RESEARCH PAPER: THESIS ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS OVERVIEW As a criminal justice professional, you must learn how to perform an academic research paper. In this class, you will perform an academic research paper. We will break down the steps of academic research in this class by working on the Research Paper Assignment in various stages. The Research Paper Assignment will culminate in the Research Paper: Final Assignment. The first step of the Research Paper Assignment is to write the Research Paper: Thesis Assignment. For the Research Paper: Thesis Assignment, start by selecting a criminal justice topic of your choosing. This will be the same topic that you will use throughout the course. Select a criminal justice topic that is of interest to you and that you have not previously written about or researched. Also, select a topic that is current yet developed enough that academic research has been written on the topic. This topic will be the topic you use to write the Research Paper: Final Assignment on. After you have selected your criminal justice topic, begin to develop your position/argument on the topic and the 2-3 major points in support of that topic. Those elements will be included in the Research Paper: Thesis Assignment. INSTRUCTIONS Prepare one to at least two sentences that include the following elements: The criminal justice topic you have selected; Your argument/position on the topic; and 2-3 major points in support of your argument/position on the topic. The selected criminal justice topic must be sufficiently limited for the substantive content of at least five pages. The statement must take a position on a narrowly focused criminal justice topic. The thesis must be no more than two sentences long. The thesis must be a declarative statement rather than asking a question. The thesis must be simple and direct. The thesis must demonstrate proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation as well as be written in the third person using formal, academic language. The thesis must be written in current format.

please list references in current format