JohnsonCountyCommunityCollegeWritingCenter

GuidelinestoWritingaResearchPaper

Whenaninstructorassignsaresearchpaper,he/sheisaskingyoutogobeyondwhathasbeen
learnedinclasstoexpandyourknowledgeortoupdatetheinformationwithmorecurrentliterature
ortochooseanddefendapositiononacontemporaryissue.Makesureyouclarifythepurposeof
theassignmentwithyourinstructor.Ifyourpurposeistoexplain,youwillbewritingan
informativeorexpositorypaperandwillbeconcernedwithpresentingfactsaccurately,and
completely.Ifyouaredefendingonesideofanissueortakingastandonapointofquestion,you
willbewritingpersuasivelyorargumentatively.Whetheryoupresentyourevidenceinan
inductiveordeductivechainofreasoning,youmustshowlogicinhowyoustateyoursupposition
andthesupportthatyouchoosetocite.

Everydisciplinehasitsownstylisticguidelinesanddocumentationrules.Whatfollowsinthis
informationsheetarethegeneralguidelinesandprocessforwritingapaperwhichrequires
research.YouwillneedtogototheWritingCentertopickupadditionalinformationsheets
coveringthespecificdocumentationguidelinesforyourassignment.Handoutsandexercisesare
alsoavailablethere.Thefollowingstylesheetsareavailable:ModernLanguageAssociation
(MLA),AmericanPsychologicalAssociation(APA),andtheChicagoStyle(oftenreferredtoas
theTurabianstyleorhistoriansstyleofdocumentation).Wehaveadditionalresources(notina
handout)ontheCouncilofBiologicalEditors(CBE),AmericanChemistsAssociation(ACA)
form,andotherstylesasneededbystudents.BecausetheCommunicationsDivisionsupportsthe
MLAstyleofdocumentation,weencourageJCCCinstructorstoassignthatstyleunlessithinders
thepresentationoftheassignment.Generally,studentsarenotrequiredtolearnthedocumentation
styleofadisciplineuntiltheyareinupperlevelcoursesorhavedeclaredamajorfieldofstudy.
Sincemostofthecoursesatacommunitycollegearesurveyorintroductorycourses,learningthe
formatofdocumentationisprobablynotthemajorobjectiveoftheresearchassignment.

Beforeyoubeginyourownresearchproject,youshouldexaminesomesamplecollegelevel
papers.SamplesareavailableintheWritingCenter.

StepsoftheResearchAssignment:

I. Chooseatopic.Whatstronglyinterestsyou?Whatdoyouknowalreadyaboutthetopic?
Whatwouldyouliketoknow?
Example:TVviolence
II. Focusyourtopic.Useastrategysuchasclustering,listing,freewriting,orbrainstorming
withafriendtohelpyouthinkaboutyourtopicsmanypossibilities.
Willyoubeabletofindanysourcesonyourtopic?
Isthereavarietyofresources,notjustonekind?
Isthetopicmanageable?
Willthetopicleadtoanobjectiveassessmentofthesourcesanddefensibleconclusions?
Doesthetopicsuittheassignmentinlength,time,andsubject?

Revised9/20/05

Listsomepossiblekeywordsthatyoucanuseforyoursearch.Onthecomputeraccessthe
InternetandclickonabrowsersuchasGoogleorInfoseek.Thentypeinvarious
combinationsforyourtopic.
Example:
TVviolence
Causesteenaggression
ChildrenandTVandbehavior
Vchiporotherprogramblockers
Doestelevisionviolencecauseaggressivebehaviorinchildren?

III.Listsomequestionsyouwillneedtoansweryourfocusidea.Journalistsquestionssuchas
who,what,when,where,why,andhowwillhelpyougetstarted.
Example:ThesisquestionArechildrenunder10affectedbyviolenceonTV?
I. ShouldchildrenbeallowedtowatchviolenceonTV?
II. WhataresomeexamplesofviolenceonTV?
III. Howdoesviolenceaffectchildren?
A. Arealleffectsnegative?
B. Arethereanypositiveeffects?
IV. Howcantheseeffectsbestopped?orHowcantheproblembesolved?Usethequestionsto
guideandfocusyourresearch.
V. Developaresearchstrategy.Thisisyourplanorprocedureforfindingandevaluating
sources.

