WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu

9 Major Steps in Writing a Research Paper

• Research• Genre• Research• Topic• Scope• Research• Thesis or question• Research• Outline• First draft• Revisions• Proofreads

The Research Paper GenreA piece of academic writing that requires an abstract, critical, and

thoughtful level of inquiry familiarizing yourself with the

works of “experts” and comparing their thoughts on the topic with

your own!

Your main type of research paper

• To argue! – Use evidence to attempt to convince the reader of

your position on a debatable topic in your paper AND in front of an audience!

Huh? What audience?

You will be

presenting in front of:

• Faculty

• Parents

• Other Seniors

• Other Schools• Juniors

Avoid PLAGIARISM

• PLAGIARISM: using someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source

• MISUSE OF SOURCES: carelessly or inadequately citing ideas and words borrowed from another source

RESEARCH• Understand the types of

resources– Primary – Secondary

• Critically read and evaluate those sources– Texts; interviews– Book searches;

journal articles; the Web

RESEARCH cont’d• Note-take effectively

– Bullet facts– Paraphrase – Translate and rewrite notable research findings ASAP– Write legibly!– Beware of photocopying!

• Keep a working bibliography of all the sources you consult– Make sure you know where every note comes from!

• Contact people in the field and have access to their materials!

OUTLINE

Last Name 1NameAdvisor NameSenior Project2 November 2009

TitleThesis:

I. IntroductionA. The backgroundB. The thesis statement

II. Main idea of 1st body paragraphA. First point of supportB. Second point of supportC. Third point of support (if needed)

III. Main idea of 2nd body paragraphA. First point of supportB. Second point of support

IV. Main idea of 3rd body paragraphA. First point of supportB. Second point of supportC. Third point of support (if needed)

D. Fourth point of support (if needed)Continue as needed……..

X. ConclusionA. Review of the major categories of supportB. The answer, solution, or final option

FIRST DRAFT

• Believe it or not, drafting should be the least time-consuming step in the research paper process.

• Introduction: quotation; question; opposite opinion; short narrative; interesting fact; definition or an explanation of a term; irony or paradox; an analogy…

• Body paragraphs– Unity– Coherence– Adequate development

• Writing a conclusion

REVISION An Editing & Rewriting Process

• Revision is RE-VISION!!!– Add– Cut– Replace– Move material around

• Have people READ your paper…..– If you don’t, you’ll end up doing it again

• Rough drafts don’t pass and that will….– Make your teachers MAD

– This will delay your final product & presentation because then teachers re-grade when THEY have time.

Proofreading(nitpicky copyediting)

• Check out your verb tenses.• Check for non-sexist

language.• Read your paper out loud.• Check your punctuation.• Look for glaring grammatical

flaws.• Check you word choice.• Prepare a Works Cited page.• Check your spelling.• Work on the presentation of

your paper.

Resources• Oak Hill High School

Reference Databases

• Marvel Maine

• MaineCat state catalog

• Owl Research (or Owl MLA Style or Owl Plagiarism)