WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER

WHAT IS A RESEARCH PAPER?

DEFINITION

• A substantial piece of academic writing, usually done as a requirement for a class, in which the author does independent research into a topic and writes a description of the findings of that research.

​

• A formal written report that includes research findings and a student's own ideas.

​

• Research papers are all about organizing your ideas in a linear, understandable format.

​

• A research paper is a report summarizing the answers to the research questions you generated from the sources you gathered information from. Then presenting the work in research paper format.

​

• A research paper requires exactly what the name implies---a lot of research. However, it is more than just a regurgitation of facts or an explanation of a topic. A research paper must give a perspective or make an argument. For example, if the topic of a research paper is abortion, then the writer should take a stance on abortion rather than just list the history of abortion. While it does not need to be for or against abortion, it needs to analyze one of these stances.

​

1. PROPOSE YOUR IDEA TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Find a topic, and narrow that topic down to a project small enough to tackle in the size of the paper you will write. Then propose this idea to your teacher.

​

Media and the World: Too large

Media and Teens: Better

Cyberbullying and Teens: Good

�2. FIND INFORMATION�

Surf the net

• Pay attention to domain name extensions (.edu, .gov, .org) as these tend to be more reliable. Be selective of .com sites. Learn how to evaluate sites critically and to search effectively on the Internet.

​

Check out print materials at the library

• Almanacs, atlases, encyclopedias, guides, reports, government publications

​

Read and evaluate, bookmark, print out, photocopy and take notes of relevant information.

​

As you gather your resources, jot down full bibliographical information (author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, page numbers, URLs, creation or modification dates on Web pages and your date of access) on work sheet, printout, or enter the information on your computer. Remember that an article without bibliographical information is useless since you cannot cite its source.

​

​

​

A Research Guide for Research Students http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

​

�STEP 3. STATE YOUR THESIS�

• Do some critical thinking and write your thesis statement down in one sentence. Your thesis statement is like a declaration of your belief. The main portion of your essay will consist of arguments to support and defend this belief.

​

• With the increasing numbers of teens becoming infected with HIV, teaching high school students about safe sex must become a priority.

​

​

​

A Research Guide for Research Students http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

​

�STEP 4. MAKE A TENTATIVE OUTLINE�

• The purpose of an outline is to help you think through your topic carefully and organize it logically before you start writing. Include an Introduction, a Body, and a Conclusion. Make the first outline tentative.

​

• Introduction Share your thesis and purpose clearly. What is the chief reason for the paper? Explain briefly the major points and why readers should be interested in your topic.
• Body Present your arguments to support your thesis statement. Remember you must have at least two points of support for any position.
• Conclusion Restate your thesis, summarize your arguments, and explain why you have come to this particular conclusion.

​

​

​

A Research Guide for Research Students http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

​

�EXAMPLE OF AN OUTLINE�

1. INTRODUCTION – Brief comment leading into subject matter - Thesis statement on Shakespeare
2. BODY - Shakespeare's Early Life, Marriage, Works, Later Year
1. Early life in Stratford
1. Shakespeare's family
1. Shakespeare's father
2. Shakespeare's mother
2. Shakespeare's marriage
• Life of Anne Hathaway
• Reference in Shakespeare's Poems
2. Shakespeare's works
• Plays
• Tragedies
1. Hamlet
2. Romeo and Juliet
• Comedies
• The Tempest
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Histories
• King John
• Richard III
• Henry VIII
• Sonnets
• Other poems

​

​

​

• Shakespeare's Later Years
1. Last two plays
2. Retired to Stratford
1. Death
2. Burial
1. Epitaph on his tombstone
2. CONCLUSION
• Analytical summary
• Shakespeare's early life
• Shakespeare's works
• Shakespeare's later years
• Thesis reworded
• Concluding statement

​

A Research Guide for Research Students http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

​

STEP 5. ORGANIZE YOUR NOTES

Organize, analyze, synthesize, sort and digest the information gathered to effectively communicate your thoughts, ideas, insights and research finding to others. This is the most important stage in writing a research paper.

​

Include only relevant and understandable information. Make sure you have used your own words and has been carefully noted. Document all ideas borrowed or quotes used to avoid plagiarism. Jot down detailed bibliographical information and it ready for your Works Cited page.

​

​

​

​

​

​

A Research Guide for Research Students http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

​

​

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

PLAGIARISM SIMPLY MEANS…

A piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work; to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own; to use (another's production) without crediting the source; to commit literary theft; to present as new and original idea or product derived from an existing source.

In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.

