Rubric for Term Paper

Homework assignments generally involve writing and do not have unambiguous right-or-wrong answers. The purpose of this term paper is to review previous research on a topic. This rubric establishes criteria for evaluating the term paper.

Criteria and Qualities	1	2	3	4	5	
Relevant actors, whether actually participating in criminal market or merely affecting its functioning (25 percent)	Precisely identifies the actors who affect the criminal market; discusses relevant typologies of actors	Mostly accurately identifies the actors who affect the criminal market; discusses relevant typologies of actors	Identifies with overall accuracy the actors who affect the criminal market; discusses relevant typologies of actors	Vaguely identifies the actors who affect the criminal market; discusses relevant typologies of actors	Very poorly identifies the actors who affect the criminal market; discusses relevant typologies of actors	
Roles performed by relevant actors (25 percent)	Discusses excellently how relevant actors affect the functioning of the criminal market	Discusses well how relevant actors affect the functioning of the criminal market	Discusses adequately how relevant actors affect the functioning of the criminal market	Discusses poorly how relevant actors affect the functioning of the criminal market	Discusses very poorly how relevant actors affect the functioning of the criminal market	
Emergence of and critically important changes to criminal market (20 percent)	Precisely identifies when the criminal market emerged and/or changed; if appropriate, discusses theories of such criminal markets	Mostly accurately identifies when the criminal market emerged and/or changed; if appropriate, discusses theories of such criminal markets	Identifies with overall accuracy when the criminal market emerged and/or changed; if appropriate, discusses theories of such criminal markets	Vaguely identifies when the criminal market emerged and/or changed; if appropriate, discusses theories of such criminal markets	Very poorly identifies when the criminal market emerged and/or changed; if appropriate, discusses theories of such criminal markets	
Location of criminal market (20 percent)	Very thoroughly discusses where the criminal market is located and how its location affects its functioning	Thoroughly discusses where the criminal market is located and how its location affects its functioning	Adequately discusses where the criminal market is located and how its location affects its functioning	Poorly discusses where the criminal market is located and how its location affects its functioning	Very poorly discusses where the criminal market is located and how its location affects its functioning	
Grammar, spelling, and usage (10 percent)	Writing is clear, with excellent word choice and grammar, and correct spelling	Writing is clear, with acceptable word choice and grammar, and mostly correct spelling	Writing is clear enough to allow comprehension, with mediocre word choice, grammar, and spelling	Writing is difficult to comprehend, with major errors in word choice, grammar, and spelling	Writing is difficult to comprehend, with serious and persistent errors in word choice, grammar, and spelling	

As indicated in the syllabus, plagiarizing even a sentence, or more, will result in a grade of 0. Citing sources without using them in the text of the paper will be considered an example of falsification and will result in a grade of 0. Sources must be cited, and listed in the reference list, in accordance with the author-date system explained in the “Format for Paper Citations” document.
If the paper is shorter than the stipulated 2,200-word to 2,800-word range, the grade will be lowered proportionately. A 10-page paper is approximately 2,500 words, so a 2,000-word paper will be considered as only 80 percent of a completed assignment; a 1,750-word paper will be considered as only 70 percent of a completed assignment; and so on.
If the paper contains fewer than the required 10 acceptable sources, the grade will be lowered proportionately (e.g., 9 acceptable sources will be considered as only 90 percent of acceptable sources; 8 acceptable sources will be considered as only 80 percent of acceptable sources; and so on). The assignment specifies what counts as an “acceptable” source and what does not.

Write a term paper that discusses one of the following transnational criminal activities:
1.	drug trafficking,
2.	weapons trafficking,
3.	trafficking in counterfeit goods,
4.	transnational cybercrime,
5.	human trafficking,
6.	migrant smuggling,
7.	transnational sex crimes,
8.	transnational environmental crime, and
9.	transnational money laundering.
Limit your paper topic to one or more subareas of one of the 9 subject areas listed above. Limit your topic by market, one subtype of good / service, one stage of the production process (Matthew S. Jenner's chapter in the Reichel and Albanese textbook is a good example of how to do this), and/or one span of time; if you can't find enough to discuss one subtopic, then you can expand the scope of your paper to two or more subtopics, but the subtopics should be related so that your paper discusses a unified subject matter.
You must employ at least 10 sources for your paper. One of the sources must be the chapter in the Reichel and Albanese textbook that corresponds to your paper topic.
•	drug trafficking: chapter 4
•	weapons trafficking: chapter 5
•	trafficking in counterfeit goods: chapter 6
•	transnational cybercrime: chapter 7
•	human trafficking: chapter 8
•	migrant smuggling: chapter 8
•	transnational sex crimes: chapter 9
•	transnational environmental crime: chapter 10
•	transnational money laundering: chapter 12
The other sources must come from a) Sims Library catalog collection; b) Criminal Justice Database (found at this link); or c) the bibliography of one of the chapters in the Reichel and Albanese textbook. Sources must be cited, and listed in the reference list, in accordance with the author-date system explained in the “Format for Paper Citations” document. Every source that is referred to in the paper must be listed in the reference list at the end of the paper, and the reference list must not include any sources that are not discussed at least briefly in the paper.
Although the term paper is described in the syllabus as “10 pages long,” students have more leeway than that indicates. Specifically, the term paper must be between 2,200 words and 2,800 words. The word count will not include the list of works cited page, title of the paper, your name, course name, course number, or date. In other words, you are required to write from 2,200 to 2,800 words of text.
Points will be deducted if the paper is longer or shorter than these limits. The points deduction is based on the assumption that a standard term paper will be 10 pages long, which is approximately 2,500 words. So, a paper that is, for example, 2,100 words long would be treated as a paper that is only 9 pages long, which is 90 percent as long as it should be. Such a paper would have its grade reduced by 10 percent. A 2,000-word paper would be treated as an 8-page paper and have its grade reduced by 20 percent; and so on. Points will also be deducted for papers that exceed the 2,800-word maximum.
The term paper must be typed double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font, and the margins must be one inch on all four sides of the paper. Do not put spaces between paragraphs. The paper must be submitted through Moodle as a word processing file in .rtf, .doc, or .docx format. Your grade will be reduced by 5 percent if one or more of the conditions regarding type font, size, and spacing, margins, and type of computer file are not met.
In the main body of your paper, you should discuss these things:
•	Who is involved in the criminal activity that you are discussing? Include individuals and groups who contribute to the flourishing of the criminal market as suppliers, customers, regulators (if they contribute to the criminal market by not acting to diminish it), or in some other way.
•	What do the various involved individuals and groups do to help get the illicit good or service from the initial supplier to the final customers? When discussing this, you must also describe the relevant factors (e.g., governmental, cultural, demographic, economic) that promote or hinder the activities of the involved individuals and groups.
•	Where is the illegal market located? How does the location affect the functioning of the market?
•	When did the market emerge and/or change in basic ways?
•	Also, if any of the authors you cite discuss relevant theories of your transnational criminal activity (i.e., why the illegal market exists), you should discuss them.
If you want more information about the criteria that will be used to grade the term papers, you can consult the rubric at the "Grading Rubric for Term Papers" link under the "Course Information — Start Here" tab on the course Moodle page.
30 percent of total grade
Due on April 22, 2021