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.
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