Writing Research Papers

Preface

Chapter 1 Writing from Research

1a Why Do Research?

1b Learning The Conventions of Academic Writing

1c Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism

1d Understanding a Research Assignment

Understanding the Terminology

1e Establishing a Schedule



Chapter 2 Finding a Topic

2a Relating Your Personal Ideas to a Scholarly Problem

Connecting Personal Experience to Scholarly Topics

Speculating about Your Subject to Discover Ideas and to Focus on the Issues

2b Talking with Others to Find and Refine the Topic

Personal Interviews

Online Discussion Groups

2c Using Online Searches to Refine Your Topic

Using an Online Subject Directory

Using an Internet Keyword Search

2d Using the Library's Electronic Databases to Find and Narrow a Subject

2e Using the Library's Electronic Book Catalog to Find a Topic

2f Developing a Thesis Statement, Enthymeme, or Hypothesis

2g Drafting a Research Proposal

The Short Proposal

The Long Proposal

Your Research Project



Chapter 3 Organizing Ideas and Setting Goals

3a Using a Basic Order to Chart the Course of Your Work

3b Using Your Research Proposal to Direct Your Notetaking

3c Listing Key Terms and Phrases to Set Directions for Notetaking

3d Writing a Rough Outline

3e Using Questions to Identify Issues

3f Setting Goals by Using Organizational Patterns

3g Using Approaches across the Curriculum to Chart Your Ideas

3h Using Your Thesis to Chart the Direction of Your Research

Your Research Project



Chapter 4 Gathering Sources Online

4a Beginning an Online Search

CHECKLIST: Evaluating Internet Sources

4b Reading an Online Address

4c Using a Search Engine

Subject Directory Search Engines

Robot-Driven Search Engines

Metasearch Engines

Specialized Search Engines

Educational Search Engines

Educational Search Engines Maintained by Libraries

4d Searching for Articles in Journals and Magazines

Online Journals

Online Magazines

4e Searching for Articles in Newspapers and Media Sources

4f Searching for Photographs and Other Visual Sources

4g Accessing E-Books

4h Using Listserv, Usenet, and Chat Groups

4i Examining Library Holdings via Online Access

4j Finding an Internet Bibliography

4k Conducting Archival Research on the Internet

Your Research Project



Chapter 5 Gathering Data in the Library

5a Launching the Search

5b Developing a Working Bibliography

5c Finding Books on Your Topic

Using Your Library's Electronic Book Catalog

Using the Library's Printed Bibliographies

5d Finding Articles in Magazines and Journals

Searching the General Indexes to Periodicals

Finding Indexes by Topic in Appendix B

Using the H. W. Wilson Indexes

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature

Social Sciences Index

Humanities Index

Searching for an Index to Abstracts

Searching for Abstracts of Dissertations

5e Searching for a Biography

5f Searching for Articles in the Newspaper Indexes

5g Searching the Indexes to Pamphlet Files

5h Searching for Government Documents

5i Searching for Essays within Books

5j Using the Microforms

Your Research Project



Chapter 6 Conducting Field Research

6a Investigating Local Sources

Interviewing Knowledgeable People

Writing Letters and Corresponding by E-mail

Reading Personal Papers

Attending Lectures and Public Addresses

6b Investigating Government Documents

6c Examining Audiovisual Materials, Television, and Radio

6d Conducting a Survey with a Questionnaire

6e Conducting Experiments, Tests, and Observation

Your Research Project



Chapter 7 Reading and Evaluating Sources

7a Finding Reliable Sources

7b Selecting a Mix of both Primary and Secondary Sources

7c Evaluating Sources

Evaluating the Key Parts of an Article

Evaluating the Key Parts of a Book

Evaluating the Key Parts of an Internet Article

7d Outlining a Source

7e Summarizing a Source

7f Preparing an Annotated Bibliography

7g Preparing a Review of the Literature on a Topic

Your Research Project



Chapter 8 Writing Effective Notes and Creating Outlines

Gathering Printouts, Photocopies, Scanned Images, and Downloaded Data

Writing Notes of High Quality

8a Creating Effective Notes

Honoring the Conventions of Research Style

Using a Computer for Notetaking

8b Writing Personal Notes

8c Writing Direct Quotation Notes

Quoting Primary Sources

Quoting Secondary Sources

8d Writing Paraphrased Notes

8e Writing Summary Notes

8f Writing Precis Notes

8g Writing Notes from Field Research

8h Creating Outlines Using Academic Models

A General All-Purpose Model

Model for Advancing Your Ideas and Theories

Model for the Analysis of Creative Works

Model for Argument and Persuasion Papers

Model for Analysis of History

Model for a Comparative Study

8i Writing a Formal Outline

Using Standard Outline Symbols

Writing a Formal Topic Outline

Writing a Formal Sentence Outline

Your Research Project



Chapter 9 Drafting the Paper in an Academic Style

9a Focusing Your Argument

Maintaining a Focus on Objective Facts and Subjective Ideas

9b Refining the Thesis Statement

Using Questions to Focus the Thesis

Adjust or Change Your Thesis during Research if Necessary

9c Writing an Academic Title

9d Drafting the Paper from Your Research Journal, Notes, and Computer Files

Writing from Your Notes

Writing with Unity and Coherence

Writing in the Proper Tense

Using the Language of the Discipline

Using Source Material to Enhance Your Writing

Writing in the Third Person

Writing with the Passive Voice in an Appropriate Manner

9e Placing Graphics Effectively in a Research Essay

9f Avoiding Sexist and Biased Language

Your Research Project



Chapter 10 Blending Reference Material into Your Writing by Using MLA Style

10a Blending Reference Citations into Your Text

Making a General Reference without a Page Number

Beginning with the Author and Ending with a Page Number

