1. C HAPTER 5 Writing the Research Paper

2. C OMING U P WITH A T OPIC 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?

3. P REPARING FOR R ESEARCH Most research begins with narrowing a broad topic. The goal is to come up with a thesis statement or research question.

4. R ESEARCH P ROPOSALS 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

5. RECORDING IMPORTANT INFORMATION Keep careful records of source information Complete names of authors Complete book/article/chapter titles Name 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

6. CHOOSING RESOURCES Subject and research guides The library catalogue Encyclopedias, dictionaries Scholarly books In-depth Provide wide context Journals (print and electronic)

7. CHOOSING RESOURCES, CONT’D Online databases Access journals for current content Subject-specific databases Core databases for individual disciplines Full-text databases Include compete text of article Subject-specific databases Subject area “core” databases Bibliographic and full text databases

8. SEARCH STRATEGIES Keywords Reflect important concepts from topic Boolean operators AND combines keywords OR includes all keywords NOT eliminates keywords Truncation and wildcard symbols Enable you to search for variant keywords

9. SEARCH STRATEGIES, CONT’D Subject headings (descriptors) Words/phrases describing article Limiters Provide more relevant results Peer-reviewed Date range Article type Format Publication type e.g., book, periodical, newspaper

10. ASSESSING THE CREDIBILITY OF SOURCES Reputable Associated with well-known group Easily accessible information about site purpose and sponsors Reliable Accurate information Sources named Fact separated from opinion Claims supported by objective evidence Verifiable content

11. ASSESSING THE CREDIBILITY OF SOURCES, CONT’D Recent Date of article/website Prefer recent sources Though importance of currency can vary with topic Relevant Related to thesis Directly supports point

12. WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT: INTEGRATING SOURCES Summary Uses main idea(s) Uses your own words Omits detail Is shorter than original Paraphrase Includes all the original Uses your own words Is about the length of the original

13. 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

14. WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT: INTEGRATING SOURCES, CONT’D Combining direct quotations and summary/ paraphrase Contributes to efficient writing Stresses significant words Omitting unneeded words in direct quotations Use three spaced dots (...) to show one or more words omitted Use four spaced dots to show words omitted to end of sentence

15. WRITING THE ROUGH DRAFT: INTEGRATING SOURCES, CONT’D Use square brackets […] to indicate changes to a direct quotation Adding or changing words To correct grammar To make stylistic change To clarify or add needed information

16. 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 words place words taken directly from the source in quotation marks change sentence structure of source

17. WRITING THE FINAL DRAFT: DOCUMENTING SOURCES, CONT’D You may not have to cite a source if it represents common knowledge the idea/ fact is familiar to a reader an 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

18. MAJOR DOCUMENTATION STYLES Modern Language Association (MLA) Used in humanities Parenthetical: “author-number” style American Psychological Association (APA) Used in social sciences/ sciences Parenthetical: “author-year” style Chicago Manual of Style (CMA) Used in history and a few other disciplines Note style Many style variants exist

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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.

24. 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

25. 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.