BUSN7005 – Part A Referencing Exercise – S2 2024


Weighting: 10%

Due Date: 4pm, Thursday August 29, 2024 via Turnitin

Purpose:
The Referencing Exercise examines students’ ability to appropriately reference
scholarly research, and to identify and organise sources relevant to the completion of
the Research Essay. This task supports students in preparing for writing a research essay
through developing referencing skills and using academic resources to prepare an essay
plan.
This assessment task is to be completed individually.
Required:
It is critical that you carefully and correctly use the Harvard referencing system for this
assessment. If you are unfamiliar with the Harvard referencing system, the ANU
Academic Skills and Learning Centre (ASLC) provides detailed information on
referencing on its website. It is strongly advised that you familiarise yourselves with
this approach prior to completing this task.

Part1—Referencing (3 marks)

Using the ANU Library SuperSearch, Google Scholar, Social Science Research
Network (SSRN) or a scholarly internet search engine of your choice, find and
download the following two articles. The first article, ‘The Political polarization of
Corporate America’, is authored by Fos, Vyacheslav, Kempf, Elisabeth and
Tsoutsoura, Margarita. This article is a working paper that became available in 2022.
The second article, ‘Non-GAAP Reporting: Evidence from Academia and Current
Practice’, is authored by Black, Dirk, Christensen, Theodore, Ciesielski, Jack and
Whipple, Benjamin. This article is published in 2018.

Using the first article, write a short summary of no more than 200 words that contains
the following:

(i) A summary of the article by Fos, Vyacheslav, Kempf, Elisabeth and Tsoutsoura,
Margarita;
(ii) A direct quotation from the article by Fos, Vyacheslav, Kempf,
Elisabeth and Tsoutsoura, Margarita; that is correctly referenced;
(iii) A sentence paraphrasing a specific argument made by Fos, Vyacheslav,
Kempf, Elisabeth and Tsoutsoura, Margarita that is correctly referenced
(i.e. you must re-write a specific argument in your own words and
correctly reference this);

You must use the Harvard referencing system for this referencing exercise. The ANU
Academic Skills Office has a guide to Harvard Referencing available on their website.

Part 2 – Reference search (7 marks)
Using the ANU Library SuperSearch, Google Scholar, SSRN or a scholarly internet
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search engine of your choice, identify at least 10 additional online scholarly journal
articles (excluding the two papers described above) that are relevant to the preparation
of your Part B Research Essay. Identify 2 relevant media articles or survey evidence
published from credible professional sources (i.e. Harvard Business Review, U.S.
Security Exchange Commission (SEC), The Wall Street Journal, etc).

Using these 10 journal articles and 2 media report/evidence, provide the following:

(i) A list of properly-formatted reference list entries for each of the
articles/evidence you have found; and
(ii) A short statement of the key argument/s of each article/evidence and
how you plan to use each of them in your Research Essay (e.g.
demonstrate relevance).

We suggest you present this information in the form of a table (i.e. with each reference
list entry as a new row, and your short statement about the key argument/use of the
article included in the second and third columns). Ensure that this part of your
submission is no longer than 2 pages.

You must use the Harvard referencing system. The ANU Academic Skills Office has
a guide to Harvard Referencing available on their website.


Late submissions of this task are not accepted. Ensure you have allowed
sufficient time to upload and submit your assignment prior to the deadline.

General Information

Submission: Students must submit through the Turnitin system on Wattle. For
additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU website.

Presentation: Your submissions must be word-processed and presented professionally,
using 12pt font and at least 1.5 line spacing. You may use 1.0 line spacing in your table.
Ensure your grammar, expression and spelling are carefully checked before submission.
Long direct quotes should be single spaced and indented from the left margin.

Essay Writing: The Academic Skills and Learning Centre (ASLC) provides a lot of
support for students in writing essays through its website and also in-person through
booked appointments and drop-in clinics. The online booklet ‘Essay Writing’ is useful
in explaining the basics of essay writing strategies. The ASLC website also provides
useful information on referencing and academic honesty.

Extensions and Penalties: Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are
covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions
will only be considered when evidence of medical illness (e.g. medical certificate or
hospital admission documentation) or other serious misadventure can be provided.
Work or other personal commitments are not acceptable reasons for extensions for
coursework assessment. If you need an extension, you must request it in writing on or
before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that
demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you
may be able to request it after the due date.
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BUSN3001 – Part B Research Essay – S2 2024


Weighting: 25%

Due Date: 4pm, Thursday October 10 2024 (Week 10) via Turnitin

Purpose: The Research Essay examines students’ ability to identify appropriate
scholarly research and media articles, critically analyse this literature and develop
written arguments. This task helps students further develop their knowledge of
accounting theory and their written communication skills.

This assessment task is to be completed individually.
Required:
Your research essay should critically analyze the literature and evidence regarding
political polarization and its consequences. It should provide a comprehensive and well-
rounded analysis of the connection between political polarization in corporate America
and firms' likelihood and quality of non-GAAP disclosure.

In your discussions, ensure to address the following key points clearly:
• Identify and explain how political polarization could influence decision-making
processes at the firm level.
• Specifically, regarding non-GAAP reporting, discuss how political polarization
affects firms' decisions to issue non-GAAP reports and the quality of these
reports.

It is expected that your essay will be broadly researched and your arguments should
be well reasoned and evidenced with reference to the existing literature. You are
required to use the Harvard referencing system.

The word limit for this research essay is a strict 1,500 words (i.e. there is no 10%
margin). This excludes the references at the end of the essay (but includes the in-text
references). Marks may be deducted for essays that exceed this word limit.

