CHAPTER 5 Writing the Research Paper

COMING UP WITH A TOPIC What are you interested in?

Do you have a unique perspective on something?

What would readers like to learn about?

Is there a new angle on an old topic?

PREPARING FOR RESEARCH Most research begins with narrowing a

broad topic.

The goal is to come up with a thesis statement or research question.

RESEARCH PROPOSALS Shows that you are prepared to write on the

topic

Two parts Description (includes):

background why worth exploring includes thesis or research question may include main points

Methodology (includes): names of specific sources you have located kinds of sources you will be looking for/ using

RECORDING IMPORTANT INFORMATION Keep careful records of source

informationComplete names of authors Complete book/article/chapter titlesName of journal, if relevant Other relevant publication information

Names of editors and translators Publisher, date/ place of publication, if relevant

For electronic sources, include all information required by your citation style Include date of access (MLA) Include DOI for articles, if available (APA)

Indicate source wording by quotation marks

CHOOSING RESOURCES Subject and research guides

The library catalogueEncyclopedias, dictionariesScholarly books

In-depth Provide wide context

Journals (print and electronic)

CHOOSING RESOURCES, CONT’D Online databases

Access journals for current contentSubject-specific databases

Core databases for individual disciplinesFull-text databases

Include compete text of article

Subject-specific databasesSubject area “core” databases

Bibliographic and full text databases

SEARCH STRATEGIES Keywords

Reflect important concepts from topic

Boolean operatorsAND combines keywordsOR includes all keywordsNOT eliminates keywords

Truncation and wildcard symbolsEnable you to search for variant keywords

SEARCH STRATEGIES, CONT’D Subject headings (descriptors)

Words/phrases describing article

LimitersProvide more relevant results

Peer-reviewed Date range Article type Format Publication type

e.g., book, periodical, newspaper

ASSESSING THE CREDIBILITY OF SOURCES Reputable

Associated with well-known groupEasily accessible information about site

purpose and sponsors

ReliableAccurate informationSources namedFact separated from opinion Claims supported by objective evidenceVerifiable content

ASSESSING THE CREDIBILITY OF SOURCES, CONT’D Recent

Date of article/websitePrefer recent sources

Though importance of currency can vary with topic

RelevantRelated to thesisDirectly supports point

WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT: INTEGRATING SOURCES Summary

Uses main idea(s)Uses your own wordsOmits detail Is shorter than original

Paraphrase Includes all the originalUses your own words Is about the length of the original

WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT: INTEGRATING SOURCES, CONT’D Direct quotations

Use words of original Include quotation marks around passage

In general, do not quote directly if you are citing statistics you are giving factual information the passage is easy to summarize or paraphrase

Do quote directly if the words or phrasing is significant the source is authoritative the passage is difficult to summarize or

paraphrase

WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT: INTEGRATING SOURCES, CONT’D Combining direct quotations and

summary/ paraphraseContributes to efficient writingStresses significant words

Omitting unneeded words in direct quotationsUse three spaced dots (. . .) to show one or

more words omittedUse four spaced dots to show words

omitted to end of sentence

WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT: INTEGRATING SOURCES, CONT’D Use square brackets […] to indicate

changes to a direct quotation

Adding or changing words To correct grammarTo make stylistic changeTo clarify or add needed information

WRITING THE FINAL DRAFT: DOCUMENTING SOURCES

Plagiarism is a serious academic offence

To avoid plagiarism cite your sources whether you quote

directly or put an idea in your own wordsplace words taken directly from the source

in quotation markschange sentence structure of source

WRITING THE FINAL DRAFT: DOCUMENTING SOURCES, CONT’D You may not have to cite a source if it

representscommon knowledge

the idea/ fact is familiar to a readeran easily obtainable fact

the reader can obtain the information through common sources

Clearly indicate information taken from a source

But do not clutter your essay with unneeded citations

MAJOR DOCUMENTATION STYLES Modern Language Association (MLA)

Used in humanitiesParenthetical: “author-number” style

American Psychological Association (APA)Used in social sciences/ sciencesParenthetical: “author-year” style

Chicago Manual of Style (CMA)Used in history and a few other disciplinesNote style

Many style variants exist

MLA (MODERN LANGUAGES ASSOCIATION) STYLE In-text citations

Include author last name and page number No punctuation If author named in sentence, include only page

number in parentheses

Final-page citations (Works Cited) List sources alphabetically by last name If no author, cite by group name or title of work Double-space and indent second and following

lines Do not number entries

MLA (MODERN LANGUAGES ASSOCIATION) STYLE, CONT’D Final-page citations

Book—list elements in the following order: author last name, first name. title (italics). place of publication: publisher name, publication year. medium of publication.

Periodical—list elements in the following order: author last name, first name. title (in quotation marks). periodical title (italics). volume. issue number (year): page range. medium of publication.

APA (AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION) STYLE In-text citations

Include author last name and year only if reference is non-specific

Include author last name, year, and page number is reference is specific

Include commas between elements in the citation Use abbreviation “p.” for page, “pp.” for pages If author named in sentence, include year after name If author named in sentence, include only page number

in parentheses

Final-page citations (References) List sources alphabetically by last name If no author, cite by group name or title of work Double-space and indent second and following lines Do not number entries

APA (AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION) STYLE, CONT’D Final-page citations (APA, cont’d)

Book—list elements in the following order: author last name, initial(s). (year). title (italics). place of publication, publisher name.

Periodical—list elements in the following order: author last name, initial(s). (year). title. periodical title (italics), volume number (italics) issue number (in parentheses, no italics) page range. digital object identifier

CMS (CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE) STYLE In-text citations

Include superscript number after reference Place corresponding number at foot of page or

end of essay with details on first reference Subsequent references are shortened to last

name, title, page Ibid. used for consecutive references Indent only first line of entry

List elements in following order (book): author first name last name, title (italics) (place of publication: publisher, year), page range.

CMS (CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE) STYLE, CONT’D List elements in following order (periodical):

author first name last name, title (in quotation marks), periodical title volume, issue number (if required) (year): page number.

Final-page citations (Bibliography) List sources alphabetically by last name If no author, cite by group name or title of work Single space entries with double spacing between

each Do not number entries

CMS (CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE) STYLE, CONT’D Final page citations (Bibliography)

Book—list elements in the following order: author last name, first name. title (italics). place of publication: publisher name, year.

Periodical—list elements in the following order: author last name, first name. Title (in quotation marks). periodical title (italics), volume number, issue number (if required) year: page range.