FOLLOW THESE STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PAPER! JUNIOR RESEARCH PAPER STRUCTURE

SET UP YOUR PAPER CORRECTLY Heading: first page only. Four lines: Student name Teacher name Class name and period number Date – due date of the draft you are working on. Header: Last name and page number on all pages except the first page.

SET UP YOUR PAPER CORRECTLY Size 12 font One inch margins (default) Double space (2.0) Click box that says “do not add spaces between paragraphs” Times New Roman style font Indent ALL paragraphs Do NOT add extra spaces ANYWHERE in your paper.

INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH First sentence is a hook: NO QUESTIONS. Your hook may be in interesting fact or statistic, a quote, or an anecdote that relates to your topic. Use an in-text citation if needed. Provide background information your reader will need to understand the debate/controversy you are addressing. Thesis statement – end your first paragraph with your thesis statement. The thesis statement should be the last sentence of your intro paragraph.

BODY PARAGRAPHS Topic sentences: Begin each body paragraph with a topic sentence. Topic sentences should be in your own words. DO NOT begin a body paragraph with a quote. The topic sentence should directly support the thesis statement. Therefore each topic sentence should be persuasive in nature. The topic sentence should introduce the main point your paragraph is making.

BODY PARAGRAPHS After the topic sentence, then you insert the research. You may have quotes or paraphrases, or summaries. Use the ICE technique: Introduce the quote Cite the quote correctly Explain the significance of the quote. DO NOT have back to back quotes!!!

BODY PARAGRAPHS Your paper should have at least 3 pieces of evidence per body paragraph. This means you should have three in-text citations in each body paragraph. Remember whether you take someone else’s direct words or someone else’s idea, you must cite it or it is considered plagerism. Be sure to cite it correctly The Works Cited page must match it exactly.

QUOTES Less is more! Do your best to only quote one or two lines at a time. If you feel you must use a quote that is longer than 4 lines, it is called a block quote and you must cite it differently:

BLOCK QUOTES Use a colon to introduce the quote. Double space Indent twice (hit the tab twice) for the entire section. DO NOT use quotes. Put a period at the end BEFORE the in-text citation.

IN TEXT CITATIONS You MUST use these throughout your paper to document the information you are borrowing from other sources. An in-text citation connects with your Works Cited page. An in-text citation is the last name of the author in parentheses at the END of the sentence in which you use the borrowed information. If the source is a book you also include the page number. If the source is a webpage, you do not need a page number. Absolutely, under NO circumstances, should a website EVER be an in-text citation.

IN TEXT CITATIONS Sample in text citation: “In the United States, one person dies from a gunshot wound every 22 minutes” (Johnson 100). Notice the placement of the punctuation. The period comes after the closed parentheses. The end punctuation is not inside the quotation marks. The parentheses are outside of the quotation marks. Johnson MUST appear on the works cited page. All of the above is necessary to pass the YES TEST. You MUST pass the yes test to pass the assignment.

SAMPLE IN-TEXT CITATIONS THUMBS UP if this it is a good one: “Green house gasses have increased by 250% over the last five years” ( NOOOOOOOOOOOO Why? You must have an author’s last name in the parentheses. NOT the webpage.

SAMPLE IN-TEXT CITATIONS “Greenhouse gasses have increased by 250% over the last five years.” (Smith) NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Why? The period must go after the closed parentheses. Correct: “Greenhouse gasses have increased by 250% over the last five years” (Smith).

“Greenhouse gasses have increased by 250% over the last five years (Smith).” NO! Quotation marks are outside of the parentheses. Correct version: “Greenhouse gasses have increased by 250% over the last five years” (Smith).

SAMPLE IN-TEXT CITATIONS “Greenhouse gasses have increased by 250% over the last five years” (Smith). YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

FRIENDLY REMINDERS: No I, Me, you, etc in the paper, anywhere. No contractions. All sources must have a reliable author or organization. NO Wikipedia.

MORE FRIENDLY REMINDERS: ALL sources on your Works Cited page must be used in your paper. Show you have used these sources by correctly using in-text citations. A minimum of 5 sources should be on your Works Cited page. That means you must incorporate at least 5 sources in your paper. If you fail to do this, you will not pass the assignment.