitioners that you identified? How will they use the
information in their everyday work tasks and activities?
Sources: Only peer-reviewed academic research (journal article) sources can be used. Mainstream publications,
books, or other non-peer-reviewed sources are not part of the academic literature, and they should not be used as
supporting evidence. Review the academic literature/research available on the topic. Implementing PR decisions
involves many resources – time, money, personnel. How reliable and relevant is this research to your audience?
How can it be used to make effective PR decisions?
Evidence/Support: Cite only information from the Results/Findings sections of the journal articles, not from
the research brief or other sections. The Discussion sections can help you to understand and interpret the findings,
but your evidence should be cited from the study results, primarily. Be very specific about what the studies
show/found.
Provide Specific, Actionable Information: General statements are not sufficient and will not be useful to
the audience. If you were a PR practitioner in the audience you identified for your paper, would you find the
information to be usable? How would it influence your decision-making in real-world settings?
Be Concise: The more concise you are, the clearer your information will be, and the more valuable it will be to
the audience. Ensure that you are making every word count, and work. Is each word and each sentence providing
very specific and practical information to the audience?
Writing Process: As a reminder, JHU graduate students have access to a variety of writing resources, including
Tutor.com and the Writing Studio at JHU. See the Modules/Course Resources area of the course page for more
information.
