WRITINGRESEARCHPAPERS
PROFESSOR DELAINE R. SWENSON
Adapted from Research Guide for Research Students and Nuzzo ppt.
Step1.ChooseaTopic
Chooseatopicwhichinterestsandchallengesyou.Youra6tude
towardsthetopicmaywelldeterminetheamountofeffort
andenthusiasmyouputintoyourresearch.
Focusonalimitedaspect-narrowitdownfromReligionto
WorldReligiontoBuddhism.
Selectasubjectyoucanmanage.Avoidsubjectsthataretoo
technical,learned,orspecialized.Avoidtopicsthathaveonly
averynarrowrangeofsourcematerials.
Step2.FindInformation(Research)
READ,READREAD
Surfthenet
•  Payattentiontodomainnameextensions(.edu,.gov,.org)asthesetendtobe
morereliable.Beselectiveof.comsites.Learnhowtoevaluatesitescritically
andtosearcheffectivelyontheInternet.
Checkoutprintmaterialsatthelibrary
•  Almanacs,atlases,encyclopedias,guides,reports,governmentpublications
Readandevaluate,bookmark,printout,photocopyandtakenotesofrelevant
information.
Asyougatheryourresources,jotdownfullbibliographicalinformation(author,title,
placeofpublication,publisher,dateofpublication,pagenumbers,URLs,creation
ormodificationdatesonWebpagesandyourdateofaccess)onworksheet,
printout,orentertheinformationonyourcomputer.Rememberthatanarticle
withoutbibliographicalinformationisuselesssinceyoucannotciteitssource.
Step3.StateYourThesis
¡  DosomecriDcalthinkingandwriteyourthesis
statementdowninonesentence.Yourthesis
statementislikeadeclaraDonofyourbelief.
ThemainporDonofyouressaywillconsistof
argumentstosupportanddefendthisbelief.
Thesis Statement
•  Thethesisstatementislikeanoutlinein
miniature.Itisa“roadmap”fortherestofthe
paper.
•  Atypicalthesisstatementgivesbriefmentionto
eachofthepaper’smainpoints,anditalsostates
theoverallargumentthewriterwishestomake.
•  Itdirectlyanswersthequestionaskedofyou.
•  Itmakesaclaimthatothersmightdispute.
•  Itisusuallyasinglesentenceneartheendofthe
firstparagraphthatpresentsyourargumentto
thereader.
Step4.MakeaTentativeOutline
•  Thepurposeofanoutlineistohelpyouthinkthroughyourtopic
carefullyandorganizeitlogicallybeforeyoustartwriting.Include
anIntroduction,aBody,andaConclusion.Makethefirstoutline
tentative.
•  IntroductionShareyourthesisandpurposeclearly.Whatisthechief
reasonforthepaper?Explainbrieflythemajorpointsandwhy
readersshouldbeinterestedinyourtopic.
•  BodyPresentyourargumentstosupportyourthesisstatement.
Remembertheruleof3–findthreesupportingargumentsforeach
position.
•  ConclusionRestateyourthesis,summarizeyourarguments,and
explainwhyyouhavecometothisparticularconclusion.
Outline Tips
•  Avoidhavingtoomanysubheadings.Thismayindicatethat
youcanfurthernarrowthetopicofyourpaper.
•  Don’tbeafraidtochangeyouroutline.Furtherresearch
mayprovideadditionalinformationorcounterpoints.
•  Allowyourselfenoughtimetomakechanges.Attemptinga
completeoverhaulofyourpaperthenightbeforeit’sdueis
bothfrustratingandoftenfutile.
Exampleofanoutline
I. 
II. 
I. 
II. 
INTRODUCTION–Briefcommentleadingintosubjectmatter-
ThesisstatementonShakespeare
BODY-Shakespeare'sEarlyLife,Marriage,Works,LaterYear
EarlylifeinStratford
I. 
Shakespeare'sfamily
I. 
Shakespeare'sfather
II. 
Shakespeare'smother
II. 
Shakespeare'smarriage
I. 
LifeofAnneHathaway
II. 
ReferenceinShakespeare'sPoems
Shakespeare'sworks
I. 
Plays
I. 
Tragedies
I. 
Hamlet
II. 
RomeoandJuliet
II. 
Comedies
I. 
TheTempest
II. 
MuchAdoAboutNothing
III. 
Histories
I. 
KingJohn
II. 
RichardIII
III. 
HenryVIII
IV. 
Sonnets
V. 
Otherpoems
I. 
Shakespeare'sLaterYears
Lasttwoplays
RetiredtoStratford
I. 
Death
II. 
Burial
I. 
Epitaphonhistombstone
CONCLUSION
Analyticalsummary
I. 
Shakespeare'searlylife
II. 
Shakespeare'sworks
III. 
Shakespeare'slateryears
Thesisreworded
Concludingstatement
I. 
II. 
I. 
I. 
II. 
III. 
Step5.OrganizeYourNotes
Organize,analyze,synthesize,sortanddigesttheinformation
gatheredtoeffectivelycommunicateyourthoughts,ideas,
insightsandresearchfindingtoothers.Thisisthemost
importantstageinwritingaresearchpaper.
Includeonlyrelevantandunderstandableinformation.Make
sureyouhaveusedyourownwordsandhasbeencarefully
noted.Documentallideasborrowedorquotesusedtoavoid
plagiarism.Jotdowndetailedbibliographicalinformationand
itreadyforyourWorksCitedpage.
