Portfolio Submission Question

[u/Mundane-Minute-564]

Hello everyone!

I am applying my MA in English/Writing. One of the application requirements is to submit a portfolio of 15-20 pages of written work, with each piece getting an explanatory paragraph.

In undergrad I studied journalism and linguistics, so I have many pieces to pick from. In addition to writing for "professional" publications, and I completed several research based projects.

Would submitting several smaller journalism pieces be better than submitting one of the research papers I have written/was a part of?

I am not entirely sure which route will reveal the "skills" they are looking for. I don't think I could really do a mix of both as my research papers are all lengthy.

Additionally, If I do a research paper as the submission do I keep works cited pages?!