Research Paper Guidelines

This page gives information which will help the student to complete this assignment.

Basic Requirements

The Process

Validating Online Information

Works Cited Page

WWW.Researchpaper.com

This site is excellent for those doing research papers. It has:
           Idea Directory -- 4,000 research topic ideas with instant searches for information on them.
           Discussion Area -- post your questions, share your tips with others working on similar projects.
           Writing Center -- how to write effectively, writing tip and techniques, help with grammar, etc...

Basic Requirements

You will spend time in the library with your class researching your topic in reference books, periodicals, newspapers, CD-ROM programs, Internet, etc... (some of the classes are also required to personally interview an authority on their topics). This is your opportunity to learn as much as you can about something you have always wanted to know more about. This is your chance to write about something that truly interests YOU!

Several days will be allowed for research in the library or computer lab during class time.
After that you will be given several days in the computer lab in which to type your paper.

• Papers must be typed on the school computers! NO PAPERS TYPED AT HOME will be accepted. Papers may NOT be typed at home then brought to school on a diskette. The students are expected to use their class time productively.
• The paper should begin with a Title Page on which you list the subject, your name, the teacher's name, the class hour you are in, and the date it is due. There is usually a specific format which your teacher likes. Check with him or her to see how it should be done.
• The Research Paper itself should be 7-10 pages long. This does not include the title page or the bibliography. Begin your paper with an introduction and "thesis" statement. This just means that you need a sentence somewhere on the first page which explains what your subject is and what you are going to try to prove or show about it. In the conclusion of your paper, you need to re-state the thesis statement.
• "Works Cited" lists the sources used in the research paper. They are listed in alphabetical order, with the author's last name written first. If there is no author to a source, then the title of the article or book is listed first. There is a precise format that the students are expected to follow, and an example is given below.
• An Abstract or Outline is required by some teachers. The Abstract is a paragraph or two which summarizes the main points of the paper. An Outline uses short phrases, in a numerical list, which covers each main idea and its sub-points, in the order written.


The paper must be typed in double-space, with 1" margins

Don't put extra blank lines between paragraphs; just use a tab at the beginning of each.

Don't use abbreviations in your paper. Spell out words like "I've" and "couldn't" and names of
months.

Always run spellcheck before printing and then proofread carefully. It is okay to take a copy of your paper home and have a parent or friend help edit it before printing a final copy.

Charts and graphs and pictures can be added to the paper, but the space they take up does not count towards the minimum page length requirement, and they will not affect the quality of the grade given by the teacher.

Note cards, source cards and all rough drafts of the paper must be turned in with the final copy. These items should all be in a pocket-folder which the student must provide.

The Process

Your topic should be something that genuinely interests you. It should be broad enough to have information for a 7-10 page paper but not so broad that you can't cover the information concerning it in that many pages.

Write down everything you know about the topic and a list of questions about it. Some of the teachers require a list of various topics and questions to be turned in to them, and a topic approved, before research

2. Research.

The class is given several days to do research in the library, but some of the research will need to be done on the students' own time. Begin looking for someone who has experience with this subject so you can do an interview. The interview can take place by phone, mail, or in person. Use a variety of sources in your paper. Internet sources can be used if they can be validated (see Validating Online Information).

During the research process you should write down your sources on Bibliography or Source Cards. You will need the name of the source, its author, publisher, city of publication, date of publication, and pages used. Note Cards list the information you got from the source which you want to include in your paper. EACH note card needs the page number that that specific information came from. Don't plagiarize (which means don't steal someone else's words without giving them credit). If you use someone else's exact words, put quotes around it. If you use their ideas but not their exact words, make sure you still give them credit (but you don't use quotes).

3. Type your paper in the English Writing Lab.

DOCUMENT everything. Any time you use a fact or information which you did not previously know, you must tell where you got that information from. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Plagiarization can result in an "F" grade. Make sure you write your paper in third person (don't use "you" or "I")

PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION is the form used now for giving credit to a source. At the end of a sentence in which you have given a direct quote, you must put the author's last name and the page number in parentheses. If there is no author, then the name of the article is listed in quotes followed by a space and the page number. If it is a book with no author, underline (or italicize) the name of the book and list the page that information was taken from. Examples would be: (Jones 45) or ("Music" 375) or (Field and Stream 64). Someone reading your paper would then go to the Works Cited page and look down the alphabetical list to find the first word you had in your parentheses; there they would find all the other information needed for that specific source.

Interviews do not have page numbers. Just put the person's last name in parentheses.

If everything in one paragraph came from the same source, the parenthetical documentation is just put at the end of the last sentence. If there is more than one source used for information in the same paragraph, parenthetical documentation must be used at the end of each sentence where the source is about to change. If several paragraphs come from the same source, complete information is given in parentheses at the end of the first paragraph, and then only page numbers need to be given at the end of succeeding paragraphs--UNTIL the source changes. See the SAMPLE PARAGRAPH for an example. Note that the period for the end of a sentence is placed AFTER the last parentheses.