WHATISPLAGIARISM?
plagiarismsimplymeans…
Apieceofwritingthathasbeencopiedfromsomeoneelseandispresentedasbeingyour
ownwork;tostealandpassoff(theideasorwordsofanother)asone'sown;touse
(another'sproduction)withoutcreditingthesource;tocommitliterarytheft;topresent
asnewandoriginalideaorproductderivedfromanexistingsource.
Inotherwords,plagiarismisanactoffraud.Itinvolvesbothstealingsomeoneelse'swork
andlyingaboutitafterward.
Allofthefollowingareconsideredplagiarism:
•  turninginsomeoneelse'sworkasyourown
•  copyingwordsorideasfromsomeoneelsewithoutgivingcredit
•  failingtoputaquotationinquotationmarks
•  givingincorrectinformationaboutthesourceofaquotation
•  changingwordsbutcopyingthesentencestructureofasourcewithoutgivingcredit
•  copyingsomanywordsorideasfromasourcethatitmakesupthemajorityofyour
work,whetheryougivecreditornot
Mostcasesofplagiarismcanbeavoided,however,bycitingsources.Simply
acknowledgingthatcertainmaterialhasbeenborrowed,andprovidingyouraudience
withtheinformationnecessarytofindthatsource,isusuallyenoughtoprevent
plagiarism.
Paraphrase!!!
Plagiarism v. Paraphrasing Samples
Directquotefromresearch:
“Japan’sbeauDfulMountFujilasteruptedin1707andisnowclassifiedasdormant.
DormantvolcanoesshownosignsofacDvity,buttheymayeruptinthefuture.”
Non-plagiarizedparaphrase:
MountFuji,thehighestmountaininJapan,isactuallyadormantvolcano.Dormant
meansthatitisnotacDve.ThelastDmeMountFujieruptedwasin1707,andthere
isalwaysthepossibilityofafutureerupDon.
Directquotefromresearch:
“ThreeweeksaMerKatrina,warningsofthearrivalofHurricaneRitasentresidentsof
ciDessuchasHouston,Texas,rushingtoevacuate,fearingfortheirlives.Fortunately,
HurricaneRitaturnedouttobemuchlessseverethanKatrina.However,mass
evacuaDonslikethisbringhazardsoftheirown,aspanickingdriversmaycause
accidentsonthejammedroads.”
Non-plagiarizedparaphrase:
ShortlyaMerHurricaneKatrinadevastatedthecityofHouston,Texas,awarningfora
newhurricanenamedRitawasbroadcast,whichcausedmanypeopletopanicand
fleethecity.However,themassdepartureofpeopleleavingHoustonatthesame
Dmecouldhavecausedmanycaraccidents,eventhoughthehurricaneturnedoutto
benotasdangerousasKatrina.
Step6.WriteYourFirstDraft
Summarize,paraphraseorquotedirectlyforeachideayouplan
touse.Findatechniquethatsuitsyou.
§  Usenotecardsorsheetsoflinedpaper.Markeachcardwith
youroutlinecode.Thenputallcardsinorder.
§  Ifusingawordprocessor,createfilenamesthatmatchyour
outlinecodestoeasilycutandpastasyoutypeyourpaper.
Step7.ReviseYourOutline&Draft
Readyourpaperforcontenterrors,checkfacts,arrangeand
rearrangeideastofollowyouroutline.Reorganize
outlineifnecessary.
CHECKLISTONE:
1.Ismythesisstatementconciseandclear?
2.DidIfollowmyoutline?DidImissanything?
3.Aremyargumentspresentedinalogicalsequence?
4.AreallsourcesproperlycitedtoensurethatIamnot
plagiarizing?
5.HaveIprovedmythesiswithstrongsupporDngarguments?
6.HaveImademyintenDonsandpointsclearintheessay?
Re-readyourpaperforgrammaticalerrors.Usea
dictionaryorathesaurusasneeded.Doaspellcheck.
Correctallerrorsthatyoucanspotandimprovethe
overallqualityofthepapertothebestofyourability.
Getsomeoneelsetoreaditover.Sometimesasecond
pairofeyescanseemistakesthatyoumissed.
CHECKLISTTWO:
1.DidIbegineachparagraphwithapropertopic
sentence?
2.HaveIsupportedmyargumentswithdocumentedproof
orexamples?
3.Anyrun-onorunfinishedsentences?
4.Anyunnecessaryorrepetitiouswords?
5.Varyinglengthsofsentences?
6.Doesoneparagraphorideaflowsmoothlyintothe
next?
7.Anyspellingorgrammaticalerrors?
8.Quotesaccurateinsource,spelling,andpunctuation?
9.Areallmycitationsaccurateandincorrectformat?
10.DidIavoidusingcontractions?Use"cannot"insteadof
"can't","donot"insteadof"don't"?
11.DidIusethirdpersonasmuchaspossible?Avoidusing
phrasessuchas"Ithink","Iguess","Isuppose“
12.HaveImademypointsclearandinterestingbut
remainedobjective?
13.DidIleaveasenseofcompletionformyreader(s)at
theendofthepaper?
Step8.TypeFinalPaper
Allformalreportsshouldbetypewri\enandprinted.
Makesureitcomplieswithalltherequirements.
Proofreadfinalpapercarefullyforspelling,punctuaDon,missing
orduplicatedwords.Maketheefforttoensurethatyourfinal
paperisclean,Ddy,neat,anda\racDve.
Aimtohaveyourfinalpaperreadyadayortwobeforethe
deadline.
Step9.Edit,Edit,Edit
Reviewitagain,justincase.
Havesomeoneelsereviewit.
Reviewitagain,again,justincase.