Research Papers

Brainstorming

Outline

Outline

Based on the ideas from brainstorming, put together a rough outline, so you know what you will be researching.

Introduction

Hook: A sentence or two to catch the reader's attention. This could be a fact, a startling statement, or an enciting question.

Overview: A few sentences that explore the topic.

Thesis: The point you are making in the paper. Some professors refer to this as the topic plus your point.

Body Paragraphs (repeat process for each body paragraph).

Topic Sentence: A sentence that introduces what the body paragraph will cover.

Evidence: applying textual evidence from your research to your paper.

Analysis: your evaluation of the evidence and the source.

Wrap Up: closing up the paragraph before you go into the next.

Conclusion

Thesis: Restate your thesis.

Overview: Review what your body paragraphs have done.

Closing Statement: Leave the audience with something to do or think about.

Scholarly and Non-Scholarly Resources

• Before you begin the research process, know what kind of sources you are supposed to have and how many you will need.

• Most research papers will use a combination of scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

• A scholarly source is peer reviewed by experts in the field. Many essays are scholarly.

• A non-scholarly source is anything that isn't peer reviewed like a YouTube video, a newspaper article, or a work of fiction.

Where to Find Sources

https://www.craftonhills.edu/current-students/library/index.php

Go to the home page on craftonhills.edu and click the library option under the student services tab.

If you are looking mostly for physical texts, you can type into the Search Catalog box to search for books in the library. After you pick search, you can choose which libraries, Crafton Hills, SB Valley, or libraries worldwide, you want to include.

For most online sources, click on Article Databases. The next slide will cover three major article databases.

Research Guides offer suggestions and tips for finding sources for specific subjects.

https://craftonhills.libguides.com/?b=g&d=a

How Research is Done

craftonhills.edu>student services>library>Article Databases

https://www.craftonhills.edu/current-students/library/library-databases/index.php

EBSCO is a useful resource for most subjects and you can find a variety of scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

US Major Newspapers has access to five major newspaper sources.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context features sources on various current and controversial topics.

Depending on your class, Google Scholar may be a good choice for research as well.

To explore the controversial issue of gun control, I went to Opposing Viewpoints in Context and searched The Right to Bear Arms.

https://go.gale.com/ps/searchTopic?topicId=GALE%7C00000000LVYV&searchResultsType=MultiTab&searchType=ts&bname=Right+to+Bear+Arms&userGroupName=yuca26750&inPS=true&prodId=OVIC&category=Society+and+Culture

Evaluating Sources

How do you know if a source is a good one?

First, look to see if your professor has a requirement on how many and what kind of sources you need.

Example Source Requirement: have at least two scholarly articles, a newspaper entry, and at least two other credible sources.

See what kind of source it is

• A peer reviewed scholarly essay or a reliable newspaper is much more credible than an interview with a heated protester or a blog.

Read the abstract if one is available

• The abstract will give you an idea of what the entire source is about. this will help you figure out if it will be useful for your research.

See if the source is biased

• A source is not biased if it bases its argument on facts rather than feelings and opinions.

I found a peer reviewed academic journal on Opposing Viewpoints in context.

From reading the abstract, It bases its argument on historical analysis of the second amendment. I don't get any sense of bias from the abstract.This is a credible source for me to use.

https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Journals&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=TopicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&docId=GALE%7CA364439445&docType=Author+abstract&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAY-MOD1&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CA364439445&topicId=00000000LVYV&searchId=&userGroupName=yuca26750&inPS=true

Block Quote

Unknown

APA Multiple Authors

MLA Multiple Authors

Multiple

Authors

Two Authors:

The author's names should be in the signal phrase or parentheses in each citation as well as the page number and year if applicable.

Ex: Penn and Teller (2019) suggest...

Ex: (Penn & Teller, 2019).

Three or more Authors:

List all of the author's names in the signal phrase or the last name of the first author followed by et al., year, and the page number if applicable.

Ex: Kreuger, Stone, & Pendragon (2004) found...

Ex: (Kreuger et al., 2004).

Two or Three Authors: Cite the author's last names in the signal phrase or at the end of the parenthetical reference along with the page number.

Ex: In the end, the results of the experiment were inconclusive (Moore and Bennet 17).

Four or More Authors: List each of the author's names or list the first author followed by et al.

Ex: (Miyamoto, Sakurai, Granger, and Walker 112-113).

Ex: (Miyamoto et al. 112-113).

Clarity

After reviewing the content and organization of your paper, check all of your citations before worrying about grammar and spelling.

Grammar should be one of the last things you check as your paper could change quite a lot throughout brainstorming, researching, drafting, and revising.

The Tutoring Center has handouts on different kinds of common grammar issues. You can also find resources online:

Clarity

Grammar Girl has easy to follow grammar tips with practical examples.

The Punctuation Guide explains how to use various punctuation marks and gives examples.

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/index.html

Scholarly Journal/Article

Book Format

For more examples see our APA or MLA Workshops, or visit Purdue Owl:

"MLA Works Cited: Other Common Sources." The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_other_common_sources.html. Accessed 07 Aug. 2019

Common Sources

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City Published in, year published.

If there is no author listed, you may begin the entry with the name of the article.

*Medium of publication is no longer necessary for print sources.

*Note: the City of Publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is unknown in North America (The Purdue OWL Family of Sites)

For Offline Sources: Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. Remember to indent by half an inch for every line of the entry past the first line.

For Online Sources, do the same, but also include the Database used, URL and Access Date.

*As of MLA 8th, you do not need to include the access date if you have the date published or updated.

Example:

Mundkur, Nipun. “The Bionic Human: A Review of

Interface Modalities for Externally Powered Prosthetic Limbs.” McGill Science Undergraduate Research Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, Apr. 2019, pp. 46–49. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=137671186&site=ehost-live, Accessed 07 Aug. 2019.

Works Cited Issues

• If you are still confused about how to cite a Works Cited entry, feel free to use Purdue Owl's Citation machine.

• If you found your source on Opposing Viewpoints in Context or on EBSCO, then you may use their auto citation features as well.

• Use only these functions as a way to get started on your citation. They are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.

• It is still your responsibility to check the accuracy of each Works Cited entry.

• Use an MLA Style handbook or Purdue Owl's MLA Style Guide to check the accuracy of each source.

Works Cited Issues