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Policy Research Project Report Resources
As
a form of socially constructed knowledge, collaborative writing is an
essential skill in the workplace.
As such, the LBJ School of
Public Affairs has
developed the policy
research project (PRP). The PRP is
a
unique, nine month, interdisciplinary course
in which two or more faculty members direct the research of a team graduate
students on a particular policy issue for either a nonprofit agency,
private organization, government agency or other client.
The
LBJ School of Public Affairs provides the following PRP resources:
 PRP examples
Style
guides
PRP
writing resources
Collaborative software
PRP
format guidelines
PRP
Examples
Policy
Research Project Report Series—Wasserman
Public Affairs Library
Is an annotated list of PRPs
Electronic Publications—LBJ
School of Public Affairs
Includes PDFs of several policy research project reports
Style
Guides
The
LBJ Student Publishing Guide—LBJ
School of Public Affairs Communications Department
The in-house style guide
assists students prepare reports that conform
to the required style
of the LBJ School's PRP series.
To cite
sources, the guide uses
a superscript number1 directly after any
quotation, paraphrase, or summary. The
superscript number
corresponds to an endnote, which appears
at the end of each chapter. Because
endnotes contain complete bibliographic information,
it is not necessary for PRP writers to write
a bibliography.
If
the LBJ Student Publishing Guide does
not provide documentation rules for citing
your specific
document,
then use The Chicago Manual
of Style, 15th
edition as your default.
PRP
Writing Resources
PRP
Workshops—LBJ
School of Public Affairs Graduate Writing Center
Consists of practical workshops addressing topics ranging from
adopting practical collaborative writing strategies to using online tools for project management in the fall semester
- Fontaine, Sheryl I., and Susan M. Hunter. Collaborative
Writing in Composition Studies. London: Thomson, 2006.
- Lowry,
Paul Benjamin, Aaron Curtis, Michelle Rene
Lowry, “Building
a Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Collaborative
Writing to Improve Interdisciplinary Research
and Practice.” Journal of Business
Communication, 41:01 (2004): 66-99.
- Lunsford,
Andrea, and Lisa Ede. Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives
on Collaborative Writing.Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1990.
- McTighe, Tom. “Moving the World with Collaborative
Writing.” Intercom. April 2005: 22-24.
- Speck,
Bruce W., et al. Collaborative Writing: An Annotated Bibliography.
Westport: Greenwood P, 1999.
Project Management
Electronic
Collaboration: A Practical Guide for Educators—Northeast
and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University,
the National School Network, and the Teacher Enhancement Electronic
Community Hall
Reference Manager
Is designed for workgroups, networks, and collaborative
groups to organize their references and create bibliographies. A
free thirty-day, full
trial version is available from the Reference Manager website
Speck,
Bruce W. “Facilitating Students’
Collaborative
Writing: Issues and Recommendations.” ASHE Higher Education
Report.
28.6 (2001): 1-121.
Wrike
Is an online tool tool for collaborative project managment
Making a Gantt Chart with Excel—Ralph Phillips, Central Oregon Community College
Mind Mapping Software
Mind mapping is a method
of generating, structuring, and visualizing your ideas. Without the
linear restrictions of an outline, this method may help PRP teams with
brainstorming, planning, and problem solving.
Collaborative Software
PRP writers have a wide variety of social software products to manage their reports. In providing information about the following collaborative tools, the The LBJ
Graduate Writing Center neither recommends nor endorses use. The writing center, however, does support Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum. The LBJ Graduate Writing Center extends a special thank you to Dr. Peg Syverson and Dr. Clay Spinuzzi from the Division of Rhetoric and Writing for demonstrating many of the below types of software during guest lectures.
Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment
Is a suite of “collaborative tools designed to run on a local area network, helps studentd develop their skills in writing and critical thinking.”
Jotspot
This secure wiki allows users to create an intranet, collaborate with a client, manage a project, and collaborately author a document using a WYSIWYG wiki editor.
Google Docs and Spreadsheets
“Is a free web-based word processing and spreadsheet program that keeps documents current and lets the people you choose update files from their own computers”
Zoho Office Suite
Is an web based office suite, which includes applications like an online word processor, spreadsheet, database, wiki, polls, etc.
Basecamp
Is a web-based tool that allows writers to manage projects using calendars, mail and more
Ajax13
Provides various web-based tools such as a word processor, spreadsheets, presentations, illustration and more
Writeboard
Is a free web-based word processing program. See 37signals for more applications
Thinkfree
Provides free online document collaboration
PRP
Format Guidelines
The writing center does not offer formatting assistance
Formatting Policy Research Projects and the Professional Report—LBJ School Communications Department
Discusses how to format PRPs and PRs
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