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Research Paper
Introduction
In a research paper, you gather information about a subject from
several different sources. Then, you tie this information together
with a single unifying idea and present it to your readers. A research
paper should have the following characteristics:
• an interesting topic about which you need to find outside
information
• information about that topic drawn from several different sources
• a thesis statement expressing an idea about the topic, based on the
research
• information that identifies the sources used
Assignment On the following pages, you will learn how to plan,
collect information for, and write a research paper. You will get stepby-step instructions. Each step will include an example from
research about the Battle of Gettysburg.
Read the instructions and the examples. Then, follow each step to
plan a research paper.
Write a research paper about a Civil War battle of your
choice.
Planning Your
Research
Find a research subject. Start
by listing subjects that interest you.
Think about which of these subjects
are likely to have information that
you can readily find. Then, write a
few questions you would like to
answer about each subject.
Narrow your topic. One of the
most important steps in writing a
research paper is narrowing your
topic to something you can cover in
the space you have. If you have
access to the Internet, you can use it
to help you narrow your topic.
568 Unit 5
For a review of the steps in
the writing process, see the
Historian’s Toolkit, Write Like
a Historian.
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Doing Your Research
Find your sources. A research paper involves consulting outside
sources as you seek information you do not already have. Look for
more recent sources to avoid relying on information that is out of date.
Using library and Internet resources, keep researching until you have
five good sources of information about your narrowed topic.
Take notes from your sources. As you read a source, write
down and define key terms. Summarize longer passages and
paraphrase important ideas, restating them in your own words.
When you come across quotations you want to use, copy them
exactly and identify their sources. Using someone else’s words as if
they were your own is called plagiarism, which is dishonest and can
result in severe penalties.
Keep track of your sources. You need to identify each source
that you use, whether the source is an encyclopedia, a book, a
newspaper, a magazine, a television program, or an Internet site. In
your final paper, you will create a bibliography that identifies all the
sources you used.
Writing Your Research Paper
Create a working thesis. After you review your notes, write a
sentence that states the main idea of your paper.
Plan your organization. Depending on your topic, you can
use various methods to organize your research paper. If you are
discussing two items, one approach would be to compare and
contrast them. If you are focusing on a complex event or a
process, you could use a chronological organization.
Create an outline. Creating an
outline can help you when you have
a great deal of material to present.
Decide the order that you think best
suits your information and your
thesis. Here is a portion of an outline
for a research paper about Pickett’s
Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Sample working thesis:
The Battle of Gettysburg consisted
of a series of mistakes on the part
of both North and South. Perhaps
the greatest and most horrendous
mistake of them all was Pickett’s
Charge.
Part of sample outline
t s Charge
ng
I. Before Pickett’s
Gettysburg on the morni
A. Status of Battle of
of July 3
cisive attack
B. Lee’ss need to have de mistead’s
mble’s
d s and Trim
Ar
,
s,
t
t’s
C. Preparing Picket
divisions
t s was fullest division t many
1. Pickett’s
d and Trimble had los
tea
mis
2. Ar
more men
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Sample introduction
Write
your
introduction. Write an
introductory paragraph that grips your
audience’s attention. Set up your research
topic, indicating what aspects of the topic
you will cover. Lead up to your thesis
statement.
Support your thesis with examples
and details. Now write the body of your
paper, presenting the best information that
you found in your research. Writing a topic
sentence for each paragraph will help you stay
on target as you write. Keep the relationships
between your ideas clear with transitions.
Write a strong conclusion. In your
final paragraph, review the ground you have
covered. Find a lively or powerful way to say
what you found most interesting, moving, or
surprising in what you learned.
