Project Concept Paper - Outline and Guidelines

Title Page

Provide complete academic information, as you would for any formal assignment: title, author's name/student number/program, recipients' names/positions/organizations, date, and so forth. Use an attractive, easy-to-read format.

Introduction

The Introduction of the project concept should contain a statement of the report's purpose/explanation of the problem, appropriate background information, a concise statement of scope, and a statement of methodology. This section of the project concept paper will be titled Introduction (see above), and it will have four separate subsections, as illustrated below.

Background

You must demonstrate that a problem or a need exists in order to justify your project concept, and you will need to provide background information to acquaint the reader(s) with the problem (since writers generally have more insight into the problem than readers do). Therefore, you will define the problem and provide appropriate background to it. By way of providing background, you might decide to provide a description of the existing situation (history of the problem/ brief review of the literature on the topic) and/or a discussion of previous approaches to the problem. You might also discuss the advantages/benefits associated with completing this project.

In most cases, this section will include information from research sources; this material must be properly documented according to the APA documentation style. (The APA Style Manual can be purchased at the MUN bookstore; it is on Reserve at the Marine Institute library. Be sure to consult one of these sources; documentation should not be guesswork. It is very precise, and you will be expected to produce error-free documentation to ensure that your paper is as credible and professional as it can be. Please consult your instructor if you are in doubt about how to cite a source after having consulted the appropriate reference tools available.)

Purpose

The reader(s) must understand the purpose/objectives of the project; therefore, a clear and precise purpose statement is required. Writers often begin with some general comments about the topic and lead into a specific statement of purpose. Some writers actually use the words "The purpose of this report will be to ..."; others use a question to indicate the purpose, and so forth. Whatever will do the best job of explaining what you propose to do is what you want. In cases where the explanation of the purpose is expanded to include specific objectives, it is not unusual to see these objectives written in bulleted form. The following is one approach to writing objectives:

• Write a lead-in to the list (as has been done for this list).
• Use bullets and an infinitive phrase (to + verb + phrase).
• Regardless, basic objectives should still be included as part of the project purpose description.

Scope

Scope means the boundaries of the project. Here you tell the reader(s) exactly what will be covered in the report. In the statement of scope, you will identify the report's main sections in the order in which they will be presented. For the purpose of your project concept paper, a brief overview of the intended sections will be sufficient.

In some cases, you may need to explain limitations; that is, you should mention anything you feel the reader(s) should know that might explain possible (or perceived) shortcomings in the report. (Budget restrictions or time might be limiting factors, for example.) Do not feel you have to invent limitations, however.

Procedure

Proposal writers generally tell the reader(s) how they plan to go about doing the proposed work; in other words, they explain their methodology. You should explain how you plan to go about collecting information for the report. You might indicate, for example, that you have already gathered and will continue to gather secondary research information through library research and/or primary information through interviews, experimentation, questionnaires, and so forth. If you expect a good deal of information to come from a couple of sources, you might name those specific sources; however, this report will be a lengthy one, and it is expected that there will be a substantial References list. You might refer the reader to the References list (partial though it may be) at the end of the project concept paper.

If your project will involve experimentation, here is the place to discuss the procedures or technology you plan to use. You should provide a reasonably detailed description of what you plan to do/what is involved in the experimentation. Include as much detail as is necessary to gain reader confidence in your work. This description of your project concept approach to the project should help convince the reader(s) that you have a logical, carefully prepared plan in mind.

References

This project concept paper must have a properly formatted, error-free References list. The list may not be complete, but the sources consulted to date (both secondary and primary) must be included.

Appendices

Appropriate material which might be of interest, but which is not absolutely essential to gaining an understanding of the project concept, may be included in an appendix. Some items appropriate for an Appendix might be a glossary, a large table, a list, a sample survey or questionnaire used in the research.

Students are required to include a special appendix in the project concept paper containing information about themselves and their Project Supervisor. This appendix will follow the same format as in the sample draft/final report, but it will not be identified in the paper itself.

Students are required to include in the special appendix the following information about themselves:

• name and complete mailing address
• telephone number(s)
• email address
• educational background
  • diploma received/date (prior to enrollment in Bachelor of Technology or Bachelor of Maritime Studies Programs)
  • Institution's name and address (city and province)
  • Bachelor of Technology or Bachelor of Maritime Studies Program courses completed to date

Students are required to provide, in the same appendix, the following information about their Project Supervisor:

• name
• title/position held
• company name, mailing address and telephone number
• email address
• pertinent academic background