Assignment task: Critical review (50%) Guidance on the assignment

Assignment task: Critical review (50%)
Guidance on the assignment:
Using the theories and concepts about international regimes, namely a network of actors with the shared interest to address a particular global challenge, critically engage with the discussions and arguments brought forward in ONE of the three following texts:
Wegge, Njord (2011), "The political order in the Arctic: power structures, regimes and influence", Polard Record, Vol. 47, Issue 02, pp 165-176.
Young, Oran (2012), "Arctic Tipping Points: Governance in Turbulent Times", Ambio, vol. 41, no 1.
Wilson, Page (2016), "Society, steward, or security actor? Three visions of the Arctic Council", Cooperation and Conflict, vol. 51, no. 1, 2016, pp. 51-74.
Your critical review should analyse the arguments developed in the article you choose by using theories, concepts and approaches studied in the module. Adopting the perspective of one or several scholars and/or readings from the module, investigate the conceptual underpinnings and theoretical presumptions of the arguments presented, and review the claims and standpoints developed by the authors.

It is important that you do not just summarise what is stated in the article but make independent arguments about what is being analysed, what is missing from the analysis, what is taken for granted or what is left unquestioned. In particular, think about how the theories and practices around international regimes could help explain the position of stakeholders regarding the governance of the Arctic.

Word Limit: 2,000 words

The word count excludes the title and bibliography but includes all footnotes and in-text references. Your word count must appear at the end of your work.
File format:
All assignments must be uploaded as Microsoft word or pdf documents.
Referencing:
You should use Harvard or Chicago in-text references. Further guidance on how to reference correctly can be found here (add link to referencing guidance page).
Plagiarism check:
Make sure that you submit an assignment draft to the Turnitin test submission inbox available for every assignment. Do this early enough that you still have time to make changes to your assignment. After you have submitted your draft, open your submission. In the top right corner you will find a percentage that signals to what extent your coursework is identical with online sources as well as essays submitted to other universities. If you click on the score you can access a detailed report that shows you where the passages identical to your coursework are from, and how similar they are. Please note that the percentages given below are not thresholds for what constitutes plagiarism but are simply meant to help you with interpreting your Turnitin report.

If your similarity score is below 10% overall then there is no significant overlap with other sources. Still check your assignment to make sure that the similarities indicated do not stem from unacknowledged sources you used in your assignment but did not reference. Your score should be as low as possible.

If your similarity score is between 10% and 40% overall then you need to check your referencing. Make sure to read the Turnitin report very carefully and check that all passages identified as identical to another source are either marked as direct quotes, with quotation marks and the original source correctly referenced, or reworded to reduce the similarity while still referencing the original source.

If your similarity score is above 40% overall you should do some substantial work on your assignment before submitting. Your coursework is too similar to other sources and likely classifies as plagiarism (it does not matter whether this is intentional or accidental). The issue could be that you include to many direct quotes or paraphrase too closely to original sources. Check the Turnitin report carefully to identify the issue and rework your assignment.

All submissions to your tutors will go through Turnitin automatically when you submit your final assignment. The issues you can identify through the Turnitin test submission are the same issues that we see and take into account when grading your assignment later – but the Turnitin test allows you to catch and resolve them in advance.

Extensions and Serious Adverse Circumstances:
It is always better to ask for an extension than to submit late! Extensions must be requested at least 24 hours before the submission deadline – if you are struggling with an assignment, do speak to your module leader. When asking for an extension you need to evidence that circumstances beyond your control affected your work on the assignment. Extensions are granted at the discretion of the module leader and cover a maximum of 10 working days. Please note that granting extensions is decided on a case by case basis by the module leader – there is no guarantee that your request is granted, so make sure to ask early when there is an issue.

If your situation – mental or physical illness, death in the family etc. – makes it impossible for you to submit your assignment you can claim Severe Adverse Circumstances (SAC) and re-sit the assignment later. You can access guidelines on the procedure and the SAC form here. The forms are submitted electronically through your student record. Note: you will need to submit evidence (e.g. a doctor’s note) with your SAC form.

This module is passed on aggregate – you need to achieve an overall grade of at least 50% to pass the module.