Giving Credit to Your
Sources
1863, the Battle of
By the morning of July 3,, and both armies were
old
Gettysburg was two days penetrated Northern defenses
exhausted. The South had The Union and Confederate
as far as Cemetery Ridge. r a large battlefield of rolling
ove
ch
armies were spread out
e places did not allow mu
som
in
und
gro
the
and
s,
of
hill
ber
num
a
de
ma
already
visibility. Both sides had us days of battle — mistaking
vio
pre
two
the
in
es
tak
h
mis
and misrepresenting eac oic,
her
the strength of the enemy
st
mo
and
greatest,
er s positions. Perhaps the t was about to happen: the
other’s
tha
one
the
s
wa
all
of
mistake
e Pickett, who led 15,000
charge by General Georg bayonets against the Union
h
Confederate soldiers wit ge.
position on Cemetery Rid
Sample conclusion
as one of the most
t s Charge is remembered history. The
Pickett’s
ry
ita
mil
in
noble and tragic moments bravely, but were no match
ght
Confederate soldiers fou bert E. Lee had miscalculated,
for the Union weapons. Roce. They staggered away from
and his army paid the pri ched as far into the North
Gettysburg and never reaon for almost two more years,
ned on
again. The Civil War went
against the South. It tur and
but the tide had turned
t
ket
Pic
e
org
Ge
by
charge
the heroic but mistaken
his men.
You must identify the sources you use to support your ideas.
Whenever you present statistics, little-known facts, direct
quotations, or paraphrases of others’ views, you need to give credit
to the source of the information—both within your paper and in a
bibliography listing the sources you used at the end of the paper.
Include citations within the paper. You have a few options
for identifying sources within your paper. You can identify the
source in parentheses. You can use a number corresponding to a
footnote at the bottom of the page or an endnote at the end of the paper.
List your sources in a bibliography. At the end of your
paper, you need to list the sources that you used. List them in
alphabetical order by author, using accepted formats.
Revising Your Research Paper
After completing your draft, read it again carefully, looking for ways
to make your writing better. Here are questions to ask yourself.
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Revise to heighten interest and clarify research
• Does the first paragraph capture the reader’s attention?
• Have you presented your information in the most compelling
order?
• Are the relationships between ideas clear? Can you add any
transitions to make them clearer?
Revise to meet written English-language
conventions
• Are all sentences complete, with a subject and a verb?
• Are all the words spelled correctly?
• Are all proper nouns capitalized, including names of people
and places?
• Did you use proper punctuation?
Revise to meet research-paper conventions
• Have you properly identified all of your sources?
• Are all quotations clearly marked, with credit given to the
original writer or speaker?
• Is the bibliography complete and correctly formatted?
Rubric for Self-Assessment
Evaluate your research paper using the following rating scale:
Score 4
Score 3
Score 2
Score 1
Topic
Appropriate for a
research paper, since
it requires outside
research; well
focused and suits
the scope of the paper
Appropriate for a
research paper, requiring outside research;
reasonably focused
but may be a little too
broad or too narrow
Barely appropriate
for a research paper;
not well focused, since
it is too broad or too
narrow
Not appropriate for
a research paper; not
focused at all
Organization
Uses order of importance correctly and
makes the relationships
between the items and
the reasons for their
relative importance
clear
Uses order of importance and makes most
of the reasons for their
relative importance
clear
Organization not
suited to the topic
Shows lack of organizational strategy
Presentation
Develops ideas with
relevant facts, details,
or examples; links all
information to the
issue being analyzed
Develops most ideas
with facts, details, or
examples; links most
information to the
issue being analyzed
Does not give most
Does not provide facts,
ideas in depth; does not details, or examples to
link some information support ideas
to the issue being
analyzed
Uses some variety in
sentence structure and
vocabulary; includes
few mechanical errors
Uses the same types of
sentences without
varying them; does not
vary vocabulary;
includes many
mechanical errors
Use of Language Varies sentence
structure and vocabulary successfully;
includes no or very
few mechanical errors
Writes incomplete
sentences; uses
language poorly;
sounds confused;
includes many
mechanical errors
Writing Workshop 571