All of the following are considered plagiarism:

• turning in someone else's work as your own
• copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
• failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
• giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
• changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
• copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not

​

Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism.

WHAT IS MLA STYLE?

DEFINITION

MLA stands for Modern Language Association, and it is the standard format for research and term papers. MLA format includes specific rules for quoting authors, called citations. It also allows for documenting source authors within the text of your research paper, called parenthetical citations. There is also a specific format for creating a Works Cited page.

​

Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental un-credited use of source material by other writers.

​

If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult the Purdue Owl

​

MLA Formatting http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/

​

​

​

MLA GENERAL GUIDELINES

• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
• Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key.
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
• Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
• If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).

​

​

​

​

MLA Formatting http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/

​

�FIRST PAGE OF YOUR PAPER MLA FORMAT�

• Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested.
• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
• Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
• Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
• Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
• Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow instructor guidelines.)

​

​

​

MLA Formatting http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/

�IN-TEXT CITATIONS: AUTHOR-PAGE STYLE�

• MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself (in a signal /attributive verb phrase) or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263). ��Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

​

• Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford U.P., 1967. Print.

​

MLA Formatting http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/

SIGNAL/ATTRIBUTIVE VERB PHRASES

• Pay attention to verb choice; Make sure that you choose verbs that represent what the author is doing or signals what you believe about the author’s position: For example, Smith contends that there are equal numbers of male and female prostitutes in Hollywood. This statement suggests that you believe that the facts are misrepresented. However, Smith reports the City of Hollywood’s latest statistics about prostitutes shows that the numbers are someone else’s.
• Also, pay attention to verb tense, in MLA author’s signal/attributive verbs are always present tense.

USE PROPER PERSON

• Avoid using I.
• Never use personal experience unless called for specifically in a class (for example for a project where you perform your own case study).

AVOID INEFFECTIVE OPENINGS

• Don’t start with a question.
• Don’t start with humor.
• Don’t begin with a definition.
• Don’t start with a purpose statement, “I am writing about…”

​

PARAGRAPHS

• Do write solid, unified paragraphs. Remember one idea per paragraph.
• Closed form prose requires a topic sentence that states that one idea in the first sentence.
• Look at the handout for how to write strong evidence paragraphs.

BASIC RULES WORKS CITED PAGE

• Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper.
• Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.
• Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.
• Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations five spaces so that you create a hanging indent.
• List page numbers of sources efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as 225-50.
• (Like the annotated bibliography we did, but no space between citations.)

​

​

​

​

​

​

MLA Formatting http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/

​

​

STEP 7. REVISE YOUR OUTLINE & DRAFT

Read your paper for content errors, check facts, arrange and rearrange ideas to follow your outline. Reorganize outline if necessary.

​

CHECKLIST ONE:

1.Is my thesis statement concise and clear?

2. Did I follow my outline? Did I miss anything?

3. Are my arguments presented in a logical sequence?

4. Are all sources properly cited to ensure that I am not plagiarizing?

5. Have I proved my thesis with strong supporting arguments?

6. Have I made my intentions and points clear in the essay?

​

​

​

​

​

A Research Guide for Research Students http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

​

Re-read your paper for grammatical errors. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus as needed. Do a spell check. Correct all errors that you can spot and improve the overall quality of the paper to the best of your ability. Get someone else to read it over. Sometimes a second pair of eyes can see mistakes that you missed.

CHECKLIST TWO:

1. Did I begin each paragraph with a proper topic sentence?

2. Have I supported my arguments with documented proof or examples?

3. Any run-on or unfinished sentences?

4. Any unnecessary or repetitious words?

5. Varying lengths of sentences?

6. Does one paragraph or idea flow smoothly into the next?

7. Any spelling or grammatical errors?

8. Quotes accurate in source, spelling, and punctuation?

9. Are all my citations accurate and in correct format?

10. Did I avoid using contractions? Use "cannot" instead of "can't", "do not" instead of "don't"?

11. Did I use third person as much as possible? Avoid using phrases such as "I think", "I guess", "I suppose“

12. Have I made my points clear and interesting but remained objective?

13. Did I leave a sense of completion for my reader(s) at the end of the paper?

​

STEP 8. FINALIZE PAPER

All formal reports or essays should be typewritten and printed.

​

Read the assignment sheet again to be sure that you understand fully what is expected of you, and that your essay meets the requirements as specified by your teacher.

Proofread final paper carefully for spelling, punctuation, missing or duplicated words. Make the effort to ensure that your final paper is clean, tidy, neat, and attractive.

​

Aim to have your final paper ready a week before the deadline. Give yourself the opportunity to read it aloud to a friend to find errors.

​

​

​

​

​