PrimaryResearchandSecondaryResearch
Primarysourcesareoriginalresources,suchasauthenticrecordsandmaterials,fieldresearch,eye
witnessaccounts,andreviewedscholarlyarticles.Inotherwords,firsthandaccounting.
Secondarysourcesarereviewsofprimarysources;theyarenotoriginalworks.
Obviously,primarysourcesshouldbeusedwhenpossible.However,whensecondarysourcesare
used,theirreliabilitymustbeconfirmed.Evaluateallsourcesbasedonthefollowingcriteria:
authorqualifications,credibilityofthecitedsources,publishinghousecredentials,objectivity
ofauthor(anybiasesnoted),andthedateofpublication.
InternetResearch

Yourkeywordslistedaboveduringyourprewriting/discoverystepoftheresearchprocesswillget
youstartedwhenyouaccesstheInternetorelectronicdatabasesforyourtopic.Rememberthe
morefocusedyourwordingis,themorespecificyourresourceswillbe.Usebookmarkstomark
yourgoodsitessothatyoumayreturntothem.Also,keeptrackofthewordsandphrasesyou
use.

Whenyouaresurfingthenetforinformation,youneedtoevaluateyoursources,justasyoumust
withanysource.Anyonewithacomputerandaccesstoserverspacecanputupawebpage.There
arefewrestrictionsandevenfewerestablishedguidelinesastowhatanauthorcanorcannotputup
Revised9/20/05

onawebpage.Thus,inordertodoeffectiveresearchontheWorldWideWeb,asmentioned
aboveinthediscussiononprimaryandsecondaryresearch,researchersneedtoinvestigateand
criticallyapproachtheauthorsintentions,credibility,andbias,andthereliabilityofthe
informationpresented.

EvaluatingaWebSite
Listedbelowarequestionstoassistyouinyourevaluationofwebsites.Manyofthesequestions
willalsohelpyoutoevaluateanyoftheprimaryand/orsecondarysourcesthatyouplantousein
yourresearch.

AUTHOR/CREDIBILITY
Whoistheauthororproducer?
Whatistheauthorityorexpertiseoftheindividualorgroupthatcreatedthissite?
Withwhatorganizationistheauthorofthewebsiteaffiliated?
Whatisthebiasoftheauthor/producer/organization?
Whatarethereasonstoassumethattheauthorisanauthorityonthesubject?
Isthereawaytocontacttheauthororsupplyfeedback?

RELIABILITYOFINFORMATION

Whoistheexpectedaudience?Arethecontentandthelinksclearlydescribedandsuitableforthe
expectedaudience?
Whatistheprimarypurposeofthesite(e.g.,advertising,information)?
Isadateofpublicationprovided?Whenwasthewebsitelastrevised?
Howcompleteandaccuratearetheinformationandthelinksprovided?
Areexcerptsfromtextsprovidedorareentiretextsavailableonthesite?
Doestheinformationcontradictsomethingyoualreadyknoworhavelearnedfromanothersource?
Isabibliographyofprintorwebresourcesincluded?(Thismayprovidemoreresourcesforyouto
pursueinyourresearch.)
Hasthesitebeenreviewedorrankedbyanonlinereviewingagency?
LibraryResearch
Whateverlibraryyouuse,youneedtofindoutwhatresourcesareavailabletoyou.Mostofour
arealibrariesareelectronic;inotherwords,youareprovidedaccesstoonlinecatalogs,databases
forjournalsandotherperiodicals,CDROM,andmicrofiche.Askforhelpifyouarenotsureofthe
technologyyouwanttouse.RemembertheprintresourcesliketheReadersGuidetoPeriodicals
arestilllocatedinthelibraryandagoodresourceforyou.ConsulttheLibraryofCongressSubject
Headingforkeywordsandrelatedtopics.

Again,youwillusethekeywordslistedaboveforyoursearch.Usecurrentandreliableresources.

Evaluateyourresourcesasaboveconsideringthesourcesauthenticity,thereliabilityofthe
resource(compareseveralresourcesaretheygivingsimilarfacts?),theevidencesupportingthe
resourcesassertions,thetoneofthesource(isitlogicalandunbiased?),andthecurrencyofthe
informationinthesource.

