Title Page.
Table of Contents. Learn how to generate this in Word. Do not put section numbers in by hand.
Executive Summary. Do not write this until you have finished the rest of the paper. It is a one page overview of your proposal for people who may not read the paper in depth.
Introduction. What is the area/problem? Why is it of interest? How will you approach it? What results do you expect? You may wish to give an overview of the remaining sections.
Background. This should be detailed enough for the reader to understand the present state of the area and your proposed project. It will require a literature search, as well as your synthesis of the information. Most of it can go in your final paper next semester.
Plan. A detailed plan for the spring semester's work, including tasks, milestones, schedule, resources needed, and evaluation criteria. Each task should contain the number of hours you expect it to take. You should use Microsoft Project to help you describe and schedule the work.
Bibliography.
Appendices. These should contain supplementary material as needed.
Writing: It is hard to write clearly. Get a lot of help early and try to incorporate the ideas into later prose. Date all submissions. Do not underestimate the importance of proofreading before giving me material to examine: if a paper is full of poor grammar and style, you won't get the full benefit of my experience because I'll be distracted by those problems.
Please include the following in the body of the email with each submission.
Your proposal must be reviewed by a member of the Writing Clinic or acceptable substitute. Document who reviews it and when. You will not be able to get help at the last minute, so plan ahead.
Plagiarism: You must credit any diagrams or illustrations that you do not build yourself. Copying graphics or text from a paper or electronic source without crediting it is plagiarism and an honor code violation.
A template for formatting proposals.
The form I will use for course/proposal feedback.