Assessment Criteria:

The Research Essay will be assessed based upon the following criteria (also see Grade
Related Descriptors below):
• Evidence of scholarly research: extent of literature review, relevance of articles,
substantiation of arguments with references to literature.
• Depth and relevance of discussion: coverage and depth in the focus areas of the
essay, demonstration of knowledge and understanding of theory.
• Critical analysis: level of critical analysis, argumentation, originality of ideas and
insight.
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• Written expression: effective language and writing (including attention to
grammar and sentence construction), structure and coherence of the essay as a
whole
• Consistency with academic conventions: correct and consistent referencing,
formatting and abiding by word count

Note: The criteria listed above are not mutually exclusive but are complementary in
the overall assessment of the assignment. A well-written and organised essay
will receive a zero mark if it is not relevant to the given topic.

The marking rubric used to assess this Research Essay is provided below.

Further notes:
• You do not have to use the same references identified in the Part A Referencing
Exercise. We are not looking for you to use a certain number of references for
this assessment, but consider the 10 journal articles identified for the
Referencing Exercise as a minimum or starting point for your research.
However, we are looking for quality over quantity in terms of the references
used: it is more important to show that you understand and critically analyse the
resources you have found than listing many that you only superficially discuss.
• Plagiarism and insufficient referencing are not tolerated. We expect a high
standard in terms of referencing in this assessment, as the Referencing
Exercise/Essay Plan provided students the opportunity to develop these skills.
Students are encouraged to use the Turnitin Originality Report function to check
the work they plan to submit in the lead-up to the submission date, and ensure
their research essay is entirely their own work. Ensure you allow sufficient time
for Turnitin to complete this report when planning your essay submission.
Instances of Academic Misconduct will be reported and dealt with according to
ANU Academic Misconduct Policy and Processes.
• It is critical that you carefully and correctly use the Harvard referencing system
for this assessment. If you are unfamiliar with the Harvard referencing system,
the ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre (ASLC) provides detailed
information on referencing on its website.

General Information
Submission: Students must submit through the Turnitin system on Wattle. For
additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU website.

Presentation: Your submissions must be word-processed and presented professionally,
using 12pt font and at least 1.5 line spacing. Ensure your grammar, expression and
spelling are carefully checked before submission. Long direct quotes should be single
spaced and indented from the left margin.

Essay Writing: The Academic Skills and Learning Centre (ASLC) provides a lot of
support for students in writing essays through its website and also in-person through
booked appointments and drop-in clinics. The online booklet ‘Essay Writing’ is useful
in explaining the basics of essay writing strategies. The ASLC website also provides
useful information on referencing and academic honesty.
5
Extensions and Penalties: Extensions and Penalties: Extensions and late submission
of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and
Procedure. Extensions will only be considered when evidence of medical illness (e.g.
medical certificate or hospital admission documentation) or other serious misadventure
can be provided. Work or other personal commitments are not acceptable reasons for
extensions for coursework assessment. If you need an extension, you must request it in
writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical
evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the
due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.


Late submissions of this task are not accepted. Ensure you have allowed sufficient
time to upload and submit your assignment prior to the deadline.
6
Assessment Rubric – Research Essay
Please note that the following criteria are not evenly weighted

Criteria HIGH
DISTINCTIO
N 80% - 100%
DISTINCTIO
N 70% - 79%
CREDIT
PASS 60% -
69%
PASS 50% -
59%
FAIL <50%
Evidence of
scholarly
research
The essay
effectively
draws upon a
wide variety of
relevant
scholarly
resources and
provides
evidence to
support all
assertions.
The essay
effectively
draws upon a
good amount of
relevant
scholarly
resources and
provides
evidence to
support most
assertions.
The essay
effectively
references
scholarly
resources and
provides
evidence to
support some
assertions.
The essay
draws upon a
few scholarly
references,
and/or provides
incomplete
evidence to
support
assertions.
The essay
draws upon a
limited number
of scholarly
references.
Depth of
argument
All aspects of
the given topic
are discussed in
a thorough
manner.
Most aspects of
the given topic
are addressed in
depth.
Most aspects of
the given topic
are considered.
Key aspects of
the given topic
are considered.
Essay is
superficial
and/or
inadequate in
scope.
Critical
analysis
The essay
demonstrates
excellent
critical
analysis,
development of
logical
arguments and
insight into the
topic.
The essay
shows strong
evidence of
analysis,
supported by
logical
arguments and
insight into the
topic.
The essay
shows evidence
of elementary
analysis and the
development of
discussion.
The essay is
mainly
descriptive,
showing basic
understanding
of the topic.
The essay
demonstrates
very limited
understanding
of the topic.
Structure and
expression
The essay is
exceptionally
clear, cohesive,
and structured.
Grammar and
expression are
impeccable.
The essay is
clear, cohesive,
and structured.
Grammar and
expression are
excellent.
The essay is
mostly clear in
terms of
structure, with
some
weaknesses in
cohesiveness.
Grammar and
expression are
good, with
some issues.
The essay is
clear in some
areas, and
unclear in
others. Some
structural issues
and lack of
cohesion.
Grammar and
expression are
acceptable.
The essay is
unclear,
disjointed or
confusing for
the reader.
Grammar and
expression
poor.
Consistency
with
conventions
All aspects of
the essay
conform to a
high academic
standard. Word
count is within
limits.
Most aspects of
the essay
conform to a
high academic
standard. Word
count is within
limits.
Most aspects of
the essay
conform to
academic
standards.
Word count is
within limits.
The essay
displays basic
academic
standard, with
some issues or
weaknesses.
Word count is
within limits.
The essay is not
of an
acceptable
academic
standard. Word
count is NOT
within limits.