Revised9/20/05

FieldResearch
Oftenlabeledasprimaryresearch,fieldresearchprovidesfirsthandaccountingofinformation.
Fieldresearchmaybeconductinganinterview,sendingoutasurvey,personalexperimentsor
observations,historicaldocuments,orotheroriginaldataorinformation.

Ifyouareconductinganinterview,scheduleanappointment,reflectonandwritedownyour
questionsbeforehand,takenotesduringtheappointmentorasktotaperecordthesession,
andifusingquotes,besuretogetapprovalfromtheinterviewee.Followingtheinterviewask
theintervieweeifhe/shewouldliketoseethefinisheddocumentandsendawrittenthankyou
note.

Ifyouareconductingasurvey,beforesendingitout,getsomefeedbackfrompeers,instructors,or
theWritingCentertomakesureyourquestionsareclearandlogical.
.
Plagiarism
Misrepresentinganothersworkasyourownisaseriousoffenseandcanresultinfailureforan
assignmentorevendismissalfromclass.RefertothecollegecatalogfortheStudentCodeof
Conduct.Regrettably,plagiarismhasbecomeamajorconcerntoinstructors.Whiletechnologyhas
madetheretrievalofinformationeasy,ithas,atthesametime,madecheatingmorecommonplace.
Studentswouldbewisetorememberthatthetechnologyavailabletothemisalsousedbytheir
instructors.Googlemaybeabletofindapaperontherightsubjectforyou;Googlewillfindthe
samepaperfortheinstructor.Synthesizinggatheredinformationanddocumentingtheinformation
correctlyiscrucialtotheresearchedpaper.

Youdonothavetociteyourown
Youmustcitesomeoneelses

wordsyouquote
wordsyousummarize
idea(interpretation,opinion,conclusion)
datagraph
photograph
drawing
tableofinformation
experiment
example
uniqueconcept
aptphrase
expressionofcommonknowledge
solutiontoaproblem
speech
videosource(film,TVprogram)
thestructureorsequencingoffacts,ideas,
orarguments

words
idea(interpretation,opinion,
conclusion)
data
graph
photograph
drawing
tableofinformation
experiment
example
uniqueconcept
aptphrase
expressionofcommonknowledge
solutiontoaproblem

Revised9/20/05

SynthesisofGatheredInformation
Regardlessofthetypeofinformationyougather,youwillneedtotakenotes.Asyouskimthe
articleorinformationinitially,youwillneedtodecideiftheinformationisrelatedtoyourtopic.If
itis,thenyouwillneedtomakesureyouhavethenecessarybibliographicinformationforthe
documentationstylethatyouwillbeusing.Next,readthearticlecarefully.Ifyouhaveprinted
(downloaded)orphotocopiedthearticle,youmightwanttohighlightorunderlinetextwhich
clearlymeetsthecriteriaforyourpaper.Youmayannotateinthemarginswhentheinformation
pertainsorconnectstothepointsinyouroutline.Asyoutakenotes,eliminateunnecessary
informationandsticktomajorinformationthatappliestoyourtopic.Learntolookforkeywords,
pertinentinformation,andamplesupportexamples.Ifyourtopicisstillratherbroad,readingthe
resourcesshouldhelpyoutofocusandtogainaperspectiveorangleonwhichyouwillwrite.

Notetakingcomesinthreeforms:

Summarizing

Asummaryisashortenedversionofaparagraph,chapter,article,andthelike.Asummary

shouldhighlightorrelatethemainfactsofthereference.Onlymajorfactsaregivenandthe

writeruseshis/herownwords,notthoseoftheauthor.
Paraphrasing
Aparaphrasereflectsthesamemeaningofthereferencebutdoesnotusethesamewording.
Thelengthisthesameastheoriginalsourceandonlytechnicaltermsandpropernouns
(names)mayberetained.

Quoting
Aquoteistheexactwordingofthereferenceandmustreflectleftoutinformationwiththe
ellipsis(...)andincludequotationmarks.Thewritercarefullychoosesthematerialtoquote
andprovidesaleadinwhichconnectsthequotetotherestofthepaper.Generally,direct
quotationsareonlyusedwhenthewordingissopowerfulorappropriatethattosummarize
orparaphrasethepassagewouldresultinalossofimpact.

