Writing Manual
Research Proposal and Final Paper Rubric Conversion to Letter Grade
The TAs use the following rubric conversion key along with the four Big Picture Questions to assign final grades to your papers. (For proposal papers, the “Results” section is replaced by the “Expected and Alternative Results”, and the “Discussion” section is replaced by the “Implications” section.) Final papers include abstracts while research proposals do not.
| Letter Grade | Minimum Criteria |
| A | “4” in at least 3 of the main sections (Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion); “4” in overall grammar, organization, wording; no less than “3” in remaining sections |
| AB | Does not meet minimum criteria for an “A”, but has “3” or better in each of the four main sections (Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion) and in overall grammar, organization, & wording. Has a “2” or better on Title, Abstract, and Literature Cited. |
| B | Does not meet minimum criteria for an “AB”, but has “3” or better in at least two of the four main sections (Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion) and in overall grammar, organization, & wording. Has a “2” or better on Title, Abstract, and Literature Cited. |
| BC | Does not meet minimum criteria for a “B”, but has “2” or better in at least two of the four main sections (Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion) and in overall grammar, organization, & wording. Has a “1” or better on Title, Abstract, and Literature Cited. |
| C | Does not meet minimum criteria for a “BC”, but has “1” or better in all four main sections (Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion) and in overall grammar, organization, & wording. Has no more than one zero in remaining sections. |
| D | Does not meet minimum criteria for a “C”, but has “1” or better in at least two of the four main sections (Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion) and in overall grammar, organization, & wording. Has no more than two zeros in remaining sections. |
| F | Does not meet minimum criteria for a “D”. |
