Ten Tips for Doing a Research Paper

1. Select a suitable topic.

a. A topic should satisfy the requirements of the assignment. (Check with your teacher.)
b. A topic should be neither too broad nor too narrow.
c. A topic should interest you!

a. Begin as soon as possible.
b. Allow for time to gather sources.
c. Allow for time to change your mind about your topic!

a. Go to libraries for print sources and help from librarians.
b. Use the Internet for electronic sources and quick searches.
c. Check your community for primary resources.
d. Evaluate your sources:  Are they reliable and relevant?

a. Note important ideas as they come to you.
b. Keep records of all your sources.
c. Jot down how ideas and sources are relating to each other.

a. Follow the documentation style of your discipline (MLA, APA, CBE…).  (Ask your teacher if you are unsure.)
b. Keep complete bibliographic records on a disk, index cards, or in your journal.

a. Keep index cards or a notebook for notes on the resources you find.
b. Quotations:  Use only when the author has expressed an idea in the best possible way. (Be sure to record the page number.)
c. Paraphrase:  Use to express particular ideas of the author in your own words. (When the paraphrase includes significant statistics or data, record the page number.)
d. Summary:  Use to condense the content of the article.
e. Personal notes:  Use to record personal reflections on what you have read.
f. Make electronic note cards (see below) for Internet sources.

a. Introduction:  Thesis:  What is the main point that your paper is making?
b. Body:   What are your supporting points? Include background material, as well as data and observations that you have made. Eliminate material that is not relevant to your topic.
c. Conclusion:  What do your findings imply?

a. Use a word processor, and back-up your drafts on disks.
b. Follow your outline, and connect the ideas using transitions.
c. Where there are gaps, go back to the library, Internet, or original sources.
d. Follow the appropriate documentation style of your discipline (MLA, APA, CBE…).
e. Avoid plagiarism!

a. Check for common but serious errors (SV agreement, Verb forms, Fragments, Fused sentences, Mixed constructions, Pronouns,…).
b. Use spell check and grammar check, but wisely!
c. Follow a suitable style and tone for the audience and discipline.
d. Follow the appropriate format that your teacher has requested.

Other Sources
 

Irvine, Martin. Web Works. New York: Norton, 1997.
This pocket guide provides tips for using the Internet for research.

Lester, James D.  Writing Research Papers. New York: Longman, 1999.
This standard handbook provides information on completing a research paper from start to finish.

Purdue Online Writing Lab < http://owl.english.purdue.edu>
This online writing lab has more information on writing research papers using various styles of documentation.
 
 
 
 
 

When you find information on the Internet that you want to use in your research papers, you should take advantage of several features of the computer to make Electronic Note Cards.  Find a useful article, preferably from a university library database that you may find by going to the Washington Research Library Consortium at <http://www.wrlc.org>.

1. To copy the article, click Edit and then Select All.  This will highlight the complete text.  Click Edit again and then Copy.  This will place the selected text onto the clipboard.

2. Next, open a Word document.  Click on the Start button in the bottom left corner of the screen, click Programs, and then click into Microsoft Word or any word processing program.  A blank Word document should appear on the screen.

3. Click Edit again, and then Paste.  The selected text from the Internet article should now appear in your Word document.  You may have to clean it up, as it will have lost some of its formatting, and there may be some material that you will want to delete.

4. Read your article to see if the URL is provided at the top or bottom.  You will need the URL when you prepare your Works Cited page, as well as for future reference.  If it is not in the article, return to the Internet source by clicking the Internet title on the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen.  Clicking the title will restore it to the screen, and the Word document will zoom down to the navigation bar.  Find the Location or Address box that holds the URL (http://www….) just below the top of the screen.  Click the mouse into the white space and highlight the URL.  Click Edit and then Copy.  Return to your Word document by clicking the Microsoft Word title at the bottom of your screen on the navigation bar.   This will restore your Word document.  Place the mouse at the top of the document. Click Edit and then Paste.  The URL for the article should now appear at the top of the document.  You should also insert your date of access, since this information is also a required part of the entry in Works Cited.  Click Insert and then Date and Time.  Select the proper format (day month year) and OK.

5. To make notes on your article, devise a system of annotation.  One suggestion is to insert your own comments as you read, using a larger font size for your words, a different color font, or simply putting your comments between brackets {} or stars **.  You may also highlight sections of the text in different colors by using the highlighting button.  For example, you may highlight main ideas in yellow, important statistics in green, quotes in blue, and good examples in purple. At the end of the article, you may write a summary, so that you do not have to reread the entire article again.

6. Save your work as an easily retrievable file name, preferably under the last name of the author.  Be sure to save it to your disk (Drive A), not to the hard drive of the computer.

Copyright © 2000 by Helene Krauthamer