he paper must be at least 8-10 pages double spaced in length and documented in APA style. The title page and reference pages are NOT included in the length requirement-the paper must be 8-10 pages of content.  The student must use at least eight scholarly references when researching the topic.  Scholarly references should primarily include scholarly peer reviewed articles.  Specifically, only two of the eight resources can come from alternative sources such as websites (ending in .gov, .org, .edu. only) or other scholarly material; the other six resources must come from scholarly peer reviewed articles (To find scholarly, peer-reviewed articles it is recommended to use the university library database social work journals, PSYCinfo, Medline or other databases with the option to limit search results to scholarly, peer reviewed, full text material only).  Textbooks may be used for support, but not as a primary source.  Please refer to the writing tips for the research papers in the Introduction section of this course for detailed instructions on acceptable resources and APA style.  Paper is due the 5th week of class and is worth 100 points.  It is encouraged for students to review the rubric for this assignment in the Introduction section of the course as well.  When reviewing the rubric, you will notice that students are expected to address “core issues” related to the chosen topic. 

An example of “core issues” related to a chronic illness experienced by many older adults would be examining the scope/severity of the issue, significant statistics in regards to target populations with the illness, defining the illness, symptoms of the illness, short and long term effects of the illness, and treatment(s) for the illness and effectiveness of available treatment(s).

An example of “core issues” related to a social service area related to aging would include examining the social problem leading to the development of the service, the scope and severity of the problem before and after implementation of the service, funding for the service, assessment of clients, interventions provided by the service area, and evaluation of the social service’s effectiveness.