Not everyone knows what the main disadvantages of term papers are. The first thing that comes to mind is the mistakes and inaccuracies that need to be corrected for the work to be evaluated and admitted to the defense. Disadvantages can be divided into three groups:
- critical shortcomings
- significant shortcomings
- basic shortcomings
The first group includes works that have been taken entirely from the Internet or written borrowed from someone’s essays, as well as coursework that does not contain enough pages. Such shortcomings are the reason that the work will not be allowed to protect if they are not corrected. Such situations are rare, but they need to be kept in mind.
Significant shortcomings are those that relate to the theoretical and practical part of the scientific work, and more precisely – errors associated with incorrect knowledge of the theory and calculations of the practical part. Such shortcomings are much more common than critical ones, they are easy to eliminate and the correction process usually does not take much time.
Incorrect design of the coursework and minor errors in the text are the main shortcomings. Although these errors are simple, they may take longer to correct because a lot of mechanical work is required.
It happens that the teacher did not notice certain shortcomings. In this case, you do not have to change anything and you can safely proceed to the defence of their term paper.
Typical shortcomings
Typical are the shortcomings that are indicated in the review of the work, namely:
1. Lack of a problem approach and analysis of the point of view of scientists.
This implies that the theoretical and main parts of the question are not fully disclosed.
2. Lack of connection between the theoretical question and the practical part.
This error will occur when the practical section is not based on the first, theoretical one. For example, if the work is performed on the subject of “economics”, the first part should be specified formulas, and in the second – calculations based on these formulas.
3. Incomplete disclosure of the problem, which is considered in the coursework.
That is, in some paragraphs the issue is not fully explored and disclosed. In this case, it is necessary to review the content of the paragraphs by the instructions of the head.
4. Mechanically rewritten material and lack of practical part.
Writing a term paper does not mean that the information found should be rewritten word for word from a literary source. It is necessary to understand the topic and express your own opinion, based on the revised literature.
5. Only textbooks were used to write the term paper.
Scientific work cannot be written without the help of various information sources. It is necessary to take material not only from textbooks but also from periodicals and scientific articles that are relevant to the topic.
6. The topic and some issues of the plan are not fully disclosed.
In this case, you need to consult with the head and supplement your work.
7. Lack of author’s opinion.
The author’s own opinion is one of the main requirements for coursework writing. It should be traced throughout the work, especially in the conclusions and after the presentation of theoretical material.
8. The presence of unnecessary information.
This disadvantage is very common. In the course work, as in any other scientific work, the material must be clearly stated and relevant to the topic. You need to replace the extra paragraphs with your analysis.
9. Duplication of material.
In scientific work, sentences and paragraphs should not be repeated. This is especially true in cases where the same issue is considered for a long time and there is no solution.
10. Introduction and conclusions are general and abstract.
This means that the introductory part does not specify the goals, relevance, purpose, and objectives of the study, and the final part does not contain conclusions. To eliminate this shortcoming, it is necessary to revise the introduction so that it corresponds to all the structural elements, and draw conclusions for each written section and section.
11. Incorrect design.
Quite often in term papers, there are spelling mistakes, not common abbreviations, strikethrough of words or whole sentences, lack of page numbering, etc. This indicates a careless attitude to the work performed.
12. Lack of scientific apparatus.
The lack of references, footnotes, formulas, tables, graphs, and a bibliography is considered a very big drawback, to which can be added a small amount of work.
The term paper may not be written perfectly the first time, but once the writing process is complete, it must be carefully checked, because it is not only a mirror of your knowledge but also your attitude to the learning process. The absence of shortcomings is a guarantee of high marks.
