Discussion: An implementation plan

An implementation plan prepares students to apply the research they have identified and vetted to the problem or issue they have identified for their Capstone Change Proposal Project. A literature review enables students to map out and move into the active planning and development stages of the Project.

In this assignment students will develop a 750-1,000-word literature review in which to synthesize what is known and unknown about the Project issue selected. Students will use the information from the PICOT Statement and Evaluation Table assignments prior in the course to develop a planned approach to implementing the evidence-based practice solution. The underlying purpose of this assignment is to analyze how the current research supports the PICOT, and to identify what is known and what is not known in the evidence, providing a logical, constructive argument.

Include the following sections:

Title page
Introduction section
A comparison of research questions
A comparison of sample populations
A comparison of the limitations of the study
A conclusion section, incorporating recommendations for further research

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.