The paper must have a single thesis, neither trivial nor too ambitious. The paper must not (i) merely describe a situation or set of facts, or (ii) simply identify a
problem or issue that deserves more attention. Examples of excessively ambitious theses: (a) Oregon should replace its income tax with a sales tax;
(b) California must repeal the Proposition 13 limits on property tax increases;
(c) A business that places cookies on the computers of customers is outside the
protections of Public Law 86-272, which generally limits an out-of-state seller’s
liability for a State income tax imposed by a customer residing in the State..
More plausible student theses: (a) The City of Salem should enact a modified
version of the payroll tax that was rejected in a November 2023 referendum;
(b) Oregon can and should (or cannot and must not attempt to) impose its
State income tax on Washington residents for remote done in Washington State
for an Oregon employer; (c) an assessment of the role of magistrates in the
Oregon Tax Court.
The final paper should introduce the subject and relevant literature, then present your analysis, making sure to identify and evaluate arguments counter to
your thesis. (It is not plausible to maintain that no relevant counterarguments
have been or might be advanced, so this element of the paper should not be
dismissed in a paragraph or two.) Clearly state the topic and thesis of your paper on the first page (in addition to the abstract, although you may paraphrase
parts of the abstract) and, at the end of the paper, summarize your arguments
in about a page.
Take care to attribute information and ideas properly—be conservative, err
on the side of citing sources, even for points you consider common knowledge
(but not, e.g., Salem is the capital of Oregon, President Lincoln was assassinated). If you received significant (but appropriate) help in researching or drafting
your paper (structuring or revising, for example, but not mere help in proofread-
ing), acknowledge that assistance. (In any event, writing style and tone should
be consistent throughout the paper, even if you compose different sections at
different times.)
Choosing a suitable topic is often the most difficult aspect of producing a research paper, and you may find—and should allow for the possibility—that you
first choice is ultimately not promising. After that, if you have chosen your topic
well, conforming to the formatting, citation and style conventions of a traditional
paper is almost as demanding as developing your argument persuasively. That is
unavoidable, and the nature of the assignment and evaluation of your paper
do take these demands into account. Budget your time accordingly—you are
unlikely to be able to turn a substantively sound rough draft into a polished,
properly formatted, proofread and cited final draft in a day or even two. 
The only sources allowed:  (i) books, articles in
refereed journals or law reviews (Journal of Finance, Northwestern Law
Review, etc.) (most sources in JSTOR and HeinOnline) (ii) traditional print
media (the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, the New York Times, Chicago
Tribune—you may research and cite only online editions of these) and
(iii) their online counterparts (https://www.bloomberg.com/) and (iv) primary
sources such as statutes, regulations and other government documents,
caselaw, financial data (stock and bond prices, for example)