You need 7-10 pages of text (not including the title page or Works Cited page)

4. Type your Works Cited page.

Your Works Cited or Bibliography page lists all the sources you used in preparing your text. See your 11th grade grammar book for specific information. You can also look at the sample Works Cited page which we have included here. Our department follows MLA guidelines for the most part. Citing electronic information (such as the Internet, e-mail, CD-ROM programs etc.) is a fairly new part of research. Guidelines on correctly documenting these sources are constantly being changed. The most recent concensus of opinion in shown here. Ask your teacher if you have any questions concerning a specific source.

Each entry in a Works Cited is placed flush with the left margin. If the information for one source wraps around to include two or more lines, the other lines are indented one tab. You'll notice that this is the opposite of the way we type a text paragraph. CAREFULLY follow the punctuation styles shown in your grammar book or on the sample Works Cited page.

5. Print a Rough Draft.

Print out a rough draft of your paper and take it home to read over. Have someone else read it and help you edit it. Sometimes others can see mistakes we cannot see in our own writing. Try reading it out loud to yourself. A lot of mistakes in syntax can be picked up in this way. Mark any changes you want to make.

6. Type the Final Draft.

Correct any errors you found in your paper and fix any missing documentation. Have you given credit for any words or ideas that were not your own? Print out a final copy. Put it in the right pocket of a report folder. Put all copies of your rough drafts, your note cards and source cards in the left pocket.

Add the Abstract or Outline if it was required.

Make sure you get your paper turned in by the due date! There is a 50% grade cut automatically given to any paper that comes in past then.

Validating Online Information

What is the source of the information? Many times, a site's address will provide some clues. A legitimate information provider will have a straightforward online address, such as http://www.microsoft.com. On the other hand, an individual user will have an online address reading something like http://www.xyz.com/-smith/ position.btml. The -smith pa;rt of the address gives it away. In this case, an individual named Smith has put Web pages in his or her personal directory, and made their contents available to the world.

Why is this information online? Authors put information online for a reason. Ask yourself if the purpose is to inform and educate Internet users about a particular topic, or if there is some kind of hidden agenda.

Who wrote the information, and what is the point of view of the writer? These are the two most telling questions. If you've never heard of the author or if the information wasn't well written, chances are you should do more research into his or her background before accepting the information as factual. Go to an Internet search engine (such as http:// altavista.digital.com) and type in the author's name. What comes up? What else have they published? Check the library to see if this person has published anything in the real world.

Does the online information contain links to other sites, and do they reveal any biases of the author? Following the links authors place inside their online information is one of the best ways to discover more about the author. These links may also reveal any biases of an author.

How recent is the information? While new information is not necessarily any more accurate than old information, this is still an important question to answer. If you're doing a report on the current state of the former Soviet Union, steer clear of any information that was put on the Internet before 1991.

Other questions you should ask yourself:

• Who is the main audience for this information?
• How often is the site/information updated?
• How does this site compare with others that deal with the same subject matter?
• Does the text follow basic rules of grammar, spelling, and literary composition?
• How knowledgeable is the individual or group on the subject matter of the site?
• Is contact information for the author or producer included in the document so you can email the person with questions or comments?
• What is the value of the Web site in comparison to the range of Library Media Center resources available on the topic you're researching?
• Does the author of the online information cite his or her sources in the document so you can check them for authenticity?

Samples of Parenthetical Documentation and Works Cited page

SAMPLE PARAGRAPH (normally it should be double-spaced)

It was found that molecules lose their negativity as they move through the solution ("Chemistry").  Another scientist, Allen R. Mueller, said these solutions become positively charged in the process (Mueller 42).  According to Mueller, this is a "chemical reaction" (42).  This process is very useful to industry in the manufacturing of metals (Designs in Manufacturing 73).  The by-products of this process are beneficial to both society and business ("Metals" 394).  Metals such as beryllium and copper are refined in this process (395).  Positively-charged solutions are also used in the production of zirconium (Zeikel).  According to Peter Shaw, a science teacher at Perdonium High, "there will yet be many advances made in this field" (Shaw).

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Works Cited
"Chemistry."  Science World.  February 1993.  Magazine Summaries:  CD-ROM, 2002.

Designs in Manufacturing.  Philadelphia:  Bantom House, 1981.

"Metals." World Book Encyclopedia. 1999 edition: 393-395.

"Mueller, Allen R., Phd.  "Positive Solutions in a Changing World."  U.S. News & World Report  5 March

2002:  41-49.
"Processes." World Book Information Finder, 1994:  CD-ROM.

Shaw, Peter (science teacher).  Telephone Interview.  3 February 2002.

Zeikel, Norman. "Zirconium Uses in the 20th Century." 11 February 1996.  30 September 2002.  Online.

         <http://www.circ.com/~bennion/bmem.html>.

Zeikel, Norman.  "Zirconium Uses in the 20th Century." Knight-Ridder/Tribune Service. Online.

          SearchBank.  30 September 1998.  <http://sbweb2.med.iacnet.com/infotrac/

          session/297/632/5527132/43/ismap4/bmem.html>.

You'll notice that there is no page number listed for a book on the Works Cited page, but there is for magazines.
There are two spaces after each period; one space after a comma; two spaces after a colon.
Periods go inside quotation marks.
Each piece of information and each source line ends with a period.
There is a period between the name of a book and its publisher or date, but on a magazine the date follows the name of the magazine with no period or comma between.

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