Department of Plant Agriculture- Rubric for Term Papers
Name:___________________________ Grade:___________________________

Component	Excellent	Acceptable	Fail	Comments	
Thesis - subject of your paper to be proven or disproved by use of evidence and analysis.	•	clear, precise, thorough, and well-defined
•	insightful and elegantly stated
•	plausible and persuasive
•	well-proven through evidence and analysis
•	may present novel ideas	•	thesis rather general or too broad
•	many important terms left undefined
•	unclear statement of position
•	lacks originality (repeating questions already answered)	•	no evident thesis		
Analysis	•	isolates and defines most pressing questions
•	identifies the scope and complexity of the issues
•	relates existing arguments to evidence supporting thesis
•	evaluates and judges evidence
•	draws conclusions that unveil deep, novel implications of the questions and issues	•	little analysis
•	interpretation fails to grasp full relevance of issues
•	relationship between evidence and thesis is not always clearly defined	•	no evidence of analysis
•	reliance on disconnected lists and inventories of data without interpretation
•	anecdotal evidence
•	conclusions not connected to the thesis		
Use of Evidence	•	evidence of strong familiarity with relevant research and concepts
•	rich use of primary and secondary sources that supports position
•	references are correctly cited
•	precise and appropriate scientific language used
•	deals convincingly with opposing evidence	•	basic understanding of some core ideas evident
•	use of primary and secondary sources superficial or incorrect
•	incorrect or missing references, inconsistent citation style but conventions largely observed
	•	lacks understanding of key concepts
•	minimal or no use of relevant source materials
•	evidence does not support argument
•	lack of referencing		
Organization and Structure	•	transitions between ideas are clear and smooth
•	each paragraph contains distinct units of thought and are clearly introduced
•	paragraph arrangements are logical and conducive to a persuasive argument	•	awkward or abrupt transitions
•	some paragraphs too weak or undeveloped
•	some underdeveloped ideas
•	many paragraphs without introductions or transitions
•	more than one idea in a paragraph	•	no transitions
•	incoherent paragraphs
•	jumbled structure
•	lack of planning and revision clearly evident		
Grammar and Style	•	all writing conventions are observed (margins, font size, spacing, citations style)
•	very few or no errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation
•	sophisticated and persuasive sentences in active voice, where possible
•	appropriate use of primary and secondary references
•	appropriate report structure with headings and sub-headings	•	wordy or emotional
•	unclear or awkward sentences
•	some imprecise use of words
•	some major grammatical errors 
•	Minimal use of headings and sub-headings	•	wordy, non-academic style
•	poor sentence structure
•	frequent grammatical errors
•	inappropriate word choice
•	poor grammar
•	frequent typos