iRubric: English Program Capstone Research Paper rubric

--Sources are highly scholarly, reliable and current.
--Research is in-depth and the beyond the obvious, revealing new insights gained.
--Essay could proudly be submitted to a graduate school as a very respectable work of academic research.
--Clearly exceeds the scholarly expectations for the English Program's graduating seniors.

--Sources are generally scholarly, reliable, and current.
--Research is notable, and of extensive depth.
--With some revisions, essay could be submitted to a graduate school as respectable work of academic research.
--Clearly meets and/or exceeds the scholarly expectations for the English Program's graduating seniors.

--Sources are acceptable although scholarly quality is lacking at times.
--With fairly extensive revisions, Capstone Project could be submitted to a graduate school as a reasonably solid sample of academic research.
--Acceptably meets the scholarly research expectations for the English program's graduating seniors, although the essay reflects a sense that the student is not fully prepared for rigors of gradate school.

--Sources are primarily unreliable, dated, and/or not scholarly.
--Primarily surface research.
--Capstone project requires extensive revisions to be acceptable for graduation.
--Research quality barely meets the expectations for the English program's graduating seniors.

--Sources are completely unreliable, not scholarly, and/or lacking.
--Information interferes with ability of a reader to understand paper & does not support topic.
--Capstone project far too weak to receive graduate school consideration.
--Project fails to meet minimal expectations for a graduating senior from the English program.
--Student required to complete further scholarly research before graduation is granted.

--Support for thesis is complex, complete, & in-depth.
--Extensive sources are provided to support all elements of the topic.
--Citations are highly persuasive & well-placed to support thesis.
--Includes skillful use of paraphrases & summaries.
--Extremely clear, well-executed organization with an effective introduction, body, transitions, and conclusion that extends initial thesis.
--Clearly exceeds # of required sources
& pages.

--Support for thesis is strong & skillfully planned.
--More than sufficient sources provided to support thesis.
--Citations support thesis & are well-placed.
--Essay does not rely too heavily on outside sources & includes skillful paraphrases & summaries.
--Impressive, clear organization includes an effective introduction, body, transitions, & conclusion.
--Meets or exceeds # of required sources and pages.

--Support for thesis is adequate but not fully persuasive.
--Most sources are relevant to thesis & support main topic.
--Citations are sometimes sparse or essay relies heavily on quoted material, may tend to lack skillful paraphrases & summaries.
--Organization is weak at times and project tends to lack fully developed introduction, body, transitions, & conclusion.
--Paper needs revisions to fully realize thesis.
--Meets minimum # of required sources and pages.

--Support for thesis is insufficient.
--Citations often interfere with ability to understand paper or are irrelevant to thesis and/or rely too heavily on outside sources; paper is basically a series of quoted material strung together with occasional, random commentary.
--Poor, missing and/or undeveloped organization, introduction, body, transitions, and conclusion.
--Barely or fails to meet minimum requirements for # of sources & pages.

--Support for "thesis" is extremely weak or missing completely.
--Organization, introduction, body, transitions, and conclusion all lack depth and coherence.
--Citations either do not support thesis and/or submerge students' own writing with quoted material.
--Fails to meet even minimal requirements for # of scholarly sources and pages.
--Student required to complete new Capstone project before graduation is granted.

--All sources follow current MLA style guidelines in both paper & Works Cited.
--Contains clear, concise abstract and/or outline if required.
--Nearly or completely spotless in terms of errors in current MLA citation conventions.

--All sources are properly cited according to current MLA guidelines in both paper and Works Cited.
--Contains a solid, clear, concise abstract and/or outline if required.
--Few, if any, major errors in current MLA citation conventions.

--Most sources are properly cited according to current MLA guidelines in both paper and Works Cited.
--Contains acceptably clear, concise abstract and/or outline if required.
--Errors in MLA format and/or punctuation are minimal but tend to distract the reader, and compromise the scholarly quality of Capstone Project.

--Many and/or all sources not properly cited according to current MLA guidelines in both paper & Works Cited.
--Fails to include or fully develop abstract and/or outline if required.
--Numerous errors in MLA citation conventions barely meet minimal expectations for successful completion of Capstone Project.

--No sources properly cited according to current MLA guidelines in both paper & Works Cited.
--Missing abstract and/or outline if required.
--Voluminous errors in current MLA citation conventions make Capstone Project unacceptable.
--Via major revisions to Capstone Project, student must demonstrate a solid handle on basic MLA citation protocols before graduation is granted.