Doctoral introduction and research question are fully developed and clearly articulated. The plan identifies and explains the area of research and its
significance. Communication theory and scholarly references are used to justify the purpose of the research and the research question is clearly developed.

1. Build a paper opener (i.e. Introduction) which paints a picture of why your area of interest is significant and relevant to the Strategic Communication
   Community (2-3 paragraphs).
2. Then the Introduction of the paper should have a final paragraph which displays the papers purpose (i.e. actually state, “The purpose of this paper is to
   explore….”) and develop into a thesis statement that would summarize the nature of your research.
3. Finally, the student should formally write a RQ (i.e. Research Question) which should emerge from the introduction and purpose statement. Students
   should look in the APA manual about how to display a research question in a research paper.