Writing Criteria
Excellent | Good | Meets Requirements | Needs Substantial Improvement |
Unacceptable* |
|
Thesis / Hypothesis |
Sophisticated, well developed thesis/hypothesis that is clearly stated | Good, competent thesis/hypothesis that is clearly stated | Adequate thesis/hypothesis that is clearly stated | Weak or unclearly stated thesis/hypothesis | No Thesis/Hypothesis |
Analysis |
Sophisticated use of critical thinking to integrate evidence and to support thesis/hypothesis |
Good, competent use of critical thinking to integrate evidence and to support thesis/hypothesis | Adequate use of critical thinking to integrate evidence and to support thesis/hypothesis | Weak use of critical thinking so that evidence is not sufficiently integrated and thesis/hypothesis is poorly supported | No analysis applied to support the thesis or to demonstrate understanding of sources/evidence |
Presentation |
Meets professional presentation standards for the discipline and alldirections for the assignment are followed |
Generally meets professional presentation standards for the discipline but may contain a fewcareless errors; directions for the assignment are followed | Meets minimal professional presentation standards for the discipline but may contain someerrors that show inconsistency; directions for the assignment are followed | Professional presentation standards for the discipline not met due to many formatting errors; not all directions for the assignment are followed |
p Is not formatted correctly p Does not follow directions p Has no title |
Grammar / Mechanics |
Free from errors in p Grammar p Usage p Capitalization p Punctuation p Spelling |
Occasional errors in p Grammar p Usage p Capitalization p Punctuation p Spelling |
Several errors in p Grammar p Usage p Capitalization p Punctuation p Spelling |
Many errors in p Grammar p Usage p Capitalization p Punctuation p Spelling |
Too many errors in p Grammar p Usage p Capitalization p Punctuation p Spelling |
Organization |
Sophisticated logical organization with a clear line of reasoning |
Good, competent logical organization with a clear line of reasoning | Adequate logical organization with a clear line of reasoning | Weak logical organization with a clear line of reasoning | Writing not logically organized. Frequently ideas fail to make sense. Reader cannot identify a line of reasoning. |
Comments |
Excellent | Good | Meets Requirements | Needs Substantial Improvement | Unacceptable* | |
Appropriateness of Sources for a Scholarly Paper | Excellent choice of sources for a scholarly paper | Good choice of sources for a scholarly paper | Adequate choice of sources for a scholarly paper | Poor choice of sources for a scholarly paper | No evidence of sources |
Use of Sources to Support the Argument |
Sophisticated use of sources to enrich thesis/hypothesis; original conclusions or divergent opinions are drawn from sources |
Good, competent use of sources to enrich thesis/hypothesis; sources are fairly represented | Adequate use of sources to extend thesis/hypothesis |
Poor use of sources: p Arbitrary source usage p Over-use of single source p Excessive quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing |
Notable discrepancies between References / Works Cited / Bibliography and in-text citations (i.e. sources used in paper without full bibliographic info provided) |
Correctness According to Style of References / Bibliography / Works Cited Page | All elements of citations present and all sources are cited and formatted perfectly according to style |
All elements of citations present, but some formatting errors |
Most elements of citations present but with some formatting errors | Major elements of citations are missing along with consistent formatting errors | There is no References / Works Cited / Bibliography page |
Correctness According to Style of In-Text Citations |
All quotes, paraphrases, and summaries follow in-text citation rules perfectly according to style. |
Some minor errors (i.e., punctuation) with in-text citation |
Several major errors in following in-text citation rules |
p Consistent major errors in following in-text citation rules p Unclear attribution of ideas in paraphrase or summary |
p In-text citations missing p Quotes, paraphrases, or summaries not represented correctly |
Academic Integrity / Plagiarism |
Exemplary use of sources so that no plagiarism occurs, all sources are represented fairly, and a spirit of academic integrity is exhibited in the writing of the paper and the completion of the assignment | Good, competent use of sources so that no plagiarism occurs | An isolated incident of unintentional plagiarism due to carelessness | Repeated incidents of unintentional plagiarism due to misunderstanding of a single concept |
p Cheating p Consistent incidents of unintentional plagiarism that show little understanding of academic integrity |