Becausetheinformationthatyouhavegatheredmustbeorganizedaccordingtotheoutlineyou
developedearlier,revisetheoutlinefirsttoreflectadditionalpointsoranyotherchangesyoumay
wanttomake.Ifyouhavemadenotecardsandnotatedoneachthefocusortopicofthe
informationordata,youcanarrangethecardsintheorderoftheoutline.Toavoidplagiarism,
makesureallinformationusedisacknowledgedwithparentheticalcitations(seedocumentation
style)andthesourceincludedintheWorksCitedorBibliographyattheendofthepaper.

Theintroductionshouldacknowledgepurposeandaudience,includeyourthesis,andprovide
backgroundforyourreader.

Thepointsyouwanttodeveloparepresentedintopicsentencesinthebodyparagraphs.The
researchisyoursupportforthesepoints.Transitionaldevicesconnectyourideasandkeepyour
writingcoherent.

Theconclusionshouldpullthepapertogetherthroughsummarization,restatementofthethesis,or
acalltoaction.

Revised9/20/05

Theroughdraft(s)ofthepapershouldberevised.Getfeedbackfromafriend,peers,aninstructor,
ortheWritingCenter.Usethechecklist(NineThingstoCheckinYourRoughDraft)providedat
theendofthishandout.

Proofreadthefinalcopycarefullyformechanicalerrorsandspelling.

Theresearchpapershouldincludethefollowingparts:

(1)Atitlepagewiththepaperstitle,yourname,thecourse,theinstructor,andthedatecenteredin
themiddleofthepaperoraccordingtoyourinstructorsspecifications.
(2)Theoutlineinparallelform(allsentences,phrases,orwords).
(3)Thepaper.
(4)Theworkscitedorbibliographyinthecorrectdocumentationstyle.
(5)Theappendixifany.

Revised9/20/05

NINETHINGSTOCHECKINYOURROUGHDRAFT

Atthisstageyoushouldhaveanoutlineandadraftofyourpaper,withallquotationsproperly
inserted,allacknowledgmentsforfactsandopinions(eitherquotedorsummarized)indicatedin
parentheticalcitationsandaworkscitedattachedforallworksactuallyreferredtoinyournotes.
Nowisthetimetocheckcarefullytoseeifthereisanyneedforrevision.Trytoanswerthe
followingquestions:

___1. Doesmypaperhaveaguidingpurpose?Thatis,isthereasubjectproperlyfixedand
limited?HaveIstateditclearly?

___2. Ismypaperreallyadiscussionofthesubjectandnotamerecatalogingofquotationsand
summaries?Doesitgosomewhere?Whatismyowncontributiontothediscussionofthe
subject?HaveIofferedevidenceandsupportformypointofview?HaveIindicatedhowmy
pointofviewdiffersfromthepointsofviewheldbyotherwriters?Ifmypaperisprimarily
exposition,haveIaddednewfactstothediscussion,orhaveImadethepatternoffactsclearer
thanbefore?Ifmypaperispersuasive,doesmyargumentshowlogicandconsidermy
audiencesview?

___3. Ismypaperwellorganizedandproportioned?Isthereaclearintroduction?Doesthe
discussionreallyconstitutethemainbodyofthepaper?Ismyconclusionanaccuratestatement
ofwhatIhaveaccomplished?Isitbriefandpointed?Aremytransitionsclear?HaveI
introducedirrelevantmaterial?

___4. Ismystyleclearandgrammatical?Aremyparagraphswellorganized?Ismypunctuation
correct?

___5. Ismyoutlineasatisfactoryoneformypaperasitnowstands?

___6. AmIsurethatallmyquotations,paraphrases,andsummariesareaccurate?

___7. AmIsurethatmyreferencesareaccurate?

___8. Ismyfinalbibliography,references,orworkscitedaccurate?

___9. Ismydocumentationintheproperform,theonemyinstructorassigned?
IstheformIhaveusedconsistent?

Ifyourpaperisdeficientonanyofthesecounts,reviseit.Incheckingonthepaperorinmaking
revisions,donttrytodoeverythingatonce.Takeonequestionandfollowitthroughthewhole
paper.Youwillgetyourbestresultsbyconcentratingononepointatatime.

Revised9/20/05