Before 10am on:

20 working days after deadline (L4, 5 and 7)
15 working days after deadline (L6)
10 working days after deadline (block delivery)

Unit title & code

CS132-6 Developing Independent Research

Assignment number and title

1

Assignmenttype

Written

Weighting of assignment

100%

Size or length of assessment

1000

Unit learning outcomes

1 On completion of this unit you should be able to:

1. Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding
2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of what goes into a research proposal and application, the rudiments of good research design at masters level and beyond.
3. Of the principles behind the circulation of academic knowledge through print publication and other digital forms

1. Demonstrate the following skills and abilities
2. Originate, design and develop original research ideas and proposals with the potential for application to PhD programmes
3. To produce work of a standard consistent with research publications in your field of study and communicate your conclusions clearly to a specialist and non-specialist audience.

What am I required to do in this assignment?

Submit a word document with your name, student ID course and the answers to the assignment questions in your own words. The questions to be answered are:

Please answer the following questions  (60%) and then write a research abstract (40%)

Marks out of 100 are show in brackets

A. Answer these questions

1. Explain the 5 stages of the research cycle (15)
2. Outline the approached used for peer review in research articles for journals. What are the benefits and reasons for using peer review? (20)
3. What is an Open Access journals? Explain, for you perspective, the benefits and drawback of using Open Access for research publications (15)
4. Define Impact Factor of journals Why is it used? (10)

B. Write an abstract, with keywords and references (40% - 40 marks)

Write a structured abstract of 300 words. Your abstract should a) define the research problem b) reference research in the area and say what you propose to do to build on previous research c) state the methods you are going to use d) state the potential significance of the findings

Include at least 3 references in using the Harvard bibliographical style

Include keywords

What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations from UIF)

In order to pass the Assessment you will need to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the debates around the processes of authentication, verification, dissemination of knowledge relevant to your field
• Originate, design and communicate a research design suitable for independent research

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

Follow the presentations carefully and do the activities. Ask questions at the seminars

Full and accurate definitions

Summary of the debates

Show an excellent understanding of research cycle

Write a structured clear abstract on a research topic relevant to your subject

How does this assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?

We have covered

1. The journal title, editors, periodicity (quarterly etc)
2. Peer review status
3. Publisher and/or is it the publication of a scholarly organisation organisation
4. Accessibility, ROMEO status
5. Metrics such as Impact factor, altmetrics
6. Types of articles they publish and typical length - research articles, review articles, short articles, data
7. Writing abstracts, abstracting and indexing services
8. Referencing system required

T=You will be assessed on

• Comprehensiveness and accuracy of definitions you provide
• Identification of your research gap and your research method design in abstract
• Coverage, content and structure of your abstract
• Inclusion of relevant keywords
• Accuracy of your application of the reference style

Your assignment will be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page.

You can use them to evaluate your own work and consider your grade before you submit.

1

Definitions mostly correct..

Definitions correct. 

Definitions correct. 

Definitions correct

2

Use of a recognized reference style

Use of reference style

Use of reference style.

Accurate use of reference style.

3

Some understanding of the controversies.

Most points of usage covered

Most points of usage covered. Debates included.

Debates summarised accurately

4

Abstract relevant to subject.

Abstract and keywords containing some structural elements

Abstract and keywords containing all structural elements

Abstract and keywords containing all structural elements