Web Application Security Research
Research Notes Requirements:
You will required to complete 5 self–study research notes in this course. Each research note will cover course materials from a 2–week period. All 5 research notes are due before midnight (11:59 p.m.) on their respective due dates (see Course Schedule or Calendar on Blackboard for due dates for each research note) on Blackboard (Please do not email me your research notes).
The research notes are designed to help you review the course materials and to synthesize the course material with insights from your own research/experience.
Here are the requirements for each research note:
Page limits: Each research note must be 1 page (minimum) to 2 pages (maximum) long (Times New Roman, 12–pt font, single–line spacing, 1–inch margins)
Research note structure and recommended page lengths: Use the following structure and page lengths recommendations in the research note:
Summary of course materials from week 1 of 2 and week 2 of 2 – Summaries must be in paragraph format. Do not use a list with bullet points to summarize course materials. Summaries must be your own paraphrasing of the course materials. Do not copy and paste information from the slides or the articles linked to in the slides to create your summaries.
There is no need to cite the PowerPoint slides. However, if you are using information from an article/video linked to in the slides, then you will need to cite it. Recommended minimum page length: ½ of a page.
Additional insights based on your own research/experience – Do some additional research online and present new insights related to the topics covered in both weeks. Present at least 2 new insights in this section. You should not copy and paste from online resources. You must give proper credit to the source. This means adding both in–text citations in your paragraphs and adding a reference section at the end of your research note. Use the APA citation format for both in–text citations and references. Recommended minimum page length: ½ of a page.
References – You must include at least 2 new references (not including the ones from the slides/videos posted on Blackboard) as a part of your research note. Please make sure that you cite reputed resources and avoid using resources such as Wikipedia as your reference source. If you are not sure of whether or not to use a resource as a reference, send me the information by email and I will let you know whether or not to use the resource as a
reference. The references section must also be in APA format.
Grading Guidelines:
- Each research note will be graded based on the following criteria:
- Completeness of your summaries from week 1 of 2 and week 2 of 2
- The quantity and quality of new insights from your own independent research/experience
- Adherence to page limits, font, font–size, line spacing, and margins
- Use of at least 2 new reference
- Reputation of the reference sources
- Use of in–text citations with matching references and vice–versa
- Appropriateness of the use of the APA format for both in–text citations and references