Research Papers

1. Shaping Your Topic. Conducting Your Research. Making Preliminary Decisions. The Nature of Your Paper Your Purpose in Writing Your Audience Helpful Techniques for Getting Started Narrowing Your Subject Evaluating Possible Topics Helpful Techniques for Narrowing Your Search Formulating a Thesis. Writing a Prospectus. Recording Possible Sources. Considering Main Points. Exercise A: Preliminary Decisions. Exercise B: First Steps. 2. Understanding Research Resources and Procedures. Understanding the Library. Using the Catalog. Call Numbers Classification Systems Online Catalogs Locating Books Understanding Internet Resources What Can You Find on the Internet? Browse and Search Strategies Searching Commercial Databases The Reference Room The Reference Librarian General Reference Works Exercise C: Exploring the Library. Exercise D: Searching Reference Works. 3. Using Basic Reference Sources. General Listings of Books and Articles Books In Print Vertical File Index Essay & General Literature Index Readers' Guide Humanities Abstracts Humanities International Index Education Abstracts ERIC SocINDEX Academic Search Premier Newspaper Indexes Newspaper Source LexisNexis Academic General Indexes Bibliographic Index Biography Index MLA International Bibliography Citation Indexes Book Review Index Book Review Digest Exercise E: Searching for Books and Articles. 4. Evaluating and Recording Material Responsibly Evaluating Sources Criteria for Evaluating Internet Sources Criteria for Evaluating Print Sources Fact vs. Opinion Other Sources of Information Government Publications Corporate Publications Additional Library Sources Organizations Personal Research Sources Using Sources Efficiently Downloading and Photocopying Information Taking Notes Exercise F: Differentiating Fact and Opinion. Exercise G: Taking Notes. 5. Avoiding Plagiarism. Defining Common Knowledge. Avoiding Unintentional Plagiarism: Paraphrase, Summary, and Quotation Using Internet Sources Exercise H: Avoiding Plagiarism: 10 Practice Passages. 6. Constructing Your Outline. Types of Outlines Running Outlines Topical Maps Working Outlines Formal Outlines Conventions of Outlining Examples of Formal Outlines Sample Sentence Outline Sample Topic Outline Combination Outline Exercise I: Analyzing a Faulty Outline. 7. Writing Your First Draft. Putting Words on Paper Getting Started Finding a Time and a Place to Write Freewriting Organizing Your Notes Fine-Tuning Your Outline Getting Your Draft on Paper Opening Gambits Closure Managing Borrowed Material Managing Summaries Managing Quotations Exercise J: Managing Borrowed Material. 8. Preparing Your Final Copy. Effective Revision. Developing Your Outline. Writing in an Appropriate Style Using the Active Voice Varying Sentence Patterns Avoiding Jargon Writing Concisely Using Nondiscriminatory Language Proofreading. Formatting Your Manuscript Exercise K: Proofreading and Revision. 9. Documenting a Paper MLA Style: In Text Citation and Works Cited Listing Sources Checklist of Bibliographic Forms Examples: Books Examples: Periodicals Examples: The Internet and Other Electronic Media Examples: Nonprint or Unpublished Sources In-Text Citation Examples: Print Sources Examples: Nonprint Sources Explanation and Reference Notes. Sample Papers: In-Text Citation Olivia Sanchez: Understanding and Dealing with Animal Hoarding Colleen Lee: "A Monstrous Joy": Ambivalent Messages in The Story of an Hour Exercise L: Listing Sources in Works Cited. 10. Documenting a Paper MLA Style: Endnotes Kinds of Citation Notes Footnotes Endnotes First References Subsequent References Split Notes Sample First Reference Note Forms Examples: Books Examples: Periodicals Examples: The Internet and Other Electronic Media Examples: Nonprint and Unpublished Sources Sample MLA Paper: Endnotes James Kellogg, The Decline and Fall of the Oneida Community. Exercise M: Citing Sources in Endnotes, MLA Style 11. Documenting a Paper APA Style. Listing References Examples: Books Examples: Periodicals Examples: The Internet and Other Electronic Sources In-Text Citation. Sample Paper: APA Style Michael George, The School Uniform Debate. 12. Documenting a Paper: Other Styles Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) Discipline-Specific Variations of APA and Chicago Style Biology Business Criminal Justice Economics Political Science Sociology The Number System. Computer Science Mathematics Documentation in Footnotes Chemistry Physics Appendix A: Abbreviations and Basic Terms. Scholarly Forms. Library Terms and Abbreviations. Publishers Names. Months States. Appendix B: Specialized Reference Works. Art. Biology. Business. Chemistry. Computer Science. Criminal Justice. Ecology. Economics. Education. Ethnic Studies. Film. History. Journalism. Literature, Music. Myth, Folklore. Nursing. Philosophy. Physics. Political Science. Psychology. Religion. Sociology, Social Work. Women's Studies. Index.