Each paper should be organized in the same manner with the following sections:
- Introduction An introduction should be provided to present the topic to the reader. This section should provide a general background on your topic and answer questions such as: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How Much? Impact? The introduction should also state the related legal issue(s) that you will be addressing.
- Project Complexity and Information flow section will be the main body of your paper. This is where you will clearly identify the major project complexity themes and how risk management techniques apply. Furthermore, each student should identify the criticality of information flow and how it relates to project complexity. The student should fully develop an argument and support with examples.
- Recommendation: This section is a clear and pointed recommendation based on the developed argument.
- Conclusions The conclusions state the significance of what you have learned through your investigation and preparation of the paper; it is not merely a summary of what has already been written. An explanation of why this topic is important to a contractor, or an engineer should also be included.
- References: Cite sources as they occur in the body of the paper by the author's last name and the year of publication, such as (Sitzabee, 2008). Do not use footnotes at the bottom of the page. All of the sources should be listed alphabetically at the end of the paper in the references section. You should refer to a technical writing manual for the proper way to cite references.
The overll length of each paper should be two pages or approximately 1200 words. Papers that are not two pages in length or are shorter than 1000 words or are longer than 1250 words will be penalized. The text of the paper should be single-spaced in a two column format and printed on the front and back of one piece of paper. Please use Times New Roman 11 point or 12 point font.
Tables and figures are not required but you may include one or two if it is necessary. If you do choose to insert tables and/or figures, please label them as follows:
- Table 1. Example Table Caption (Center and number caption above table)
- Figure 1. Example Figure Caption (Center and number caption below figure)
In addition to learning new material related to construction finance, another purpose of preparing papers is to help the student develop writing skills. Although this is not a creative writing course, or even a technical writing course, good communication is paramount to being an effective engineering and construction professional. The best way to develop these skills, particularly at the graduate school level, is through practice. Therefore, your papers will be graded for technical content as well as professional presentation.
The following are helpful hints when writing technical papers:
- Avoid the use of personal language, such as I, me, and my
- Do not use contractions, such as don't, shouldn't, or wouldn't; spell out all words
- It is acceptable to use abbreviations but state what it stands for at its first use, such as United States Air Force (USAF)
- Avoid the use of colloquialisms, such as "where the rubber the meets the road;" readers from a different culture may not be familiar with what it means
- Avoid large expanses of white space on the page; one blank space between each section of the paper should be sufficient