Putting the Page Number Immediately after the Name

Putting the Name and Page Number at the End of Borrowed Material

10b Citing a Source When No Author Is Listed

Citing the Title of a Magazine Article

Citing the Title of a Report

Citing the Name of a Publisher or a Corporate Body

10c Citing Nonprint Sources That Have No Page Number

10d Citing Internet Sources

Identify the Source with Name or Title

Identify the Nature of the Information and Its Credibility

Omitting Page and Paragraph Numbers to Internet Citations

10e Citing Indirect Sources

10f Citing Frequent Page References to the Same Work

10g Citing Material from Textbooks and Large Anthologies

10h Adding Extra Information to Intext Citations

One of Several Volumes

Two or More Works by the Same Writer

Several Authors in One Citation

Additional Information with the Page Number

10i Punctuating Citations Properly and With Consistency

Commas and Periods

Semicolons and Colons

Question Marks and Exclamation Marks

Single Quotation Marks

10j Indenting Long Quotations

10k Citing Poetry

Quoting Two Lines of Poetry or Less

Quoting Three Lines of Poetry or More

Indenting Turnovers for Long Lines of Poetry

Retaining Internal Quotations within a Block

Providing Translations

10l Handling Quotations from a Play

10m Altering Initial Capitals in Some Quoted Matter

10n Omitting Quoted Matter with Ellipsis Points

10o Altering Quotations with Parentheses and Brackets

Your Research Project



Chapter 11 Writing the Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

11a Writing the Introduction of the Paper

Provide the Thesis Statement

Provide the Enthymeme

Provide a Hypothesis

Relate to the Well Known

Provide Background Information

Review the Literature

Review the History and Background of the Subject

Take Exception to Critical Views

Challenge an Assumption

Provide a Brief Summary

Define Key Terms

Supply Data, Statistics, and Special Evidence

11b Writing the Body of the Research Paper

Organize by Chronology

Compare or Contrast Issues, Critical Views, and Literary Characters

Develop Cause and Effect

Define Your Key Terminology

Explain a Process

Ask Questions and Provide Answers

Cite Evidence from the Source Materials

Use a Variety of Other Methods

11c Writing the Conclusion of the Research Paper

Restate the Thesis and Reach beyond It

Close With an Effective Quotation

Return the Focus of a Literary Study to the Author

Compare the Past to the Present

Offer a Directive or Solution

Discuss Test Results

Your Research Project



Chapter 12 Revising, Proofreading, and Formatting the Rough Draft

12a Conducting a Global Revision

Revising the Introduction

Revising the Body

Revising the Conclusion

Participating in Peer Review

12b Formatting the Paper to MLA Style

Title Page or Opening Page

Outline

Abstract

The Text of the Paper

Content Endnotes Page

Appendix

Works Cited

12c Editing Before Typing or Printing the Final Manuscript

Using the Computer to Edit Your Text

12d Proofreading on the Screen and on the Printed Manuscript

Your Research Project

12e Sample Research Papers in MLA Style

Short Literary Research Paper

Sample Research Paper



Chapter 13 Works Cited: MLA Style

13a Formatting the Works Cited Page

13b Bibliography Form - Internet Sources

13c Bibliography Form - Citing CDROM and Database Sources

13d Bibliography Form - Books

13e Bibliography Form - Periodicals

13f Bibliography Form - Newspapers

13g Bibliography Form - Government Documents

13h Bibliography Form - Other Sources



Chapter 14 Writing in APA Style

14a Writing Theory, Reporting Test Results, or Reviewing Literature

Theoretical Article

Report of an Empirical Study

Review Article

14b Writing in the Proper Tense for an APA Research Paper

14c Using Intext Citations in APA Style

14d Preparing the List of References

Book

Periodical

Abstract

Review

Report

Nonprint Material

Internet Sources

Web Sites

Article from a Library Database

CD-ROM

14e Formatting an APA Paper

Theoretical Article

Report of Empirical Research

Review Article

14f Writing the Abstract

14g Sample Paper in APA Style



Chapter 15 The Footnote System: CMS Style

15a Inserting a Superscript Numeral in Your Text

15b Formatting and Writing the Footnotes

15c Writing Footnotes for Electronic Sources

15d Writing Subsequent Footnote References

15e Writing Endnotes rather than Footnotes

15f Writing Content Footnotes or Content Endnotes

15g Using the Footnote System for Papers in the Humanities

15h Writing a Bibliography Page for a Paper That Uses Footnotes

15i Sample Research Paper in the CMS Style



Chapter 16 CSE Style for the Natural and Applied Sciences

16a Writing In-Text Citations Using the CSE Citation-Sequence System

16b Writing a Reference Page

16c Writing In-Text Citations with Name and Year

16d Using Name-Year with Bibliography Entries

16e Sample Paper Using the CSE Citation-Sequence System



Chapter 17 Creating Electronic Research Projects

17a Beginning the Electronic Project

17bBuildingElectronic Presentations

17c Research Paper Web Pages and Sites

Creating a Single Web Page

Creating a Web site with Multiple Pages

Using an Editor to Create Web Pages

Importing, Entering, and Modifying Text

Citing Your Sources in a Web Research Paper

17d Planning Electronic Research Papers

Creating a Plan for Your Research Paper

Designing Your Electronic Research Paper

17e Using Graphics in Your Electronic Research Paper

Graphic File Formats

Creating Your Own Digital Graphics

17f Using Sound and Video in Your Electronic Research Paper

17g Delivering Your Electronic Research Paper to Readers

17h Preparing a Writing Portfolio

17i Presenting Research in Alternative Formats

Your Research Project



Appendix A Glossary: Rules and Techniques for Preparing the Manuscript in MLA Style

Appendix B Finding Reference Works for Your General Topic



Credits

Index