Fact and Opinion in a Research Paper

A research has to be filled with facts. The only place you can put an opinion is in the introduction and
conclusion. The rest has to be fact.

Step 1: Go through your paper. Find anywhere there is an opinion. Look for keywords like think, feel, believe,
should, or like. Wherever you find these statements, you need to take them out and replace them with facts.
You may have to go back and do more research about a particular topic to find a fact.

I talked about the fun facts about my state here. I see some opinions in there so Im going to
take them out.
Virginia goes by a few nicknames. Old Dominion is the most common. IT is also called the
Mother of Presidents because 8 presidents were born there. George Washington has a home
called Mt. Vernon and Thomas Jeffersons Monticello is a very popular tourist attraction. The state
flower is the American Dogwood and the state bird is the Cardinal. I think the Cardinal is the best
state bird. The state flag has the states motto written on it. Sic Semper Tyrannis means Thus
Always to Tyrants. The flag shows the goddess Virtue holding a sword and spear. She has
defeated a tyrant. She stands over him. Virtue symbolizes Virginia while the tyrant is meant to be
England.

Step 2: Pick one topic in your research paper and go do more research on it. For example. The state bird of
Virginia is the Cardinal.

Here is the part of my paper where I mention the Cardinal.

Virginia goes by a few nicknames. Old Dominion is the most common. IT is also called the
Mother of Presidents because 8 presidents were born there. George Washington has a home
called Mt. Vernon and Thomas Jeffersons Monticello is a very popular tourist attraction. The state
flower is the American Dogwood and the state bird is the Cardinal. The state flag has the states
motto written on it. Sic Semper Tyrannis means Thus Always to Tyrants. The flag shows the
goddess Virtue holding a sword and spear. She has defeated a tyrant. She stands over him.
Virtue symbolizes Virginia while the tyrant is meant to be England.
Now Im going to Google the Cardinal so that I can give more details about the bird.
Here are the results from that search: Im going to pick the one that is circled because its not Wikipedia!

Step 3: Im going to use this site to give a description about the Cardinal that is based on facts.
Virginia goes by a few nicknames. Old Dominion is the most common. IT is also called the
Mother of Presidents because 8 presidents were born there. George Washington has a home
called Mt. Vernon and Thomas Jeffersons Monticello is a very popular tourist attraction. The state
flower is the American Dogwood and the state bird is the Cardinal. The male Cardinal is a bright
red bird with a red beak and a crest on the top of its head. They have a black face around the
bill. The state flag has the states motto written on it. Sic Semper Tyrannis means Thus Always
to Tyrants. The flag shows the goddess Virtue holding a sword and spear. She has defeated a
tyrant. She stands over him. Virtue symbolizes Virginia while the tyrant is meant to be England.

Step 4: Make sure you add these source on a notecard so you remember to include it on your work
cited page.

Repeat these steps on 2 other topics in your paper. You should have 3 total
fact revisions.