1. The essay must answer the question.
2. The essay must refer to evidence. Claims made in the essay should be supported by evidence and relevant citations to the scientific literature. For example, a weak student might write “agile methods clearly outperform waterfall methods.” The content may or may not be correct but what is weak is that they have not qualified the claim and they have not provided evidence. It is very good if they write, “A questionnaire study suggested that agile methods outperform waterfall methods on client satisfaction ratings (Smith and Jones, 1998).” It is potentially excellent if you raise interesting questions about, for example, the relevance of client satisfaction ratings. Evidence provided in blogs or on websites can be acceptable but is often just opinion and discretion is required.
3. The essay must have a concise introduction that is strictly relevant and introduces and defines the question to be answered. It should not start, for example, with “Since the ancient greeks …”, nor with “Computers are increasingly important in everyday life…”, nor, “Since Bill Gates …”
4. The essay must be well structured with a clear introduction (defining the question to be answered), an answer (citing relevant evidence), and a conclusion (that answers the question).
5. The essay must be followed by references in the Harvard format
6. The essay must have abstract.
