The Research Paper will be 19% of the course grade and consist of 14-20 double spaced pages (excluding title page and reference page). The research will address one of the following five topics:1. Terrorism and Organized Crime: Similarities and Differences (Connected to Course Learning Objective #4, i.e., Report on how terrorism differs from organized crime).2. History of Organized Crime in the U.S.(Connection to several Course Learning Objectives #2. Assess organized crime’s ability to continue flourishing through the application of sociological and criminological theory; #3 Interpret the historical and socio-political patterns of organized crime in the United States; #6 Compare the origins, characteristics, and national makeup of Asian Crime and Russian organized crime groups, #7. Separate traits and characteristics of the two main Italian Mafia groups, that is, the well-known Cosa Nostra and the newer Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta; and #8. Scrutinize major organized crime statutes, such as the Harrison Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and Prohibition).3. Explaining Organized Crime Through the Lens of Rational Choice Theory, oranother sociological and or criminological criminal justice theory of your choice. (Connected to Course Learning Objective #2, i.e., Assess Transnational Organized Crime’s ability to continue flourishing through the application of criminological theory).4. Which Poses the Biggest Threat to the U.S, Russian, or Asian Organized Crime? (Connected to Course Learning Objective #6. Compare the origins, characteristics, and national makeup of Asian Crime and Russian organized crime groups).5. A topic of interest to the student, which is fully related to this course, and approved in advance by the instructor. Note: Any proposed topic must be shown to directly connect to one of the course learning objectives identified in the syllabus. This paper must have at least 10 references from primary sources, for example, the weekly readings, peer-reviewed journals, etc. The use of newspapers, news magazines, and similar periodicals must be kept to a minimum but a fine for background material. Students are encouraged to use the APUS online library in order to utilize peer-reviewed journals to the maximum extent possible.Web sources should be evaluated based on the site sponsor, among other things, such as: How long has the site existed? Is there sufficient information to judge credentials, authenticity, credibility, and bias? Are facts supported by cited sources? Is the material published only on the web? Wikipedia is not an acceptable source.The evaluation of the paper will be based upon the rubric below.The research paper must be written using the American Psychological Association (APA) style 7th Edition. In part, this must include the following: (b) Times New Roman style, (c) 12-point font, (d) double-spaced, with (e) 1-inch page margins all around.
For the paper, please follow the below format/roadmap:
Title page
Abstract
Introduction
Headings as needed for the body of the paper that you create/name based on the focus of your paper
Conclusion
References
Note: All quotes must be encapsulated in quotation marks with in-text citation including the page number. Direct quotes over 40 words must be in block format. Likewise, all papers must be 100% original work for this class. The discovery of past work being used will be treated as cheating and plagiarism and as a minimum will result in a 0 for the paper. Also, the rubric aside, papers that fall short of minimum length will have a max point award related to the % of the paper they actually submit. For example, the max possible for a paper that is 50% short of the minimum length will be 50%.
