Article brief 1

Article Briefs: Personal Reading

It is important to relate course material to the real world of policing. Regular reading of current literature promotes this idea. It also fosters reading and comprehension skills and develops the ability to summarize complex ideas into understandable segments. It reinforces the course content by connecting it to current events and even your experiences. It builds good research habits by providing a structure for acquiring and digesting information. It teaches you to synthesize data and concepts into workable presentations in an acceptable format. An article brief generally should be no more than 1 ½  to 2 pages in length. A format for these short article briefs follows:

Pick articles from a reading list provided by the instructor, a printed source such as a professional or refereed journal or even a credible Internet source on the related leadership topic. Attach copies of article(s) if not web based. If web based, supply the link.

Synopsis:                    Summarize what the article says in a paragraph or two. Concentrate on key concepts or critical data. Your synopsis (summary) section should describe the theme of the article, and then discuss what the article might have in common with class discussion or the text book.

Why Chosen:             In a paragraph tell what specifically attracted you to the article.

Application to

Course:                       In a paragraph, explain to which topic or subject matter this item relates in this cours. What personal experience or connection to the text does the article have for you?

Your assessment:       Your comment or critique about the content of the article in a paragraph or two tells what, if anything, you learned from this article.

Citation:                     In APA format give the source, date and details for the article.

Time Allotted:             3-4 hours per article (reading 6 min / page;  90 min writing time)

Examples:

Basic Format for a book:

Inciardi, James A. (2007) Criminal Justice (8^th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Article In a magazine:

Kadrey, R. (1998, March). Carbon copy: Meet the first human clone. Wired, 6. 146-150, 180, 220.

Document from a web site:

Coram, J. (1999, June 4). Commencement grads show richness, diversity. Community College Times. Retrieved June 17, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.aacc.nche.edu/headline/060499head2.htm.