Capstone Information

Grade of Pass/Fail will be posted in the month of graduation.

• Length: Minimum 15 pages (including title page but not including the list of references).Page layout and font: Letter-sized pages in portrait orientation with 1.5  inch margins top and left and 1 in margin right and bottom. Page numbers should be included in the footnotes but omitted from the title page (with the Literature Review section starting on page 2). Use Calibri, Arial, Times or Times New Roman font in point size 12 for the main text. Figures/tables, labels and legends may contain smaller font sizes but all writing must be easily legible when printed at 100% size.
• Title page: List Capstone Title, Name, Graduation date (not the submission date). Title page also contains the complete abstract. FOLLOW TEMPLATE provided in Biomedical Information class.
• Abstract: Include an abstract of no more than 300 words on the title page. The abstract should be single-spaced, provide a brief summary of the background and define the question or problem addressed and the goal of the paper. It concludes with a brief summary of the findings.
• Literature Review: Commonly 10-12 pages, double-spaced. This section should describe the background needed to understand the topic and justify why the topic is important, followed by a presentation of published results. Make sure to cite references where needed but do not directly quote from your sources. This section can and should include figures and/or tables relevant to the background and the studies reviewed.
• Figures and Tables: Each figure and table has to be accompanied by a single-spaced legend containing a title, description of the figure/table content (including explanations for labels and abbreviations), and source information. In addition, each figure and table needs to be cited at least once within the main text but can be cited in several places when appropriate. You cannot include more than two items (figures or tables) from the same source. There is no maximum or minimum number of figures that you can use; some papers have only 2-3 while others have as many at 6-8.
• Discussion: Commonly 3-5 pages double-spaced. This section must extend beyond merely summarizing the literature review section. Connect across studies or to other work to provide a broader evaluation of the findings presented, which may e.g. include strengths and weaknesses in study design or scope of a study, your evaluation of the authors’ interpretation of results, arising or remaining questions for the field, contrasting findings or conclusions to other fields or patient groups, recommendations for future directions, etc.
• References: A minimum of 15 peer-reviewed references should be utilized (this excludes most web sites and online resources). Format references and in-text citations following APA style, the reference list at the end of the paper should single spaced with a double-space between each citation.
• Capstone checklist: Use the Capstone Checklist (April 2022) to verify the content and formatting of the Capstone paper. Submit the completed checklist together with your Capstone paper.
  • Make sure you check your Capstone on Turnitin on the Plagiarism check on the GMS Dissertation/Thesis page and include the printout and % similarity with your checklist

Capstone-template_Mar2022

• Capstone Checklist: Use the  Capstone Checklist (April 2022)  to verify the content and formatting of the Capstone paper. Submit the completed checklist together with your Capstone paper.
• Turnitin  Plagiarism Check:
  • Make sure you check your Capstone on Turnitin on the Plagiarism check on the GMS Dissertation/Thesis page and include the printout and % similarity with your checklist.
  • Directions on how to gain access to the site can be found here, near the bottom of the page,